Aloi Who Learned To Fly

Up and Down

It was because of her junior brother Mick that Aloi stumbled upon her gift. She had to look after Mick often but it was only fair since Trin looked after her when she was his age. He had chased his squirrel friend, Mel, up into the branches of a maple. He climbed so high, in fact, that he was too frightened to climb back down.

"Just climb down. Put your foot on that big branch there. No to the left," Aloi coached him.

"I can't, Aloi, please help," he said. His black hair glistened with sweat around his hairline. His large green eyes, as dark as moss, pleaded with her louder than his voice. Aloi sighed and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. It was the first day of summer, High Summer Day as the Faeries called it, and one broke out in a sweat without trying.

Aloi shimmied up the trunk of the maple placing her slender feet in crevices or on top of knots and clutching the same as she ascended. She pulled herself onto the branch next to Mick and pondered a way to get the three of them down safely.

"You must climb onto my back," she said. "Wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist."

"But Mel," he said, and pulled the squirrel close to his chest with his free arm. His other remained wrapped tightly around the branch. Mel chattered and snuggled into the crook of Mick's elbow. She was just as unwilling to part with him and he was with her.

"Tuck her in your shirt then," Aloi said. Mick hesitated. "I'll do it," she huffed.

Aloi wrapped her legs around the branch and squeezed them against the bark. She gathered Mel in her hands and slid her down the neck of Mick's blue cotton tunic. Her coppery brown fur was just slightly paler than his flesh. She blended right in aside from her little black eyes and the tufts of white hair that stuck out from inside her pointed ears.

"Now I shall crawl in front of you so you can clutch me. Give me some room."

Aloi turned her body so that her back was facing upward. She pulled herself farther out toward the end of the branch just in front of her brother. Mick put his arms around her neck. He pulled up one leg and the branch cracked and leaned downward. The three of them jerked but gladly the branch did not give way.

"Hurry," Aloi pleaded. Mick pulled up his other leg and wrapped it around her waist. Aloi pushed herself backward toward the trunk with one hand over the other. The branch cracked again and the three of them bobbed up and down with its momentum. Mick cried out. Mel chattered and squeaked.

Aloi inched backward toward the trunk but it was too little and too late. The branch sheared off the tree and they began a free fall. Mick's hold came loose and he rolled around Aloi's body. He tightened his grip just in time to hang below her chest. Aloi flailed and tried to twist her body so that she would not crush him as they hit the ground.

She shut her eyes. With all the powers of her mind that she could muster, she willed her body to turn, to prevent any harm from coming to her baby brother. She felt lighter, a sharp contrast to the force that pulled them to the shrubs and damp earth below.

Mick gasped and giggled. Aloi opened her eyes. She looked behind her and saw that her wings were wide open. She felt a tickle in the center of her back and they closed and opened again. The movement pushed them farther along the crystal blue sky.

Aloi gathered Mick in her arms. She wasn't sure how to control her wings other than by thinking of it. She wanted to land on the ground so her wings stayed open and taut and they rode the wind down to the ground like a hawk. One more flap steadied her just before her feet touched the soggy earth.

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