Ryder's Fall

         I parade along the thin rail, confident in my ability. To my right is a 20 foot drop to the rocky shore below. To my left my friends are goading me on.
         "Come on man! You can do it!" Riley shouts encouragingly to me.
         "Be careful Ryder!" Alania screams at me. "You're going to hurt yourself!"
         "Aww, I think someone is in lo-ove," Kyle sings jokingly to Alania.
         Out of the corner of my eye I see Alania roughly shove Kyle away, blushing.
         "He's never gonna make it," Drake sneers. "He's too chicken."
         I inhale sharply, indignant. I glance to Alania and see her giggle.
         "I'm no chicken," I hiss, my warm breath forming a cloud of fog in the icy air.
         I make my way along the rail cockily.The ocean below beats against the rocky shore angrily, its salt water spray splashing up into my face.
         "You're almost the Ryder! Come on! Just a little further!" Alania cries. I see her jumping up and down excitedly out of the corner of my eye.
         I grin and hurry along the last five feet before halting at the end of the rail. My grin quickly turns smug at my triumph.
         "Like I told ya, he had it down," Riley laughs, slapping Drake on the back.
         "Piece a cake," I goad, twisting my body quickly to the left to jump off the rail.
         My heart leaps to my throat when my foot slips off the railing.
         "Ryder!" Alania screams as my arms windmill in a useless attempt to regain my balance.
         Alania runs towards me, but just as she reaches for my wrist I fall backwards.
         The salty air rushes past me as I plummet to the ground.
         My head cracks against the rocks when my body slams to the ground. Stars explode behind my eyes as the icy waves lap against my head. I blink when I find myself staring up into the bleak gray sky, stunned.
         I see Alania screaming hysterically as she tries to climb down the cliff after me. Drake and Kyle were yelling something to her, while holding her back from the cliff.
         I try to listen to their voices to make sense of the muddled sounds. But all I can hear is the pounding of the ocean waves, synchronized with my pounding heart.
         I try to shift my position , but collapse back down when my chest screams out in agony. I squint my eyes shut, wishing it were all a dream.
         My head pounds when the icy waves lap against it. I move my hand to my side and hiss in a breath of pain when my side screams out in protest. I try to breathe evenly, but it only increases the pain in my lungs.
         I move my hand up to my face to wipe the wet hair out of my eyes. My eyes flutter closed as a pained moan escapes my lips when my chest constricts in protest. I pant as my sides are ambushed by the worst side stitches known to humanity.
         I force my tired eyes open, refusing to give into the soft embrace of unconciousness. My head spins when I try to make sense of the world around me. Everything is smudged to almost nonexistence. I blink rapidly, trying to force the world to make sense. The blurry world slowly fades into focus and I recognize my friends above me. They were still on the ledge, panicking. Drake was leaning over the rail, shouting something down at me, but I couldn't hear him. Alania was behind him, her head plopped in her hands, sobbing. I was vaguely confused, but the thought immediatelydisipated as the cold ocean water crashed against my now tender skull.
         Riley was frantically waving his arms around while shouting into a phone held firmly against his right ear.
         I blink slowly, and the world blurs back into nonexistence. Every breath crushes me, every heartbeat pounds through my head linke thunder.
         Oblivion hovers over me as each pained breath causes sharp knives to pierce my lungs anew. I try desperately to keep my eyes open, but darkness invades my vision.
         I take one last pained breath before falling into the oblivion of unconciousness.