THE FLIGHT: a short story

Alone.  The pink kite flipped right and left, back and forth, as it sailed through that breezy afternoon, above my favorite trees.  Later on, it wouldn’t be seen anymore, because the night is catching up with the sun amazingly fast.

 

“Hey kite!  What are you doing up there?  You seem to be going nowhere!” I called out to it.

 

“I don’t know!”  It called back.  “I was just enjoying the strong wind, you see.  My little friend was just happily pulling on my strings, and I’m not sure what happened next!”

 

“Oh! Your strings are cut!” I shouted back, now sounding alarmed as I noticed the dangles following the kite.  “You’re going to be lost!”

 

“I know! I know! And I’m afraid!  I have no idea where I’m going!”  The pink kite is not really that near, but somehow, I can sense its voice quivering.  Maybe it’s crying?  Out of fear?  It’s getting farther from me, so I just ran after it.

 

“Don’t be afraid! Don’t worry, I’ll help you!”  I tried to extend my comfort, as I looked for ways to catch the endmost part of the dangling string.

 

“I’m so afraid!  What have I gotten myself into?  I want to go back but I can’t!”  I seemed to conclude that kites do cry, or at least, that one just did. 

 

I tried to follow it, as the kite continued to slowly sail back and forth through the breeze.  I wonder why it kept going up instead of down. Perhaps, the path that it took just goes that way?

 

“Why?  What happened before this?”  I attempted to make it calm with my questions.

 

I still heard sniffles, and then, “I could only remember my little master telling me he would make me the best kite that I can be.  I am a gift from his father, you see, and this is my very first flight.”

 

“Okay?”  I responded, to signify that I’m following.

 

“So, when he tossed me up, I got so excited!  You know, it’s a different sensation when you’re up here!  I can see everything!  I can do anything I want!”

 

“Then what happened?” I interrupted.

 

“Then, I met this warrior wind, who swept me off my flight.  He said he’d bring me to higher places, and I could get to see more beautiful sceneries.  So I went with him.. and then.. and then…”

 

“And then what?” I prodded.

 

“Oh!  My little master! I remember him calling me back!  He was asking me where I was going, and he told me I can’t go any higher yet because my strings are not that strong yet.  But I didn’t listen to him.  I knew I could make it because the wind told me so.  When I held on to the wind, I suddenly heard something snapped… that’s when I noticed I was getting farther from my master.”

 

Although I didn’t see the tears, I could really say that the pink kite was crying.  So while it was talking, I busied myself looking for a long stick to catch its tail.

 

The kite continued, “I thought the wind is going to carry me as he said he would, but then he didn’t.  Instead he told me can carry me only as far as my strings can… and now here I am…. lost.”

 

“Wait! Wait!” I shouted back.  I just found the kind of stick I was looking for.  “Here, let me help you!”  But when I tried to tap the dangling string, it only swayed, and the kite went further up.

 

“Oh please, young lady! Help me!!!  I don’t know where I’m heading!”    But all I could do was helplessly look at the pink kite, as it continued to sway back and forth, flip right and left, upwards, out of my sight.

 

“If I knew this would happen…” Those were the last audible words I heard as it sailed on beyond my vision.  I didn’t hear anything more.  It was then that I noticed my own tears.  

God knows I did my best, but that was the least that I can do.

 

 

Charyl A. Azarcon

March 2010