On Wings, I Fly

This story (which I just began to write tonight) is about a boy named Damon, who isn't like the others around him; for that matter, he isn't like the others on Earth! Damon's parents were not human, as he finds out, and soon he is swept into an adventure of a lifetime!

“We need to talk.” And so was the beginning of the rest of my life.

I plodded down the steps reluctantly, walking to the kitchen where my uncle was.

“What is it? I’m missing my show,” I said ignorantly, not knowing what he wanted to talk about.

“This is important.” Uncle Jerry was sitting at the table, with a solemn, somewhat resigned, look on his face.

Realizing that what he wanted to tell me was serious, I brushed a lock of black hair out of the way of eyes and took a seat across from him.

Now, before I go on, you have to understand something. Uncle Jerry wasn’t usually a serious guy. He loved to joke around about his big belly, or the gray hairs creeping into his hair, or his big feet, or anything to make a joke. See, I reacted the way I did because the only other time that I could remember Uncle Jerry looking so grave was when my Aunt Lisa died, thirteen years ago, when I was three. She was a nice lady, from the few memories I had from her, but I don’t remember being that connected to her, probably because I was so young. I can just barely remember her funeral.

Her death changed my uncle. Sure, he was always light-hearted, but he used to be serious before, as well. After Aunt Lisa died, he became a clown, never being able to take anything seriously. I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, because it wasn’t that things just didn’t make him sad or angry, it was that he would bottle those feelings up. Had to be hard for him.

Anyway, so there I was, sitting across from my somber uncle. A million things flashed through my mind, but the most prominent was, ‘Who could have died?’ Nobody came up that I could think of, unless it was one of Uncle Jerry’s real-good friends or someone like that. I had no sisters or brothers to speak of, and I had never known my biological parents.

After an uncomfortable silence occupied by me trying to figure out what was wrong and my uncle looking down at the plain, oak kitchen table, I spoke up. “What’s the matter?” I asked gently, hoping my uncle wouldn’t burst into tears. I was never good with that sort of thing.

It took him a second to respond. “Now, what I am about to tell you is very important, and I just want you to know, I love you and I always will, Damon.”

I soaked that in. “I love you, too.” And I did. Like a father.

There was another brief silence. The tension in the air lay like thick dust all around us. My curiosity was almost unbearable.

“I am not your uncle.”

The words were mumbled, but I heard them clearly enough. Quickly, talking in that half-second after my uncle had finished, instinctively, I replied, “Yes, you are.”

“No. I am not your true uncle.”

Once again I soaked in Uncle (or not) Jerry’s words. How could that be true?

“Wha…” I said, desperate and confused.

“What I mean is, I am not your father or your mother’s brother. But I am your uncle in every other sense, Damon.” He spoke softly, as if these words would break me.

“Then…then… who are you?” I managed to say, with some level of difficulty, I might add.

“I am a good friend of your parents. When they died, I was the one who took custody of you.”

There was another silence. “Oh,” I said dumbly. That wasn’t too bad. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

His slightly-wrinkled face turned away from me, dull brown eyes searching for something else in the room to cling on to.

It was then that I realized that this wasn’t all of what he needed to tell me.

“Your parents—they…” he stumbled around for a word, “weren’t from around here.”

“Am I not,” I faltered for a moment, too, “from New York?” I asked, not knowing what he was trying to say to me. Maybe I wasn’t born in the city? Even though that may sound stupid now, remember that I had no idea what was going on. My mind was trying to make sense of something that I had no knowledge of.

“No,” he responded with a nervous chuckle. “Not at all.”

I waited to see if he was going to expand on this. All he said was, “Think big.”

Taking this into consideration, I did think big. And then…

No! That was impossible! There was no way—it was crazy!—but I had to know the truth.

“I don’t belong here, on Earth I mean, do I?” I asked, choosing my words carefully. Before he could answer, I was swept with a million possibilities for the second time in about five minutes. Was I an alien? Thoughts of the comic books I read when I was growing up popped into my head, followed and flooded by hundreds of more ideas.

Uncle Jerry seemed to be slightly more at ease now. “Think of what you can do,” he stated simply.

That spurred my mind even more. In school, I was faster than everybody; I could beat all of my peers in a race. I was stronger than them; I could do way more pull-ups and sit-ups and push-ups and chin-ups. I was quicker than them, and I don’t mean in a running sort of way; I could dodge objects being thrown at me; move out of the way from a punch in a fight; steal the ball from a player in basketball; could know where the football was being thrown, and weave my way in and out of the players to intercept it.

