Freefall.

Nina, who had closed her eyes in fear, began to process the information that was coming to her through her other senses.

A heavy feeling of damp air had wrapped around her like a wet blanket as she continued to fall towards the unknown. Although her eyes were closed, she could tell that there was little light as her eyelids weren’t tinged with the warm colour of her skin. Her hair flailed wildly above her as the oncoming sound rushing of air confirmed that she was accelerating into the darkness below. The bag of takeout which she had been holding was gone.

What is happening to me?

The rushing of air continued to increase in volume as it neared deafening. At this speed, she knew that colliding with just about anything would be fatal as she locked her arms to her sides. She tried to calm herself, but her breathing was escalating towards a ragged mess as the panic began to overwhelm her.

Forcing an eye open slightly, she was horrified to confirm her fears that she was falling in absolute darkness. She wanted to look below herself, but the oncoming wind made it impossible as it stung her eyes. Above her was nothing but the inky black, any sign of where she had come from already erased by the darkness.

What did I do to deserve this?

Of all people, why her? She hadn’t done anything wrong, she hadn’t done anything different, and she certainly hadn’t made any enemies. Although she understood that what was happening to her was completely outside of logical reasoning, her usual stress relief mechanisms whirred inside her head.

However she tried to rationalize the situation, she couldn’t. While she tried to calm herself down, it seemed impossible as another part of her continued to panic because she could be unwittingly turned into a pancake at any second.

While her mind was engrossed in a mental tug-of-war, her senses began to tell her that the situation was starting to change. Although the change was gradual, the rush or air was now becoming less audible, the hard sensation of the wind pressing against her feet subsiding.

I’m slowing down? She thought to herself as she now managed to look below her. To her dismay, however, the scenery remained black as she couldn’t make anything out in the darkness.

The whipping of the wind became gentle as she continued to fall. Picking up the courage to extend her arms, she reached out into the darkness. Relieved that she couldn’t touch a surface which could support anything to harm her, her descent continued at what felt like a more comfortable pace.

I must have been falling for at least three or four minutes already, she thought to herself. Rolling the numbers in her head, she guessed that she had already fallen some fifteen kilometers. Although she could feel the density of the air increasing, she also guessed that she was no longer falling at terminal velocity due to how comfortable her descent had become.

Does that mean I will survive?

Resigned to fate, she waited for the fall to end. The fact that her hair and clothes were not flapping about as she would expect had given her hope. Passing what she guessed was around the five minute mark, she wondered exactly how far it was possible to fall.

What was down here? If someone had simply wanted her to be crushed by a fall, it could have happened already. Building anything this far down also seemed like a waste of time. If you wanted to hide something underground, this was overkill. And besides, why would she be relevant in the first place?

Breaking her mid-descent logical process, however, was what she had been waiting for. Looking down, she could finally see something that was different to the darkness around her.

A pinhead of light.

A wave of anticipation washing over her, she continued to look downward. Gradually, the tiny dot began to swell in size as she approached. Although apprehensive, she would finally have the chance to turn the unknown into something that she could plan around.

But something wasn’t right.

What had previously been a small point of light that punctuated the darkness was quickly becoming larger. The rate of expansion was too sudden, which could only mean one thing.

On the contrary to her initial conclusion, she had hardly slowed down at all.

She was probably descending at what would normally be considered terminal velocity.

Her body became rigid as the source of light rapidly swelled in size. She shielded her eyes from the sheer brilliance of the light below her as it filled her vision. As the darkness was finally replaced by the light, Nina hit the surface.

And to her surprise, she kept falling.

Opening her eyes, she looked upwards to see that the disc of light that she had passed through was now beginning to fade away. What had previously been the solitary feature in the middle a blue surface that stretched as far as she could see, the disc soon disappeared. As it vanished, the surface rippled like the breeze on a calm lake before it smoothed out above her like nothing had ever happened.

The damp air had been replaced by what felt like a refreshing breeze, the quietness of her surroundings making her senses doubt how quickly she was travelling. As the sphere of light had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, she turned her attention to what was below only to gasp in surprise.

