The Boy Who Couldn't Fly

• Aston Prouting, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

Daniel couldn’t fly. Though Daniel’s greatest wish was to be a flying superhero. He could already imagine him and his pet chicken, Jemima, soaring over the clouds. Captain Fantastic and Mega-Hen. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to part of the only flying family in the world. As soon as he turned 11 he would be able to fly
For most of the night before his birthday Daniel lay awake. When the sun finally rose Daniel shot out of bed. He dragged his family downstairs so they could get started with his first flight.
After a hurried breakfast of pancakes, they all stood anxiously around Daniel ,waiting expectantly for him to fly. After picking up Jemima, Daniel screwed up his face and closed his eyes. He rose about a centimetre. Jemima clucked disapprovingly. “Maybe, try this.” Said Dan’s mother, handing him a helium balloon. Jemima clucked in fear at the large object floating way too close to her. This time Dan rose about a metre and started slowly bobbing around the room, he could barely fly..
Daniel’s birthday passed with a blur. No matter how much everyone tried to distract him from his inability to fly, it still remained seared in his memory, like an embarrassing scar.
Eventually his family gave up trying to cheer him up. “Why don’t we head to the cliff?” suggested Daniel’s dad. The cliff was an area of forest next to a cliff, it was hidden and perfect for flying
After trying to get Daniel to join in with some flying-games, it soon became clear that he couldn’t participate. So he went off to play Superheroes with Jemima.
Daniel was getting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. And for the first time he looked over the edge. It was beautiful. Wanting to have a better look Daniel floated off the edge of the cliff so that he was hanging mid-air.
Not wanting to drop Jemima he held onto her with both hands, but this meant that she was next to the balloon. With a fearful cluck she leapt out of his arms. Her feet grabbed onto the edge of the cliff but she didn’t have enough grip. For a few seconds she scrabbled at the loose dirt, then she fell. “Nooooooooooooooo!” Yelled Daniel and then he let himself fall down after her. He plummeted down. Soon he was falling next to Jemima. He quickly grabbed her and swung his feet down to face the earth. He pulled to a screeching halt centimetres off the ground.
The balloon string flopped to his side. Dan looked up. A pink balloon floated high above him. Somehow the balloon must have ripped when he was falling, but then, how did he save Jemima? He smiled when he realised the truth. He may not fly like everyone expected him to, but he could still fly in his own, special, semi-falling way. He smiled, Captain Fantastic and Mega-Hen could still become a reality.