I could do all of those things, and for my whole, sixteen-year life, I took it for granted. Even now as I look back, I’ll admit it: I just thought I was better.

“No,” the word came out barely as a whisper.

My uncle must have taken this as a sign to continue because he said, “Your parents were not humans, Damon. And neither,” he paused, drawing in a breath, “are you.”

Tis very interesting.
Keep writing! 😄

Cool story!! I would like to know more1

keep going pls!

What I had been thinking for the last minute or so was finally spoken, finally recognized, finally out there. Had I really been thinking about it for sixty seconds, or had it always been in the back of my mind? Even now, I do not have an answer to that question. I don’t know if I ever will.

My uncle sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest, waiting to see what my reaction would be.

The truth is, for a whole few minutes, I had none. I had just been told that I was an alien. What could I do, besides sit there and stare?

Finally, after a couple minutes that felt like years, I opened my mouth. At first, the words wouldn’t come. My mouth felt dry and foreign, although before tonight I had had no trouble using it. Eventually, I spoke, the words sounding awkward and uncomfortable.

“Where… was… I…” I couldn’t complete the sentence, although my uncle knew what I was trying to say.

His fingers traced his bushy silver beard instinctively, probably wondering how to say what he wanted to say. “Tebion,” he said. That word meant absolutely nothing to me. “Er, it’s a planet, far across the galaxy. Your parents said it was similar to Earth.”

I stared dumbly at my uncle. He seemed so unfamiliar to me, as if he was a complete and total stranger.

Was this a dream? I pinched myself. Nope. Not a dream.

“So… there really is life out there,” I said, the possibilities dawning in my mind, all the millions of civilizations that could be living out there.

“Yes, and judging from what your parents talked about, there’s a lot of it.”

Two questions that had been ebbing away at the back of my mind ever since Uncle Jerry had revealed the news to me wanted out of my had like a couple of wild animals. I finally had to say them. “What were they like? How did you meet them?” I blurted out.

“Who? Your parents?”

I nodded.

“Well, you see, I never used to live in New York. I used to live in New Mexico, right near Roswell. That was where I first met your parents.”

“Roswell… the alien sightings,” I said, comprehension beginning to grace me with its glory.

“The one and only. Anyway, I was driving home from the grocery store one night when I saw a bright flash in the sky. A giant ball of flame that had spawned from the light plummeted towards the ground and crashed in the corn field right next to the road that I had been driving on. I stopped the car and went to go investigate what had happened. When I got about midway into the field, I found the crash site. There, in the middle of all the broken and fiery crops, was the spaceship. It looked like a large, silver oval. To my great surprise, two human-like beings emerged from the ship. Before I could get a heart attack, your parents, as they were, calmed me. I don’t know what it was, but your mother began to talk to me in this soothing voice, and I calmed down. They told me their situation. I told them they could stay in my basement until they could repair the ship. Before I knew it, the ship was fixed and the left.”

“What were they like while they stayed at your house?” I asked, not being able to hold back my curiosity.

“Well, I don’t know what it was, but after they left, the details of those past few weeks were blurry. From what I can remember, they were nice people. Even after they left, we kept in touch. It seems ethrials, which are what natives to Tebion are called, have a great sense of loyalty, and very efficient ways to communicate, I might add. Either that, or they were afraid I would go babbling about them, so they were keeping on my good side.”

Hmm, so my parents were nice. That’s all Uncle jerry seemed to be able to tell me. Then I recalled the word he had called them. “Ethrial.” I said the word slowly, rolling it around my mouth like a sweet juice. “Ethrial,” I repeated. That’s what I was. Not a human. An ethrial.

After a moment, I said to my uncle, “I think I’ll go upstairs. I’ve got to let this sink in.” I still didn’t know what to think about the whole situation.

As I was standing from the chair, Uncle Jerry spoke up. “Wait,” he said, raising a hand in the air as a gesture for me to stop. “Damon, I know you’ve already realized what being stronger, faster, and quicker than everybody else means.”

I nodded. I figured it was because of my alien blood.

“Well, there’s more. Adult ethrials don’t look exactly like humans, although the two are very similar.”

I felt my heart drop. What if I was going to turn into a mutant freak with no hair, eight arms, and blue skin?

