Word: Barnburner

    The word for today is:

barnburner

\ BAHRN-bur-ner \  , noun;

1. Something that is highly exciting or impressive.

2. Chiefly Pennsylvania.  A wooden friction match.

3. (Initial capital letter) A member of the progressive faction in the Democratic party in New York State 1845–52.

 

 I did my best to capture the essence of this one, but not sure how well I did.  Let me know if you think it fits.  Enjoy!

 

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The two of them stood on the edge and looked down.
    “I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.”  Max said, his face a nervous mask.
    “Because deep down, you know you need to do something like this.”  Angela said, smiling ear-to-ear.  
    “No I don’t.  I’m perfectly happy not jumping off a large cliff into violent water.”
    “Oh please, you know you need some excitement in your life.  I mean, all you ever do is sit in your room playing video games.”
    “That is not true.”  He said accusingly.  She looked at him dully.  “I go outside all the time.”  Angela sighed.
    “And then you continue to play games outside instead of inside.”
    “No!  I do other stuff also.”
    “Oh really?  Like what?”  She asked, crossing her arms.  Max opened his mouth to say something, but he knew she was right.  
    “Ok, maybe you’re right about that.”  He said,  “but video games can be plenty exciting.  Besides, bungee jumping isn’t really my idea of excitement. To me it’s more like a physical manifestation of stupidity.”
    “That’s because you’ve never done anything like it before.  Trust me, once you take that first step, it feels almost like you can fly.”  She looked ahead towards the horizon, an almost longing look in her eyes.
    “I can fly.  All it takes is money to buy a ticket on an airplane.”  He sat down, cross legged, determined not to give in to her words.
    “Oh very funny.  You still need to do something exciting at some point in your life.  Why not just go do it now?”
    “If I really want excitement, I’ll go to one of the clubs downtown or something like that.  You know, an activity that doesn’t involve risking your life.”
    “You can be such a wimp sometimes, you know that.”
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”  She couldn’t help chuckling at that one.  If there was one thing he was good at, it was humor.  Shame he never really put it to good use.  
    “Ok fine, I’ll go first, so just watch me, and you’ll see that everything will be fine.”  She yanked him up out of his sitting position.  Max could never quite get over the fact that her years of so called “extreme sports” had left her deceptively strong.  The two of them had known each other for years, and he had always been the better of the two physically until she became the adrenaline junkie she was now.  She giggled as she walked up to the small platform that had been secured to the cliff edge and tied the thick bungee cord to her ankle.  She stood up and turned around to face him, a huge grin on her face.  
    “See ya later, tough guy.”  She said, winking.  She leaned backwards, falling off the cliff.  Max ran to the edge to see his friend falling.  She let out a great yell that was a mixture of pure joy, primal fear, and adrenaline fueled exhilaration.  The cord snapped taught and stopped her fall moments before she hit the water, just as it was supposed to.  She hung there, laughing and bouncing up and down.  Max could hardly bear to watch, even now that she had made the jump safely.  He was so busy worrying that he almost didn’t hear Angela calling for him to pull her up.  
    Once she was back on solid ground, still breathing hard while untying the bungee cord, she looked up at Max with eyes that were still wide with the adrenaline still coursing through her body.
    “See, I told you it would be fine.”  
    “Ok, that was...interesting to watch.”  He said, choosing his words carefully.  “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.”  He said, resuming his defiant sitting pose.  Angela looked at him, especially now that her adrenaline rush was starting to wear down.  There was nothing left she could say that would convince him to jump.  An idea crossed her mind.  She looked at Max mischievously.  Max looked back at her, suddenly very scared for his well being.  “Fine then.  I guess there’s nothing more to do but do home.”  Max didn’t quite believe her words, and was wary of whatever thoughts might be going through her mind.  

“Really?”  He said, dubiously.

“Yes really.  I mean, if watching me didn’t convince you, then I don’t think nothing will.”

Max started to breathe a bit easier.  He knew something was bound to happen, but he didn’t know when or what form the inevitable retribution for his lack of enthusiasm might come, but when it did, all he could do was grin and bear it.  He was just glad that he wouldn’t have to jump.

“Just come up here, and at least look out here for a bit.”  Max didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

    “Why?”
    “If you’re not going to jump, you can at least feel what it’s like to stand on the edge a bit.”
    “You’re not going to tie my foot up and push me off are you?”  Max said, squinting at Angela.  
    “Of course not.”  She said, an obviously fake hurt look in her eyes.  “How could you even think I would do something like that.”  Max looked at her and raised one eyebrow.  “Ok, maybe I would.  But that wouldn’t work anyway.  You’d notice too soon.”  She had a point.  Max sighed, guessing whatever she had planned would come later.  

“Fine then, I guess one look won’t hurt me.”  Max approached the platform and looked out.  The slight breeze carried the salt smell to him.  The sun, currently high up in the sky, brought a gentle warmth to counter the cool ocean breeze.  A few lazy clouds hovered in the sky, appearing almost motionless.  It was an impressive sight, there was no doubt about that.  It almost made this trip worth it.

Suddenly, Angela grabbed him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, under his arms.

“Hang on!”  She said, enthusiastically.  Max grabbed her arms as she fell off the platform, taking him with her.  Max was terrified as the two of them started to fall.  Seeing nothing but the sheer rock wall and waves pounding into it made him feel suddenly very much like a bug about to hit a windshield must feel.  Then it hit him.  The adrenaline started to flow in earnest.  The terror was soon replaced with an almost inexplicable feeling of excitement and thoughts of defiance of the inevitable impact.  His scream, initially one of pure terror, started more and more to take the same tones of Angela’s, who had been screaming in his ear the entire time, even if he hadn’t noticed at first.  

Then, the cord around her ankle snapped, and brought the two of them to a sudden stop.  The feeling of everything coming to a sudden stop took his breath away for a second, and it took him a moment to catch his breath.  When he recovered, his breath was quick and shallow, in contrast to Angelas raucous laughter.  The two of them hung there for a moment before one of them spoke.

    “See, I told you it would be great.”  Angela said, her head peering over his shoulder.
    “Ok, I’ll admit, I kinda enjoyed that.  A little.”  He said, smiling slightly.  “But there is one problem.”
    “What’s that?”
    “How are we going to get back up?”