Flying

Flying
You awaken and climb from your shell,
Coated with slime and pieces off your cocoon.
You start to try the new arms you've acquired.
They're weak as is your whole body.
You try time and again to flap them.
What are they? You don't know. But it is an instinct to flap.
You fall from what seems hundreds of feet, but your gentle mother helps you up.
You are fed. You feel strong.
Weeks pass. Your flapping has a fluent rapidity. You flying is progressing.
Suddenly your fall! This is surely the end! But you are carried...carried...carried...
You are flying!
The wind soars through your soft feathers,
But nothing matters, for the rush is too intense.
You are happy, you are free.
You wind and soar and dip and dive for hours,
Then darkness approaches.
Your predators lurk.
You hear a soft call.
It is melancholy, yet sweet.
You mother has beckoned to you.
You wind and dive and flap like never before,
Darting ever forward towards your stringy home.
The wind blows you backwards, but you are determined.
You go against the current, defying all odds.
You hear the sweet song again.
You flap and flap and flap.
You are exhausted.
But you persist.
Finally, the wind dies,
Once again you are free.
You hear a chirp,
No, not a chirp, it is a man-made noise, a ringing of sorts.
Then, a human voice blurts in.
"This is your captain speaking, we are about to land, please fasten your safety belts."
You dreaminly rub your eyes.
A woman fixes your belt.
You stare endlessly into the seat in front of you.
It was all so real.
It couldn't have been a dream....

by Tom C.

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