When my uncle didn’t continue, I prodded him. “What’s different about them?”

“Ethrials grow wings.”

My heart skipped. Wings?

“Wings?” I said weakly, vocalizing my thoughts.

“Wings,” my uncle repeated firmly. “Your father and mother… I thought they were angels.”

I chuckled, releasing some of the tension in the air.

“But how come I don’t have wings, then?” I questioned. It was still hard for me to grasp the fact that I was an alien.

“Your mother told me ethrials grow their wings when they reach twenty years of age,” explained Uncle Jerry.

“Oh, so I still have four years to go,” I said. Well, I guess I still had four years left before I became a freak.

“No, Damon. When your mother told me, she was talking in terms of Tebion years. An Earth year is roughly 1.25 times longer than that of a Tebion year.”

I looked on, confused.

“Do the math, Damon. You’ve always been good at math,” said my uncle simply, and I did the calculations.

Okay, since an Earth year is equal to 1.25 Tebion years, I would have to find a number that, when multiplied by 1.25, equaled 20. Well, that was simple. All I had to do was divided 20 by 1.25 and I would have my answer. Uncle Jerry was speaking the truth when he said I was talented with math. I divided 20 by 1.25 in my head and came up with—

“No,” I whispered, trying to keep the apprehension out of my voice.

“Sixteen,” responded Uncle Jerry. “You’re a late bloomer.”

It couldn’t be! That meant that people on Tebion grew wings when they were sixteen Earth years old.

I was sixteen Earth years old!

Half-expecting two wings to sprout out of my back at any moment, I said, “So I should have wings right now?”

“Yup. Your mother warned me they might come late, because of the amplified gravity on Earth compared to Tebion. See, I had to tell you the truth tonight. I should have done it on your sixteenth birthday, but I was biding my time. Could you imagine if two feathery wings appeared magically on your back?”

I could, and the picture made me want to lie down as soon as possible. “I need to go lay down,” I said, and hurried up to my room. My uncle didn’t stop me.

When I got upstairs, I ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror.

This was not a human body. Everything from my untidy black hair, my slightly pointed nose, narrow face, slender figure, and big feet were not right, at least for this planet. I checked my back, searching in vain for any sign of wings emerging.

If I had known then that my wings would come suddenly and painfully, I would not have wasted my time checking for a slight disturbance in my skin because, as I would soon find out, that is not how ethrials grow their wings.

Good story.. keep going.

I like it!!!!!!!!!1

great details!
love the story so far!

I think it's really good too!

Hope u write more!!!

more?

Soon. I wrote the fourth chapter, totally hated it, so I am re-writing it.

Sorry about the wait! 😮

yeah!!!!!!!!
more soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

MOre!!!!!

more?

Oh yeah, by the way, u have a really excellent title!! That's y i clicked on it. It's a very attractive name!

Thanks! Once again, sorry for the wait. Fourth chapter is almost finished. I should have it revised and up by Monday at the latest! 🙂

yeah! more! love the title too!

And finally, we have the fourth chapter:

I remember those few minutes of my life more vividly than anything else that I had ever experienced. My heart leaping to my throat in joy of flight; the blaring white lights; the complete silence of the stadium; I remember it all.

When I looked down, I saw how high in the air I was. When I looked down, I stopped beating my wings altogether. When I looked down, I began to fall.

I gasped, terrified, trying to whip the air with my wings. I struggled against my own inexperience, and unfortunately for me, my inexperience triumphed. I fell, wings folded towards my body, gaining speed as I plummeted. I remember the blur of faces and colors, swirling ever so fast. The world around me wanted to tip over my ears, but I wouldn’t allow it. I knew that I couldn’t pass out, or I would be in trouble when I hit the ground and security came to see my motionless body.

I tumbled through the air, slightly aware that the game below me had stopped altogether. I could see the players’ faces staring up at me in wonder; I could hear the faint whispers and then the collective gasps as I neared the ground. I blinked my eyes hard; the wind was drying them out.

I remember seeing the green grass, twisting and moving violently below me, and filling my vision more and more as I plunged closer and closer. When I was only about fifteen feet from the ground, I shut my eyes, bracing for impact.

Another second and I crashed, body landing heavily in the dirt. The only reason I had survived was because of the ethrial blood running through my veins, but that didn’t stop a searing pain from immediately greeting me from my left arm. My whole body ached from the collision.

