In Flight

In the course of one of my extensive travels, the unseen power of my mind pushed me to explore a newer different coloured land of red mud and berries. Yes, it was here that I would gain a new perspective on flight. The flight of imagination and... well mine.

So, you sign your name on the notepad in scratchy writing…the boys that accompany you do not. I guess their tummies begin to churn just a little. But let’s not get condescending now. The adventurous woman has to move forward. They put me into an adult baby carrier and place a helmet on my head.

‘Be careful,’ says a soul from behind me. Right hand forward...teary-eyed and all.
“If anything happens to me, tell me you will live on... go on and marry that peaches and cream girl across the border.” I reply with equal melodrama.

The wings are brought on… I choose the bright orange ones. What’s the point of flying if no one sees you eh?

“Two men collided into each other. Their wings got locked and they hurtled together into the abyss. They flew their last flight in unison,“ says a bystander.

Suddenly, hands clutch me from behind.

“Don’t do this. You still have a chance. What foolishness!! We aren’t meant for flight, we are mere bipeds, confined to the surface of the earth. No nooo nooo.

The tragic hero(ine) in me rises. “I’d rather die in flight,” I say, ”how better that is, than to die old and ugly in a bed of white linen, surrounded by rare tonics and the sickening sweet smell of partially rotting flowers. And then the girl across the border… isn’t she a better match for you. She comes with six acres of farmland. Imagine how much opium poppy you can grow?”

The hands loosen their grip.

I don’t know whether it was the utter exasperation of trying to change the mind of a bull, the lust of the girl across the border, the visual impact of the farmland, or the reminder of the high that opium brings. Anyway with those impediments out of my way, I march forward.

A man attaches himself to my wings because I don’t know how to operate them.
“You’ll have to run off the cliff,” he says. I nod.

We begin our run. It’s wonderful. I am running, looking at my feet. Left foot on red mud… right foot on red mud, left foot on red mud… right foot on red mud…. Left foot on red mud…. right foot on re…no on nothing… on air.

My first step on air and I am yanked upwards. I am flying. I feel nothing, not the weight of my heavier lower half nor the starkly contrasting weight of the lighter upper half. Nothing… pure nothing…weightless nothing. The initial excitement begins to wear off, the ants on the ground I can now see. The green tattoo on the mount I now see. The colour of its skin contrasting the myriad shades of green, creating a pattern for only those in flight to see. Hey what’s that white and black thing? Its moving…a gau (cow). Oh my!!! So tiny. Exhilaration at its best!

“The wind’s dropping,” he says from behind.
“What?” I ask.
“We aren’t going to make it back to the hilltop,” he says. Do you want to do some tricks while we still have the time? We’ll go down faster…but it might be a little scary… for a girl that is.”

Scary for a girl. I’ll show you MCP. And if your going down the faster the better right? Less time to imagine yourself hurtling down into a rocky chasm and virtually feeling the impact of jagged rocks on the tender flesh of different parts of the body.

“Go ahead” I said in a voice that (I thought) reeked of indifference and confidence, “I’m not scared off easily.”
We proceeded, then, to do stomach churning flippy things…and yes we did fall faster.

“Do u want to crash into that tree there?” He asked.
Want? Yeah right, lynched to death. Exactly what I’ve prayed for all my life! Oh my! It’s a giant thorn tree so I’ll be scratched beyond recognition.
“I want to die pretty”, I said... “find a better spot”.
He laughs “We’ll land beside it then.”
Isnt there a water body close by?” I ask. “That would cushion us a little”.
“Well, there is, but we don’t have enough air to carry us there. The field will have to do. Raise both your legs up and land on your er… er… seat,” He says.

Hmm... interesting line of instruction. So contrary to popular opinion my last thoughts on earth were not nostalgic ones of family, friend, lover or enemy. Neither did I see my whole life flash in front of me in those split seconds. There were thoughts of perverseness. But then, I always knew that I was made of different clay or mud or whatever it is that humans are made of!

We land in the middle of the field. A cow bears witness. The farmer and his brigade of small boys can be seen running towards us in the distance. I live…to write this.

Strange isn’t it, we begin our flight to take us higher than we already are; we begin our flight to newer heights, not content with the altitude we are at. Sometimes we soar for a few moments and then land smack in the middle of another level a little lower than what we were originally at.

But then a few minutes of flight are well worth the arduous walk upwards!