Be Careful What You Wish For

When the fairy appeared to me, she called it a gift. Only for 24 hours, she said.

I had always wanted to fly, to soar above the world and leave my problems behind, to let them fade away to specks indistinguishable from the humdrum of life. I had thought 24 hours wasn’t long enough.

It started how all fulfillment of dreams do: with excitement and anticipation. When my feet had first left the ground, I felt a surge of joy. Slowly, I had risen into the air, the breeze gently blowing me forward. There were shouts of surprise and people stuck on the ground saw me fly by, but I didn’t mind. I finally felt free. Free from the weight of the world, free to experience the unknown and my heart soared even higher and faster than my body. It was amazing...

for the first few hours, but I kept rising. When I flew through the clouds, their water clung to me, soaking my clothes taking away the lightness I had felt, but I still rose. I began to feel cold, the dampness and altitude freezing my joy. I lost sight of the earth as clouds rolled below me. I was stuck in a world I did not belong. Depthless fear filled my soul, but still, I rose.

A gift she had called it. Only 24 hours she had said, but now I understood the irony of it all.

Then I started falling.