To The Sky

Prompt: He bade the forest good-bye as he raced the wind and took to the sky
Time: 12 mins
Word Count: 454

He bade the forest good-bye as he raced the wind and took to the sky. He spread his wings out and felt the warm air swirl beneath him as he allowed it to carry him higher, floating in a sea of pure white. Looking up he could see the sun, bright and round as a happy child’s toy. “This is it,” he thought as he surveyed the beauty around him. “This is where I‘m meant to be. This is where I belong.”

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a large black cloud approach. It snuck up on him with such stealth that he had no time to react. It sat over him, blocking out the sun, plunging his fairy tale world into darkness. Angry thunder rumbled out from inside of it. Bright flashes of lightening struck all round. He was afraid now. His world was gone. What was once beauty was now fear. He tried to turn around and fly back to where he was before. He didn’t remember why he had flown away from it in the first place or even how it looked. He just wanted to go back. Anything was better than this. He flapped his wings and hard as he could, trying to change his course. But he had no wings. Just large useless arms that couldn’t carry anyone through the air. He was falling now. Like cannonball shot from one of those cannons you see at the circus. At any second now he would crash into the ground, cratering it, and closing his eyes to the sunlight.

Sadness pervaded him. It was worse than not seeing the beauty which he had seen before. Now he knew what true happiness was. He no longer had to try to fit in. He had found his place in the world. A solace among the white fluffy clouds and the sunlight that covered them like butter covers warm pancakes. Pancakes. What were pancakes? Something sweet. Some long forgot word that held no real meaning. Just a thought, a brief flash of memory. The thunder roared louder as if the dark cloud was following him. But he didn’t have to worry. It would be over soon. The greenery of the forest rose up to meet him as if it were made of large leafy hands, reaching out to welcome him to his earthy grave. In the middle of it he saw a small face, only for a split second. It was her face. He couldn’t see the expression she was wearing, but he was pretty sure he could guess. It would be one of sadness and disappointment. He knew it would hurt her, and he knew that she’d get over it.