Within

I gaze across the cliff as I steady my legs so they don’t collapse like jell-o. The view is absolutely breathtaking. The sun is rising over the horizon. I don’t even feel like i’m here right now. I feel as if I'm dreaming, and that I’ll wake up any second realizing that 20 years have passed as I'm staring at the sky. 

As my eyes blind from the rays of the sun, I suddenly realize that today is the day! Today is the day that I receive the answer to the question that I have been asking for the past 15 years. My heart is racing so fast that I feel like I will just fall off the cliff. I take a deep breath and retreat back a few steps. 

I look up in the salmon colored sky, searching for The One. He is the only one that can give an answer to my question. A flock of birds fly towards me. 

“Are you the boy that has been pestering His Majesty for far too long?” The big bird squawks angrily. 

“Y-y-yes.” 

“Oh please, get a grip boy! And stop shaking!”

The bird slaps her wing at me. The flock of birds then fly underneath me, spreading under my body. I elevate up into the clouds, reaching to grab a piece of it. Mmmmm. The myths are true. Clouds do taste like cotton candy! Or at least they taste like it during the sunrise when the clouds are actually pink. 

The moment doesn’t last for long though. The birds beneath me start squawking at each other, bickering over wing space. I try to enjoy the ride for as long as I can. I can’t see any land, but the blanket of clouds underneath gives me a sense of security in case these birds leave me to fall. 

After a few minutes, I begin to feel concerned. The birds below me are now in a full-blown argument, and I am actually afraid that they may drop me. I’m moving really fast and I'm beginning to feel a little dizzy. 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. You think that you, Jess Stroy, can fly? I have never met anybody in my life to be more pathetic than you, Jess, thinking that you can fly. 

My eyes are open, but I can’t see anything. I search for the  rough wings of the birds that were supposed to be underneath me. All I feel is the hard cold ground against my body. A sharp pain shoots up my back as if I slammed into the ground. The birds probably dropped me. 

As I get up and off the ground, I look up, finding a bright blinding light in the middle of the darkness. Squinting, I find a big bird perched on a wide, golden pedestal. My chest pounds so fast I’m sure that The One can hear. 

“Jess. Jess Stroy. The boy who has been begging me to answer his question.” The bird says. Except, this bird doesn’t squawk like the others. This one talks as smooth as silk. 

This must be The One. I bow down. 

“Yes, your majesty. I have come to seek the answers that only you can give me.” 

I am careful not to look at The One directly into its eyes. From what I’ve heard from the birds bickering is that you maintain a safe distance from The One. But I can't help myself staring at those feathery, black wings. I’ve always wanted those wings.

“Can I fly, your majesty? Is there any way that I can fly?” I say, mesmerized by the wings. 

The One cackles, echoing through the black space around us.

“Boy, do I need to hand-pin your wings to show you that you can fly, or can you piece the puzzle yourself?” The One sputters through its laughter. 

“What are you talking about? I can’t fly.”

“Then how did you come here? On a plane?” The One scoffed.

“Your flock of birds. They brought me here, Your Majesty.  Well, they dropped me here.”

“I didn’t send any birds.”

“Yes, you did Your Majesty. They were arguing the whole time too.”

“I did not send you any birds.” The One repeats sternly.

I try to look around in the shadows for something. The birds. The blanket of clouds. The glimmering sun. I can’t see anything but the blazing glow of The One. 

“How can I fly then?”

“Maybe if you opened your arms then you would find out.”

I look at my scrawny little arms. Could these arms really carry me across the sky? I tried to fly when I was little, obviously, but I've always had my dad or somebody hold me up. Now that I think about it, I've never really tried to fly on my own. I’ve always bought things like human wings or something and try to use different objects to help me fly. 

So I will try it. I open my arms as silky, dark wings appear connecting from my shoulder to the bottom of my torso. I can barely believe it. 15 years of searching and searching for something to help me fly, and all along, it was right within me. 

I flap my huge shiny wings, and they lift me off the ground. The last that I see is The One looking up at me from its pedestal. I can barely begin to form the words thank you as I hoist up into the darkness. 

************************************************************

I stand gazing at the horizon. The life of shocks back into me while the sun stares right back at me. I gasp, remembering the wings. I open my arms out again, waiting for the wings to appear, and they do. It still seems like a dream to me. 

I hold my legs as steady as I can, and raise myself up into the sky, soaring across the salmon clouds. This was all within me, I smile to myself.