Words in Frame, 6/17

Suspended in air, clutching onto the metal bar of his glider, he suddenly wondered if he had taken out the chicken to thaw. Granted this was a bit of a random thought, but he had to find some way to tether himself to the world whilst flying above it. Flying felt more foreign than he remembered and he was still looking for a new anchor.

Nate had started hang gliding a few years ago at the recommendation of a past girlfriend. Heights had always made him uneasy but he was in love with her so he was willing to try anything. They had set out on this foggy morning, as most days in San Francisco turn out to be, and took their place atop one of the many hills in the area.

“Um…are you sure about this?” Nate asked her in a sincere yet worried tone.

She giggled before responding, “I am about as sure as I can be. Having second thoughts now?”

He was gripping the control bar of his rented glider so tight he could no longer feel his hands. Even if he wanted to back out there was no stopping at this point. So he just smiled at her and shook his head. One way or another he wanted to follow this girl to the ends of the Earth.

So he swallowed his fear and jumped.

Immediately it felt the worst decision he had ever made. The wind was rushing around him as it felt like he was plummeting toward the fog and into the unknown. He couldn’t focus on anything except the feeling of fear that had consumed every inch of his body. Was love really worth all this anxiety? Could this glider actually support him? Why couldn’t he find someone who was just into that stupid cat app like the rest of his friends?

Then the wind caught up with him and changed his world. No longer was he speeding toward a certain death but rather gliding across the very sky that most people never even notice anymore. In that moment, he felt a sense of liberation he thought was impossible. He took the time to look at his surroundings, his first time doing so since he left solid ground, and spotted the tip of the Golden Gate Bridge through the fog. It was so protected by fog that it looked like the highest tower in a fortress; important enough to stand taller than anything else but fragile enough to need the fog as a shroud. He a saw a side to his city he had never seen before, a quiet calm in the otherwise ever lively city. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her, illuminated by the sun like a golden phoenix. She was a natural of course, treating the airways as her playground. There were no rules up here, no chains to hold her back, and no fear to anchor her to the earth.

When they landed he told her he understood why she loved this so much, to which she replied: “No you don’t, and you can’t possibly understand. Each person flies their own way and for their own reasons, so you don’t need to understand why another person does it. You just need to do it for you.”

He looked at her quizzically, not really knowing what to say in the moment. But she leaned against him on the hill as they both sat in the silence and let the breeze wash over them. They had conquered the sky and felt like they owned the world. The Bridge was their kingdom and the fog blocked out all of life’s stresses for a brief moment. They would continue to glide thorough the sky together. When he was in his kingdom he never wanted to come down.

Even when she crashed.

Even when he held her hand on the hospital stretcher, trying to give her all the energy he hadn’t already lost worrying over her. When the doctor came with bad news all he wanted was to be back in the sky. The funeral was held outdoors out of respect for her passion, and he never took his eyes off the foggy sky. He could see the remnants of their old kingdom, now without a king and queen to rule to skies around it. Even a year after his wings had been clipped, he could think of nothing but the peace in the clouds they once shared.

So as he stood upon their hill, preparing to fly alone for the first time ever, he could not help but tear up as he came upon the same hidden view of the bridge he had so longed for. The bridge they shared together. The sky they dedicated to each other. The wind that cleansed him of his fears greeted him like an old companion.

Suddenly a frozen chicken was nowhere on his mind, as he rushed back to claim his forgotten throne