What would happen if you could fly whenever you wanted? When would you use this ability?
I don’t understand it.
But I love it.
I stand here with the wind ruffling my hair, ready for take-off, and it’s the best feeling in the world. In a moment I will soar, glide, hover, wheel about, drift in the currents. I will be king of the air.
When I fly it’s as if I have unlimited power, as if I must hold myself in check just to stay on the surface of the planet.
When people ask me about my unusual ability I generally say it’s 90% intention and 10% genetics. I know you have to have the gene for what I’ve got -- big, light empty bones like birds have (I weight only about a quarter as much as normal people while looking about the same size) -- but I know lots of people who have the same double recessive gene and still can’t fly. That’s because they don’t have that 90% intention. I’m very strong on intention.
I first got a sense of my ability when I was little and used to dream of flying. In my dreams I would take a little leap off a wall or a park bench then somehow just pull the air with my arms and quietly soar into the sky.
Then one day when I was seven years old, Barney, Mitch and I decided to jump off the roof of the pig house. (That might sound dramatic but a pig house has a pretty low roof.) We all jumped together and that’s when I first flew in real life. My dreams had prepared me for the pull and glide and calculations required. I swept into the air and drew myself just over the treetops -- only turning around when I heard Barney screeching. I dropped into a graceful landing near him. Mitch was up and dusting himself off by then, but Barney was crying and hollering, “My arm! My arm!”
Anyway, it might have been the end of Barney’s flying career but it was MY start. I’ve had many wonderful, unbelievable flights since then.
Granted it’s been trickier lately, since I’ve been hospitalised. THAT happened not long ago when I hesitated just as I was about to jump from the roof of my apartment building. A couple of people who were up on the roof as well grabbed me, not realising I could fly, and threw me to the floor. They took me to a police station; from there I was taken to a hospital and finally ended up here. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right, but there’s no need to stress as I’m well looked after here. Most importantly, I get to go out on the lawns a couple times a week. On those days, I quickly get out of sight behind the trees, lean into the breeze and take off. I get up just at tree top level, fly over towards the lake, skim down to the water where the breeze ruffles the water surface, and flick over to a farm nearby where I hover over ploughed furrows.
I always comes back because here I get everything I need. Besides, they’d just go looking for me if I didn’t show up at medication time.
But today is a little special. I’ve found my way to the roof of the hospital. It’s the highest I’ve ever taken off from, and it gives me an extra shiver of excitement. I should get enough momentum from this height to fly over the whole valley with very little effort.
I don’t understand it. But I love it.
Up, up and away!
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4 comments:
Jenny says:
I love the evocative opening, Heather, and the reprise at the end.
I was a little unsure about the heroine's real feelings about being in hospital, and I worried about the effect of medication on the 90% intention. That made that section a little distracting.
But otherwise, I really enjoyed this!
Kerry says:
Another delicious story Heather.
I wonder if you have given us a little journey into the mind of someone who perhaps thinks they can fly but it's actually in her imagination. That would make the confinement in the mental institution more believable. It doesn't matter really whether it's the rest of the world who can't accept her extraordinary ability or whether she is living under an illusion. You leave it up to our imagination.
You really are a wonderful story teller. I love this piece too. It's a great read, the background of flying to the hospitalised, I assume in a mental home, such an unusual plight! The beginning really gets me in. I also love the descritpion of the body, light bones etc.
One thing, I find awkward, is putting stuff in brackets. It has the para a bit stilted. Also theres a few spelling mistakes or rather wrong words. Have instead of has.
It's good to be back in the group.
A lovely little fantasy with a twist at the end. I liked the scientific explanation, that it's partly genetic with the light bones. And the 90% intentionality was perfect. Sort of like the way we humans are about everything in life. "I can't"
I like how the heroine got her start. I can see little Heather and her cousins jumping off a pig roof and coming out with a broken arm.
And in the end, our heroine gets to spend most of her time flying and having someone else look after her. Does she actually take her medication or simply pretend?
(Hey I just read Kerry's 2nd comment. Good one Kerry. Maybe we've been hornswaggled!)
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