MIDAIR

She let go before the world did

The crowd held its breath.

The young woman swinging above them did not look entirely human.
Every limb moved ahead, knowing the next hold.

As one hand reached, the other released.
For a moment, she hung in the in-between.

The crowd exhaled when she caught the next bar.
Safe.

Again and again.

Even she felt it sometimes, that brief suspension in midair.
That was her favorite part.

The moment no one could hold her.

She reached out once more.

The air tightened.

This time, the exhale did not come.
Mothers covered their children’s eyes.
Screams tore through the tent.

She did not catch the bar.
And in that last stretch of air,
she performed her greatest trick of all-

She flew.