The GIS Entry for the FOBISIA Writing Competition 2016
FLIGHT by Hanna Sammanthan 8K
Ben fiddled with his uniform's collar as the hot sun heated down along the dirt road. He had stopped dragging himself down the dusty path a while ago, he was bored of rushing around so fast, he was bored of the hot sun and the stones in his shoes.
His wide brimmed hat sat awkwardly on his head; it was far too big for him, it protected him from the sun but it was very uncomfortable, I could use it for an umbrella he thought, but he just ignored it, if I take it off it won't work, he angrily reminded himself what his friend had told him as he wrapped his skinny fingers around the tattered grey ribbon that held the ridiculous accessory on his head.
A quick blur flickered past Ben's eyes, the blur became a shape, a shape that was quickly moving away from him.
"Hurry up, slow coach!" It yelled, the brightly familiar voice ringing through Ben's ears. He watched for a moment, he watched the arms of his friend as they swung rapidly, like the pendulum of a expensive clock or the watch of a magician. He watched the way their body twist very slightly as their feet took turns to hit the ground. He watched their hair race back like the trail of a shooting star, he let out a long sigh, and returned to pushing himself along on his rusty wheelchair. Slowly he thought slowly I'll get there...
Ben's friends name was T, just T. Ben liked to think that he knew T very well, they had been friends for as long as anyone could remember.
However, he did not know T very well. There were still the long gaps in conversation, the strange questions that Ben was afraid to ask. The other kids at school often asked those quest anyway.
For example, once a student nervously asked "Are you a boy or a girl?"
T gave a sharp nod and replied "No."
Which didn't really help anyone's understanding of T. There were still too many questions, like why they were always covered head to toe in black soot, or why one day they would come to school bald and the next day with a full head of hair, or why they memorized shakespeare perfectly, or why their feet hovered half a millimetre of the ground wherever they stood.
Most kids avoided T. Not Ben, he learned to ignore the strange things about T, Ben learned to ignore most things.
"We're here!" Chirped T's voice "soon I'll grant your wish!" They grinned.
Ben grinned too, if he was being honest he didn't actually think that T could grant his wish. It was impossible, but T seemed to attract impossible things, so why not let them try?
Ben had only ever had one wish his entire life, to fly.
People often thought that this was because he was stuck in a wheelchair.
They were wrong.
Being in a wheelchair didn't make Ben want to fly, but it did sometimes make him want to walk.
Ben and T looked up at the large wooden fence that was the barrier to a huge cornfield.
"Just over this fence" T announced proudly. Ben stared up at the high barrier, it was much taller than the two of them, and he suddenly felt doubtful.
"T?" He mumbled.
"I can't climb-" but before Ben could finish his sentence, T had flung him over their shoulder and leaped over the fence in one swooping jump. Ben was shocked, but he pretended that he wasn't. He couldn't let T feel like they were weird, he knew that it's not a nice feeling.
T lay Ben down gently on the ground of the cornfield, his hat was now at an extremely odd angle, but he didn't want to trouble T,so he waited. He couldn't see much because he was lying on his back, but he stared at the sky for a while, he listened to the surprisingly tranquil sounds of T tinkering, the odd rustle of leaves when a breeze picked up, and the muttering of that T often spurted while they were working.
Soon Ben grew bored and, he wouldn't let it show but, he was suddenly more optimistic, as if it was in fact possible for T to make Ben fly.
Hesitant, Ben asked
"What on earth are you doing?" The flicker of a smile across his mouth.
"I don't know!" T smiled and tossed the small contraption at the ground and quickly buried it.
Okay Ben thought I'll just ignore that...
Ben smiled, it was best to be patient with T.
"T" he said, slightly more stern.
"My wish?"
T's eyes lit up, they waddled over to Ben and picked him up by his arms.
"Where will you fly?" They asked
Ben thought for a moment, he never really thought about it before,
"The perfect place" Ben said, he looked at T. Their eyes glistened with wonder and Ben could tell he answered correctly.
T's hands felt rough, like sandpaper. The scraped against Ben's soft arms as he was thrown upwards.
As soon as Ben left T's arms he was embraced by the sky. The floating sensation in his stomach, his arms, his head, was unlike anything he ever felt. But the feeling kept going and going, up and up, higher and higher, his eyes grew large with surprise. The tugging of the sky continued until it began to feel odd, uncomfortable, how far up am I? Ben thought, his smile was long gone now, and he kept going until he was just a dot in the sky, a silly, hat wearing dot in the sky.
T stood in the cornfield, they watched that dot it the sky, hoping it would reappear.
They cried out at their mistake, yelled at the sky to return their friend.
But it did not, Ben had gone.
T seethed with shock then anger, they did not understand why Ben's perfect place was so far away...
