Take off
Apparently, he didn’t have to. Looking up from his phone he noticed a vast space in his apartment where there wasn’t any furniture. It led to a wide pair of sliding doors which in turn led into a balcony. Wait, I never had that. Jared stepped outside and realized it was one of the balconies sphinxes used to land. There wasn’t any fence protecting him from falling to the ground. He very carefully inched his way to the edge and looked down. Greeting him was a 50+ foot drop to the street, a sure-fire ticket to becoming a red splat mark on the asphalt. People the size of ants waltzed by next to matchbox cars.
Oddly enough, Jared wasn’t scared. What should’ve been a heart-palpitating view of a deadly drop hardly made him quiver. He could bring himself close enough to the edge so that his toes were hanging over and not feel an ounce of terror. Leaning forward didn’t either, or the thought of plunging forward. And why would it? He could fly. Not a drop off the tallest cliff in the world should frighten him. He was a sphinx. Nothing could.
His attention was snapped to the building across the street when someone came dashing out of their balcony. They went right off the edge, their huge white wings blossoming across their back into a giant, obtuse V. Their agile curve into the air was casual and practiced, just like hopping onto a bike. Jared watched them disappear around the block. He was confident that they would return the same way they came.
I can do that, he thought to himself. I can do that right now. What was stopping him? The fear of heights? He didn’t have that anymore. Inexperience? He’d taken so many pictures of himself flying to prove that wasn’t true. No, he was perfectly capable of launching himself off that balcony and taking to the skies. What was he waiting for? Jared walked back into his apartment and turned around to face the open sliding doors. He took a deep breath. Muscle memory. That pair of words echoed in his head like a broken record. He repeated them a few more times before leaning back on his paws, ready to launch. OK. Count of three. One… Two… Oh God, this is crazy. Three!
Jared barreled through the apartment, towards the sliding doors, and out across the balcony. In just a few strides he was off solid ground, nothing but air beneath his feet. For just that second the world was weightless, his insides clenching on the suspense of gravity which was already pulling him to the earth. Then he deployed his wings.
Whoooooosh!
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 10 June 2024
