It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Violet

There were two things Violet wanted most in life. The first was for her parents to let her play in the backyard alone, away from their hovering nerves. The second was to fly.

She longed to have wings that would take her anywhere she wanted to go.

One day when Violet was six years old, her mom was away on a business trip. Her dad finally let her step outside alone. She was caught in the sun’s warm embrace the moment she leaped out the back door. A few moments later, a strong breeze tickled her skin, and she shivered. It wasn’t from a chill, though. Violet was so excited, she couldn’t contain it.

She skipped around the yard, humming to herself. After a few laps, her skipping turned to sprinting.  She passed a bluejay perched in a pine tree. Violet began to flap her arms, willing them to become wings. The bird yelled at her before swooping over to her neighbor’s yard. Violet watched its bright blue feathers until they were out of sight.

An idea was brewing in her brain. The bird had started out on a tree branch. If she wanted to fly, maybe she needed to find a higher starting place. Violet ran to a stump in the back corner of the yard. 

She climbed up and stepped down. That felt pretty comfortable. She climbed up onto the stump again, but this time, she jumped down while flapping her arms. She landed on the ground, just the same. Violet climbed onto the stump a third time. She tried jumping UP instead of just out, while she flapped her arms. Again, she found herself back on the ground. 

Flying was going to be harder than she imagined. Violet sat down on the stump. She needed to think of another plan.

Every once in a while, from all around her, Violet could hear the buzz of a bumble bee.  She ran to grab a magnifying glass from the shed and squatted down next to a dandelion flower. Violet studied the bumble bee through the lens. She gasped when she saw the translucent wings beating back and forth. The bee seemed to float from one part of the flower to the next. Violet wished she could pet its fuzzy hair, but she knew better. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her swing rocking with the breeze. Violet jumped up and ran to her play set. She hopped on the swing, and started pumping. She’d only recently learned how to pump on her own. Violet pumped her legs harder, and the swing moved faster, and higher. She giggled. Her tummy lurched as the swing dipped back and forth. 

Violet dragged her feet on the ground to slow herself down. Then she had a great idea! She pumped her legs as hard as she could, and when her belly got that butterfly feeling, she flung herself off the swing. Violet flapped her arms as hard and fast as she could, but still fell to the ground.

The wind blew again, and the laundry that was hanging on the line started to dance. Violet raced to the waving towels and bedsheets. She wove in and out and all around underneath them. At the end of the clothesline, she found a purple tablecloth. Purple, her favorite color! Violet pulled at the cloth until it broke free from the clothespins. She draped it over her head, relieved to find that it was dry. Violet scrunched the purple fabric into a ball, and had her most brilliant idea yet.

Superheroes wore capes to help them fly. The purple tablecloth would make a perfect cape! Violet tied one end around her neck. The cloth was so long, it dragged on the ground behind her. She felt more like royalty than a superhero, but decided to test her plan anyway.

Violet ran back to the play set, with the cape trailing behind her. To ensure that she wouldn’t sit on her cape, she climbed onto  the swing from behind. Violet pushed off and pumped her legs. She pumped harder, and harder, and the swing moved higher and higher. Suddenly Violet wasn’t so sure about her idea. The butterflies in her tummy felt like they might come out of her mouth.

She took a deep breath, and when another big gust of wind hit her back, she went for it. With the swing in its highest position, Violet threw herself off of it. Her cape caught the breeze, and opened like a parachute. She went soaring through the air.

Violet flew past her neighbor’s house, and waved to the bluejay that had scolded her. She glided over her empty school building, and the park across the street. Violet sailed above the highway. The cars below looked like tiny ants marching in a line. She couldn’t believe it. She was flying! 

Without warning, Violet hit the ground. 

There was a sharp pain in both of her knees, but she didn’t even care. Her dad came running out of the house.

“Violet, are you okay?” he cried.

Violet popped up. 

“Dad, I was flying. Can you believe it? I flew!” she exclaimed.

“Sweetie, you know that Mom and I don’t want you doing such dangerous things. You know better than to jump off a swing,” Dad said.

He untied her cape and grumbled about the fresh grass stains she had gotten on it. He checked her over from head to toe.

“Oh, Violet, your knees are bleeding. Let’s get you inside and clean up those scrapes,” Dad gasped.

He took Violet by the hand and guided her to the door.

“I’m fine,” she insisted.

Violet followed her dad inside anyway. She knew it was no use arguing with him. She also knew that flying was only the beginning. It was just the start of all the amazing things she would do, if only the adults in her life would get out of her way.

She had flown. It didn’t matter if no one else believed her. It didn’t matter if it would be a long time before she’d have a chance to do it again. Violet had flown, and there would be more to come.