As feeling slowly returned to my limbs and I was sure I could move them, I spread my pinions gingerly. They didn’t seem to be damaged, at least.

I started to become aware of the people in the stadium again. As I looked up, I saw many arms outstretched, fingers pointing excitedly. I noticed something odd, however; the spectators didn’t seem to be pointing at me, rather, behind me.

My heart gave a quick jolt. Fearing the worst, I slowly turned and glanced over my shoulder.

“Put your hands up where we can see them!” said one of about ten security officers approaching me, weapons drawn.

Guns! And they looked deadly, especially since they were trained right on my barely-standing body! The pistols took on an even more vicious air because of the stadium lights gleaming off the polished, black, evil surface.

I stood, frozen on the spot.

“I said: put your hands where we can see them!” repeated the man.

I obeyed, slowly raising my arms in the air.

“Now, turn and face us!”

I turned, hands still raised, to see the speaker. He was an average-sized, middle-age bald man, wearing a typical, blue, police uniform. The other officers around him wore the same outfit. They moved deliberately and carefully, slowly moving to surround me.

“You are under arrest for unlawful behavior in a civilized sporting-event stadium. You are to lie on the ground on your stomach, hands out in front of you. Medical attention to you will be allowed. Do you need it?”

I didn’t know what to do. I could imagine what I looked like, a winged boy who had just attempted to fly high, fell, and now was standing dumbstruck in front of armed security men. What could I do? I knew submitting to the officers would only lead me into more trouble; the government would probably run experiments on me and take me away from Uncle Jerry.

I definitely didn’t want that to happen, so I knew there was only one logical thing for me to do.

Run.

I turned, stopped thinking completely, and simply began to move, one leg pumping rapidly in front of the other. I could hear the officers yell, but I couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying. People were screaming and clapping. It felt like the whole world was just as confusing as I was, and little did I know that in a few seconds, it was about to get even worse.

I sprinted away from the guards and chanced a look over my shoulder. The officers were chasing me down, and they were gaining!

I realized that it was my wings that were holding me up. I couldn’t run quickly with them!

For a brief moment, I thought, It would be easier to run without these things. Immediately after that thought came and went, my back was swept with the oddest, strangest sensation I had ever felt, although it resembled the feeling I had gotten when my wings had been emerging. I doubled over, although I was not actually in pain, I made it seem like I was, hoping the officers wouldn’t come near me. I retched and squirmed. When the officers saw this, my idea worked, and they kept their distance.

“Holy mother of—” I could hear a security man say. I had no idea at all of what was happening to my back, once again.

The feeling stopped as soon as it had begun, but it was replaced by another, less intense, sensation. I felt lighter! I stood upright and looked at my back over my shoulder once again. My wings—they were gone! They were no longer visible on my back, and I couldn’t feel them!

I was too confused for words at the moment. It seemed as if, to the officers, that feeling was mutual. I saw my chance to run again, so I darted off. I reached the green wall right below the bottom-most seats above the field. I leaped up and grabbed the metal bars. Pulling myself up, I hit the aisle and began to run up the stairs in the middle of that section. When I reached the top of the stairs (which was also the top of the section), I dashed past the last row of seats and reached the railing that ran down the length of the section. I peered down below; it was a parking lot. I grabbed hold of the rail, pulled myself up and over, fell, and landed, a dozen feet below, next to a parked, dark blue Mitsubishi.

I stood up, scanning the area for some clue as to where I was relative to where my uncle and I had parked. There, about a hundred yards off, in the middle of the parking lot, stood a tall street light with a sign attached. It said, ‘B.’ Uncle Jerry and I had parked in lot ‘A.’

I rushed off to my left, rounding the corner of the stadium. The pole with the letter ‘A’ on it came into my view almost immediately, so I made my way over to the sea of cars.

My eyes searched desperately for the white Pontiac. I knew that security was probably heading my way at that exact moment.

As I was passing a blue car, I heard heavy breathing and feet pounding against the ground. Looking behind me, I saw my uncle, large chest heaving, running straight for me. He pointed—somewhere beyond me. I followed his finger and saw his small car, a row over. I waited for him to catch up, and then my uncle and I hurried over to the vehicle.

We got in, both of us breathing heavily (him more so than me…). Wordlessly, Uncle Jerry ignited the engine, and we drove, only wanting to get far, far away, from that stadium.

how do you sit with wings??????