Flying
The ledger fell shut with a heavy thump. He blew out his lips with a sigh before returning it to the shelf. Now what? Do I go out and introduce myself to people who already know me? I’ve just about seen the whole village. What else is there? He exited the office and was about to exit out the front entrance when he noticed a door in the opposite direction down the hall that he had neglected to look inside because the office had distracted him. Opening it revealed the building’s backyard and the yonder cliff and valley. A rush of warm air blew into Jared’s face, rippling his skin with gooseflesh. Seeing the open vastness, its rows of inclines feeding into the ridges which hugged the valley low so tightly, Jared felt a glimmer of instinct in his bones.
Without another thought he stepped the rest of the way outside, leaving the door open behind him. At the cliff’s edge he ignored the great drop that would’ve killed him had he fallen, instead mesmerized by nature’s infinite. His broad hands flexed open. The spines growing out of his back and tail buzzed like a restless limb. It’s calling to me. I have to fly. A deep breath swooped into his nose and made his chest swell before coming out as a relaxed sigh. Muscle memory. Always remember muscle memory. He stretched his arm-wings out, the fingers splayed like the feathers of a bird. In one motion he swung his arms up and bent his legs, and in the next he pushed off his feet and flapped hard.
Whooooooosh
A roaring in his ears. The ground leapt away from him with the G-forces pulling on his flesh and spines. The wind rushed past his wings and fur like a jet of cool water, bristling the flesh with a certain coziness that would’ve made him fall asleep without the effort and surge of adrenaline. For a moment he faltered. His eyes went wide from shock at how much air he’d gotten off that one flap. He looked down over his shoulder, and though he was not struck by the terror of height like any normal human would, the rapid shrink of the cliffside and the village made his throat clench.
“Holy shit!” he said aloud, his voice muffled by the roaring wind. On instinct he flapped again, and he made the correct decision to look straight forward to see where he was going. Nothing but blue skies and white clouds ahead. He climbed and climbed, finally breaching the bottom limits of the companion cumuli and then leveling out above their cotton peaks. His heart pounded in his chest and the tips of his fingers and toes had gone icy, but he droned through the air with ease. His legs were tucked into his butt and his tail was held at length. He looked right and then left. The wind made his fingers jitter. Below was the valley, its natural intricacies sprouting and winding about in a set of human-like features. The sun was high above, casting Jared’s shadow on the grass and dragging it along as he went. His heartbeat started to wane, and a smile crept up his face. “Holy shit,” he said again. This really beats the hell out of the selkie realm.
He flew on for many leagues, tracking the valley’s progress into the landscape and the many mountains which weaved their way to the horizon. Other settlements peeled into view, either atop hills like his own had been or in the valley’s crux. Other flying Pokémon joined him in the sky, flying in every which direction. None came close enough for him to say ‘hi’ to, but he could at least watch them soar past and wonder what business they had outside their own settlements, where they were going, who they were, what kind of life they led.
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 07 December 2025
The end (for now)