Charlie Moore learns to fly

“Let’s go Harold,” I said to my loyal dog.  It was a hot day at the beach.

  “Don’t go too far Charlie,” shouted Mom.  I waived to her. 

  “I love you too Mom, I’ll be alright.”

Harold and I walked along the beach quietly kicking the odd rock and splashing the water against the gentle waves of Spanish Banks. On a rock, by the water there was a seagull.
  “She looks friendly,” I said to Harold who acknowledged with a shake of his head. Harold is not too chatty. 

   “Hi, I'm Charlie Moore and this is Harold, what’s your name?” I shouted to the seagull as we approached.

  “Hi Charlie Moore and Harold, my name is Lilly.  Are you enjoying this beautiful day?” she said with a smile.

  “We came with Mom and Dad to play in the beach. What are you doing?”

  “Oh, just taking it easy, looking around,” said Lilly.

  “I’ve always wanted to fly Lilly, I wonder how does it look from the sky?”

  “Ha! Charlie Moore it's different, you dominate the whole world from up there.”

  “Do you think you can teach me how to fly?” I asked as I raised my shoulders.

Harold gave me a look of disapproval.

Lilly looked around and then looked into my eyes,

  “It’s easy if you really want to fly, I can teach you how!” said Lilly.

  “Yippy!” I jumped a few times and then I sat beside Lilly.  
  “What do I need to do to fly like you, Lilly?”

  “First of all you need to rub your face in my chest with your eyes closed.”

I kneeled and put my face in her chest. Lilly extended her wings and hugged me, a flash ran up and down my body and It felt like Lilly was covering my whole body with her wings. It was calm, smooth and sweet smelling like my Mom. Something was different.  She opened her wings and said.

  “Stand there on the sand,” she pointed with her wing.

  “Do you know where the wind is coming from Charlie Moore?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I can feel it in my face,” I yelled jumping up and down with my eyes almost closed.

  “Open your arms, like wings and lean forward,” she said.

  “Now this is what is most important,” she said in a lower voice.

  “How bad do you want to fly Charlie Moore?”

  “I want to fly Lilly, I want to fly!” I screamed.

  “OK, keep facing the wind with your arms open, close your eyes and think hard, put your thoughts in your belly. Don’t open your eyes until I tell you.  Do you understand Charlie Moore?” she said as she walked from one side to the other. Harold looked interested.

  “I get it Lilly, here I go...” I took off really easily, I felt I was flying. I opened my eyes and plunged into the water.

 Lilly laughed and held her belly with her wings.  Harold ran into the water to get me.

  “Are you OK Charlie Moore?” he barked at me.

  “You are always getting into trouble, what is it that I am going to do with you Charlie Moore? ”

The water was not that cold, and Lilly wouldn’t stop laughing.  Three seagulls, friends of Lilly's came to the commotion, they landed nearby squawking loud. She looked at me seriously. 

  “Come here Charlie Moore, this time do what I say! Do you agree? I’m having a great time with you guys,” she said and continued laughing out loud.  The other seagulls stopped squawking.

  “One more time Charlie Moore, face the wind, stretch your wings, bend down a bit and concentrate hard with your eyes closed thinking that you can fly! Now Charlie Moore!!” She shouted with a commanding voice. Harold took his place close to Charlie and the other seagulls followed Lilly’s instructions as well.

I got in position, closed my eyes and put all my effort in wanting to fly. I felt my feet leaving the ground, the sensation of flying was cool. I kept my eyes closed. I felt the other seagulls flying beside me but I didn’t want to look. I don’t know how long I was flying when I heard Lilly whisper in my ear. 
  “Open your eyes Charlie Moore, don’t be afraid of the height, just enjoy the flight.”

I slowly opened my eyes, my belly felt empty and my body shivered for a second or two.

  “Just fly Charlie Moore, there is nothing to be afraid of, I am here with you.” Lilly sounded like my Mom. She was flying right beside me looking into my eyes, giving me confidence. Everything looked different, smaller, I could see much more than from the ground, like a different world. I was over the water, high enough that I saw on one side the beach I left behind moments ago, the trees, the houses, the roads, the people, all together. I looked until I found my parents, I wanted to shout at them but I didn’t, I knew that it was not going to be good if they saw me flying with Lilly!

  “How do I turn Lilly?” I asked.

  “Simple, lean to that side and you will turn, to go down, gently lean your head down. Watch out, going down you gain speed and we don’t want to fly that fast just yet Charlie Moore.”

  “Yes Lilly, thank you.  This is fantastic, I am having so much fun,” I said with goose bumps in my arms and legs. I started turning to one side and then to the other. It seemed easy.  I tried going down, I went really fast.  My eyes began to water from the wind so I lifted my head up to slow down.  I was doing really well.

  “OK Charlie Moore, our first lesson will end with a landing. Now listen to me carefully, landing is not as easy as taking off.  You need both eyes wide open so you don’t crash into the ground, you need to go down and reduce your speed at the same time, it’s tricky in the beginning but with a couple of landings you are going to be an expert Charlie.” 

  “OK,” I said.

  “One more thing Charlie, follow me and you will do exactly what I do, understand? Ha! I almost forgot to tell you, we always land against the wind. Can you tell where the wind is coming from Charlie?”

  “No, not really,” I said with concern.

  “Easy, just look at the trees, the branches, the ripples in the water, anything you can see moving with the wind. This time just follow me.”