What Happend to all my rope? Final

Killing the last candle, I pull the blindfold from Alex’s face and he blinks up at the rigging that now fills his view. Leaning in I tell him,” Time to come down now, boy”
“Not yet Daddy, I want to see them all lit up at the same time”
Head still snuggly enclosed in its sling, all he can see is the latticework of rope and candles that lead up to the hard point.
“Are you sure about that? Its gonna be really painful.”
“PLEASE DADDY!”
“Ok then kiddo, count them off with me”
And so we did just that. As I lit each candle one last time she would shout and in a few cases scream out the number till we reached the magic 12. Dousing them all with a wet finger, she looked up at me with a smile of pride. She had overcome the fear and let it pass through her.

Pulling my knife from my pocket (a wickedly sharp blade given to me by Nerdy), Alex’s body flexes in recognition of the unmistakable sound of a switchblade snapping open.

Reaching up I grab the carbineer with my left hand, the object that holds the entire mass of rope and candles aloft.
“Do you believe me when I say you can fly, boy?” I ask
“If you say I can, then yes I do Daddy!”

In one fluid move I do the unthinkable.

The blade makes a wide arc above my head and severs the top line from the carbineer I’m holding, the webbing makes a sound that I will never forget. Like a cross between the ring of a bell and a gunshot, sharp sudden and LOUD.

Time stops.

You can hear a collective gasp from the now large crowd our scene has gathered. As Alex falls he does not make a sound, rather she closes her eyes and smiles wide as she falls
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
About 18 inches to the waiting bed that was secretly wheeled underneath him when she was blindfolded.

Having landed safely on the bed, I quickly pull the EMT shears from their holster and cut her free of the mass of rope that covers her trembling body. Scooping his tiny body up into my arms, we sit like this for what seems a lifetime. Eventually we will peel most of the wax from her, inspect the bruises and other marks he received from the experience.

Having served its purpose, what was left of my rope, a pile of colored hemp bits and wax, will be rolled into the tarp and tossed into the trash.

It would be much later, as little Alex sat at my feet with her head on my knee when I asked, “so you must have seen us wheel in the bed then?”
“I had no idea that was there, I just knew that if you said I could fly then I could fly”

Epilogue: It is now several days after the event and I’m still a bit in awe from it all. This was no simple “hang ‘em and bang ‘em” scene. Rather this would have to have been one of the most complex and challenging scenes I have ever undertaken. While I hope you have enjoyed the tale, I have one last thing that needs to be said. I am not the hero of this tale. The one who deserves your praise is Alex. This was a seriously tough scene, both physically and mentally, and not many folks could have done what he did and with such grace and trust. Thank you Alex for trusting me so and for giving me such a fantastic memory. I am so very proud of you.