The Flight

• Grace Plaistowe, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2013

She sat up, gasping for air as if she had been holding her breath underwater. Had it been real?

A few minutes before... she had been flying with her arms stretched wide, watching her pearl wings glide softly through the air. She could feel the gentle breeze quietly ruffling her hair as she glided along a sky that was bright blue. And she wasn't alone. There was another person soaring next to her. The only difference was that this man didn't have wings, he just flew. So there she was, her head full of peace and joy and love as she swiftly flew around with this man, and then she woke up in a cold sweat. Who was he? And why was he smiling at me?
Her head filled with questions. Would anybody believe me if I told them I had been flying? What would they think of me? She decided not to tell anyone.
She laid her head back on her pillow heavily as more questions arose. Is there something wrong with me? Why was it so realistic? And once again, had it been real?
She decided to brush away the questions and go back to sleep. But she just couldn't stop thinking about it.

The next morning when she got up, she was again reminded of the supernatural experience that she had had late that night. But she had no time to think about that now, as her Mum called her to pack her bag for school.
In the car on the way there she thought about it more, who was that man? And why did she feel loved? She couldn't question her experience any further because they were already at school. When she got out of the car her mother asked her why she had been so quiet, but what could she say?

Later on at school, she had a class that she didn't usually like. But this time, weirdly enough, she was looking forward to it. This teacher had taught about a man who had come to this earth to help people, but in the end he was nailed through his hands to a piece of wood, and was left there to die by the people he had come to save and to love!

Before the class, she went up to the teacher, curious to talk to him and to find out who this man in her vision was. The teacher, who had his back facing towards her, turned around. Then she recognized him. The same man that had been flying with her was right in front of her, it was him! He stretched his arms out wide and she hugged him tightly.
”Why did you take me flying?” she whispered.
“Because I Love You...”

At that moment tears streamed down her face, and then.... ....he was gone.

A fellow class member, who had been watching this extraordinary scene, came up to her and asked
“Who was that?”
She replied
“My Dad.”