Until Now

For a split second, I expected her to hover in mid-air, but she fell straight down past the cliff face, until she hit the gravel where the mountain begins to spread outward. She landed feet first. Her body collapsed upon itself, her head falling forward, then she tumbled awkwardly. She somersaulted, cart wheeled, and rolled silently downward over rock and gravel. Bouncing occasionally, eventually rolling into a heap, she resembled clothes being tossed around in a dryer. A small cloud of dust marked her trail, but settled back quickly into the ground. The only sound was of the rocks jarred loose by her fall, which continued to roll down the mountain. Within a few minutes, there was no trace that anything unusual had happened. It was no different than the countless little avalanches that erode the cliffs in the area, except that when no one is around to see or hear them, it is as if they didn't happen.