Freaks

35 • airborne

❝in one kiss you'll know all I haven't said.❞
ｐａｂｌｏ ｎｅｒｕｄａ

___

  ＹＥＡＲＳ ago, before Richard Masters became mayor, there was a project being run in Haven. 'Haven on Earth' it was called. The whole idea behind the project was to put Haven on the map, to help it connect with the neighbouring towns and cities it had been disconnected from for so long.

There were plans to build dozens of new homes on the outskirts of the town; improve the shopping centre and build a new leisure centre. There were talks of making the old bridge outside of town useful, maybe building a highway or a rail-line to make Haven more accessible to the outside world.

When Andrew's father became mayor the following year, all construction stopped. He'd agreed to continue the work done in the town centre — modernising the mall, building the leisure centre, even renovating the old theatre into a multiplex cinema. On the other hand, the outskirts of Haven became a ghost town. Scaffolding clung to the unfinished framework of appartement blocks. Decommissioned equipment became a part of the scenery. It was an odd juxtaposition of trees, machinery and incomplete roads that trailed off into nothing.

Secretly, I think my aunt and uncle were relieved. When they chose our house, what was most important to them was privacy. The works occurring less than a mile away from us was a constant source of complaint in our neighbourhood those first few months. Sometimes, I wonder how things would have turned out if the project hadn't ended. If the incomplete structures that dotted the edges of the town would have helped it grow into a metropolis in its own respect. 

But then I think, if the project had continued, then Cole wouldn't have chosen the site for our flight lessons.

"I'm just saying, it's a bit presumptuous." I shrug. "You driving past here on your way to mine, making the assumption that I'd not only take you guys in, but I'd be willing to let you teach me how to fly."

"What happened to trusting me?"

"What happened to not dangling off the edge of an eight-storey building?"

Cole rolls his eyes. "You say that like you're the one floating off the edge not me," he says. "Now, concentrate. Remember my instructions?"

"Yeah, Yeah."

To help me concentrate, I close my eyes. I take in a deep breath and breathe out slowly, channeling the energy building up inside of me to the centre of my palms and the base of my feet.

"Relax your limbs, let your power flow through them. Then on the count of three... release it."

I nod determinedly.

"Three... two... one..."

Release.

Immediately, I feel the air around me get hotter, bright, burning flames surge from my hands. For a brief period, I experience a feeling of weightlessness. I pry my eyes open to find that I am hovering a couple feet above the ground, propelled by the fire encasing my feet.

The minute I come to this realisation, I become so overwhelmed that the flame begins to sputter, fizzling out. All too soon, the feeling is gone... and I am falling back to earth.