Author's Notes: Harry continues to deal with the fallout of the crash as week five and six pass at Premier Delta.
TRIGGER WARNINGS!! Flashbacks and symptoms similar to PTSD in this chapter. Please be safe!
Huge thanks to my duo of fantastic RIOs, CueTheTommo and Bubblymar, who have helped mold this story into something of which I can be proud. It would be a wreck without them (as would I, most likely). Major love to them both.
This chapter goes out to Cyberlouser, who has made me laugh all week with her *gentle* nudges on Tumblr to get my butt writing! You make me smile, my dear!
Mood Music:
Infinity - One Direction (umm....I'm sobbing.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAERpGGh-wA
Unsteady - X Ambassadors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0lw3qylVfY
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RealityBetterThanFiction's Crash-Course to Aviation:
"Strong son of man, save those who fly, swift winged across the uncharted sky. Each anxious hour, each lonely flight, serenely challenged day or night. O'er land and ocean safely bear, all those in peril in the air."
The words of the priest were met with nothing but silence from the small cluster of dark clad figures ringing the casket, watching as the Union Jack flag that had been draped over the coffin's surface was removed and meticulously folded. The flag was presented to the grieving family by a duo of men in Naval dress, faces somber and stoic. As tears spilled over cheeks, the now bare casket was lowered slowly into the ground. It was empty, since a body had never been recovered. The final resting place would not be this cold, weathered patch of dirt. The burial was closure for the living, not a way to bring peace to the dead.
The priest bowed his head, hands folded in prayer. "Let his soul rise and keep company eternally with the angels. He no longer needs wings to fly. Amen."
A lone trumpeter began playing The Last Post, accompanied by only the desolate calling of a crow circling the otherwise vacant cemetery. Harry shuddered when the casket finally stopped at the bottom of the shallow grave, landing with a resounding thud as the last notes of the hymn floated on the breeze.
Harry made the sign of the cross over his chest, hand coming to rest over the pendant dangling around his neck. His other arm wrapped around his mother's shoulders as she sobbed into her hand, clutching the folded flag to her breast. They both startled at the first fire of the rifles, sound ringing out across the sprawling plane of the military cemetery where Harry already knew he would never set foot again. He wouldn't find his father here. Not in body or spirit.
The rifles continued to fire their salute to another fallen brother as fellow servicemen paid their last respects to Captain Edward Styles, stopping to offer condolences to Harry's inconsolable mum before saluting the picture that had been placed near the burial site. Harry stood and watched as the line of men slowly dwindled until it was only he and his mother left.
There were no words to comfort her. Especially when Harry knew what he was about to do as soon as he left this cemetery. Instead he simply kissed her forehead and wrapped her in his arms, flag pressed between them.
Something changed then. Harry had relived this moment so many times by now in his memory that he knew it as well as his own heartbeat. But something was different now. When Harry looked up from his mother's tear-streaked face, his eyes caught a solitary figure standing under a tree on the hill just to the East. The figure was dressed in a Royal Navy uniform, cap shadowing his face. He looked on as Harry squinted to see him better, but a moment later he was gone. Seemingly vanishing into thin air just like the great Captain Styles had done.
YOU ARE READING
Take My Breath Away
Roman pour AdolescentsThere is a prestigious school in the British Royal Navy classified as Premier Delta - or as it is known by its flyers, 1D. These select pilots are an elite set of Naval lieutenants who are trained in the skill of aggressive aerial combat. They are i...
