The Shades of Grey

The Shades of Grey- Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Although no one could see the wings I was still self conscious about them. I pulled on a baggy long sleeved t shirt, jeans and a baggy jacket, and as a finishing touch I dragged a blanket over my tucked in wings.

I hopped on my bike and cycled as fast as I could to the old playground.

The old playground is old because it was closed down 3 years ago. There's a rusty set of swings, a broken seesaw and a climbing wall which has had all the footholds stolen by lads. The reason it's closed down though is the cliff.

At the end of the playground is a 5 metre drop. Same height as King Rock at Jamberoo, only instead of a 5 metre deep poop to stop you from becoming a pancake on the ground there's nothing but solid rock. 59 years ago when the park was built it was fine, no one would be stupid enough to climb over the fence, go past the 'DO NOT ENTER' signs and end up falling off the cliff fracturing every bone in their body. Unfortunately that's what Justin Timms did. His parents ended up suing the council and the park ended up closed.

That's why it was the perfect place to fly.

I skidded to a stop at the broken gate. I hopped off my bike, and after carefully placing it on the ground I began.

I wasn't stupid like Justin Timms. So I started my practice on the jungle gym. 70 centimetres high and not dangerous unless you fell on your head.

I pulled off the blanket and jacket, groaning when I saw that the wings had torn through the fabric of my t shirt.

I climbed to the top of the 70 centimetres, and after jumping I flapped the wings as hard as I could. That kept me in the air for 2 seconds before I came crashing down. Obviously not the way to do it.

A white pigeon flew past, and after landing on a branch in the withered oak tree, it flew off. I noticed that instead of flapping quickly, it made sure it's flaps were precise, riding an air current when it's wings went down and gliding when they went up.

I climbed up again and tried this method.

It worked.

I rose 1 metre into the air before I gracefully landed on the ground. I jumped in the air for joy, but was interrupted by the sound of a bike suddenly dropping to the ground. I heard someone gasp and stiffened every muscle in my body.

Someone had seen me fly.