Fly Away

Oh, how I wished I could fly.
I was sitting on the end of a salt-stained pier, my legs dangling above the choppy waters. Voices swirled around me, but I tuned them out. I was concentrating on the sea and the sky.
When I sit here like this, below a brilliant sun, my thoughts always turn to the sky. I'm haunted by dreams of soaring through the clouds, chased by imaginings of flying in the sky. Aren't we all? I believe that a little part of us always yearns for the freedom of the clouds. Nothing could ever compare to that impossible elation of flight. It's the ultimate dream.
Content to just dream, as always, I fell back on the pier and stared up at the sky. My eyes felt heavy, though, so I looked away. The sun was so bright...
Suddenly, I was standing on the other end of the pier. I was all alone, the continuous babble of voices fading into the distance. I stood so still for a moment, unsure of whether I should act on my impulse or not. Finally, the urge was too strong, and I ran.
I sprinted down that pier, racing faster than I ever had before. I reached the end after only a minute, the water growing larger every second. Before I could dwell on my impending fall, I tumbled off the end of the pier.
But I wasn't soaking wet, like I should be... I wasn't even damp. I was airborne, the breeze rushing past my skin in a delightfully appealing way.
I sat suspended in the sky, waiting for an unknown signal so I could fly. I was just thinking how much I wanted to ascend when I started to climb. Air whistled past my ears as I flew higher and higher, leaving the sodden pier and the churning ocean behind. I tentatively thought of stopping and my body obeyed, hanging once more in the clear sky.
Oh, how much scarier it was so high up! I felt as though I could plummet to Earth any second. The only thing keeping me from a full-blown panic attack was the sapphire sea below. I would not splat; I would just drop.
I thought of falling back down to the pier, so, naturally, I started to descend. But it wasn't as though I was falling; it was more like sinking slowly, like a feather.
I laughed to myself delightedly. I didn't need to worry about falling! I was perfectly safe up here in the sky. I would only fall if it was my most desperate desire. Otherwise, I would simply sink gracefully back to Earth... and reality. What was I doing waiting up here! The full reality had hit when I realized I was fine.
I could fly.
I soared and swooped, dove and rose again, laughing the entire time. It was so amazing up in the clouds! The wind pelted you, but it did not sting. It hugged you, folded around you like impenetrable armor. The sun was so bright and hot, and it flooded my body with warmth high up in the sky. The clouds were a nice antidote to the heat when it got to unbearable, the cooling crystals clinging to my fevered skin. The birds played with me too. They would flap their wings and circle me, no longer irksome, pesky creatures but playful friends in the sky.
Flying was better than I could ever have imagined. It was everything I dreamed it would be and more. If I could, I would spend my entire life in the clouds.
Suddenly, I fell to Earth with a bang. I was lying on the pier again, the sun unpleasantly hot on my face once more. The voices and laughter sounded again, the silence breaking like shattered glass. I sighed and sat up, understanding it was just a dream.
But something had changed when I "flew" in the sky. I could see it clearer now than ever before, the life I desperately wished for and the life I could never have.
Something bright caught my eye, despite the tears dewing in the corners of my eyes. It was a bright dash of color, sparkling and dancing in the sky.
My imagination continued to soar above me, swooping and tracing bright patterns in the crystal-colored sky.