Stretched out before her like a rolling canvas was…

The world?

From her vantage point in the sky, she looked at the multicoloured fields that covered the surface. As though she was a skydiver, her attention turned to the horizon, the pale blue that sparsely littered with clouds reaching into the distance.

A skydiver with no parachute, she thought to herself. However, she wasn’t nearly as terrified as she thought she should be. Having already seen something inexplicably insane coupled with the fact that something was clearly wrong with how she was falling, she was somewhat at ease.

It’s not home, she realised. Looking at what looked to be a city below her, the surrounding landscape looked nothing like what it should have. The ocean which had been close to home before was nowhere in sight as she scanned the landscape below.

What the hell is going on here?

As if her brain couldn’t process the situation, a dull thud began to reverberate inside her head. Even though it seemed to be slowly getting louder, strangely, it wasn’t accompanied by the throbbing pain she expected.

Wait a second…

Blocking her ears, she realised that the source of the thudding wasn’t from inside her head. Having been so detached from everything else in the last 10 minutes, she had just assumed that it was to do with her. But if the source wasn’t herself, it would mean that the thudding was coming from somewhere else.

As the sound became louder, Nina realised what the noise that was coming from above her was.

Bass?

Rolling backwards to stare into the sky, she searched for the source of the rhythmic thudding. High above her and off to her right, she counted five small dots that seemed to be slowly moving across so that they would be over her position.

A melodic tune that accompanied the bass was now audible. As the music became clearer, the five dots above her grew larger and larger. Dropping like pins through the sky, Nina, who had her back to the earth below, could finally make out the objects above her.

People.

Dressed like a flying circus, the five descended with practiced motions, spreading their bodies out to reduce their speed as they approached. Leisurely tumbling, their speed now matched Nina’s as they fanned out.

Immediately attracted to the source of the sound, Nina was surprised to see that the music was coming from a portable stereo that a woman was riding through the sky like a board. With a blonde ponytail and an athletic figure which was hugged tightly by a bright orange tracksuit, the woman reminded her of a professional athlete. Rocking on her heels to the beat as they fell, her green eyes locked with Nina’s.

“Yo,” she smiled, rolling on to her back in a slow arc as she flipped away from Nina before she could reply. The stereo, still playing what she guessed was some kind of trance music, rolled with her as though it was now glued to her feet.

Confused, Nina looked over to the next person who was descending slightly faster than her. Flat on her back with one leg over the other and her arms behind her head, the woman’s short silver hair rustled in the breeze. Despite her calm manner, however, a single word popped into Nina’s mind.

Soldier.

A black tank top was stretched over her tanned skin, which was itself stretched over a powerful frame. Heavy black boots poked out from underneath a pair of baggy white combat pants, bulging pockets crammed wherever there was space. Although seemingly oblivious to Nina, her descent slowed to match her pace with perfect timing, the pair now falling at the same speed.

Nina noted the futuristic looking assault rifle that was slung over the woman’s shoulder before deciding that she was going to be ignored. Turning around, which was more difficult that she thought it would be, she saw two small women. To her, it looked as though they were engaged in some form of acrobatic routine. Facing each other, the pair suddenly twisted around, floating past each other in a coordinated manoeuvre which matched the beat that was still playing on the stereo.

Long green hair and blue eyes were opposed by short pink hair and purple eyes. Although they both wore skirts, neither of them fluttered upwards as they fell. As though they detected Nina’s gaze, the pair simultaneously broke out of their routine to face her.

“Hi!” they said in unison as they waved to Nina.

“What is going on?” she asked. This series of bizarre events had left her in desperate need for any information. She had seen that the people around her were not wearing parachutes and were completely at ease. The way they dressed was also just too different from her home. Therefore, she harboured hopes that they were familiar with this situation.

Instead of answering her, however, the pair pointed upwards.

Her gaze following the direction of their fingers, Nina looked upwards to sky above her. There, slowly descending, was the fifth figure.