My wings were beating faster than they ever had before. The finish line was a wide, bright yellow tape held by two hovering flight instructors. Blowing past them, I did a spiralling dive, twelve-hundred feet to the ground. The other Avion were just completing the race when I landed. Chattering like magpies, they made their descent, no doubt happy another training day was done.
“Great race, Condor”, said Orin.
“Thanks O.” Everyone congratulated me, except …
“Condor, I know you’re taking zeroids. There’s no other way a fourteen-year-old could fly as fast as you do”, Skylark said.
“Skylark, I’ve never even seen a zeroid”, I retorted. “And if I did, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to use it. Drugs like that are for fools.”
“Shut up, Feather-Brain! You’re a liar! You use them and so did your father. That’s why he died”, he said.
“No, my dad died because of a ‘chicken’”, I said. “Oh, by the way, how’s your dad doing Skylark? I bet you haven’t heard a peep from him, have you?”
“Break it up!” yelled Captain Falcon. “Any fighting and you’ll both regret it. Avion are brothers. We don’t fight or taunt each other. Now, I want you two young Avion to touch wings and fly to the feeder.”
“Listen up, Fledglings!”, he thundered for all to hear. “Touching wings is a privilege that only Avion enjoy. Why is that?”
We answered in unison, “Because Avion are the only humans with wings, Sir!”
“And what does touching wings remind us of?”
“Our gift, our responsibilities, and our brotherhood, Sir!” we shouted.
Reluctantly, I spread my wings out, up and forward. Wing touching is like a double ‘high-five’. Some of us mix in handshakes, fist-bumps or other gestures. We reserve hugs for only the most special occasions.
Skylark glared at me and barely brushed his pinions against mine. “You’ll get yours, Condor”, he whispered.
That evening, Orin and I were in our spacious quarters studying slow motion videos of raptors in flight on our 100-inch, wall mounted screen. Stretching my wings to their full span of thirty feet, I said
“Even though we have wings, Orin, we don’t have the innate knowledge of how best to use them. That’s why we have to study birds and train ourselves to fly like them. It’s difficult, but with constant practice, it will become automatic.”
“Aaaahhh! Stretching my wings after a hard day of flying feels sooo good. Condor, why didn’t the scientists that gave our great grandparents the avian genes for wings give them the genes and instincts to use them?”, Orin asked, as he turned so I could preen his feathers.
“Right! Bird brains too, huh?”, I joked.
“Haha. That sounds like something your dad would’ve said.” Then, with a serious look, he asked, “Would your dad approve of the way you treat Skylark?”
“You know what his dad did to mine. You see how Skylark hates me.”
“Condor, I’m sorry for your loss, but your dad chose to go solo in a storm to make that rescue when he had the flu. Even if Skylark’s dad hadn’t left his post, your dad would not have allowed him to go on that mission alone.”
I said nothing. As I smoothed his feathers, Orin continued, “And why does Skylark hate you? Isn’t it because of your fathers? Skylark’s dad deserted his family and the Academy. Skylark didn’t, so can it be his fault?”
“O, are you on his side?”
“Please listen to me, Con”, Orin pleaded. “This is bigger than you, or me, or Skylark. We’re all on the same side. We’re all Avion.”
The door opened and in strode Skylark.
“Listen, Turkey”, he said to me. “Let’s race right now. The loser leaves the Academy for good.”
“We’re not allowed to leave the dormitory on weeknights. It’s considered leaving our post”, I reminded him.
“Who’s the ‘chicken’ now, Condor? I’ll give you a choice. We can race and one of us leaves, or we can fight and both of us get expelled.”
“Where do we race to, Skylark?” I asked.
“First one past the north fence wins”, he said.
Skylark opened the window, dived out gracefully and said, “Go!”
That gave him a small head start, but I could pass him long before he reached the fence. I jumped from the window ledge and was quickly on his tail. All of the sudden, I couldn’t see. Skylark had released some ground pepper or something. I slowed down but held my course. A moment later I heard Skylark cry out in pain. One of my eyes cleared enough to see him falling. He’d collided with a Canadian goose and was unconscious.
Instinctively, I sped up to help him. Then I thought, if I let him drop, my troubles with him will be over.
Inside I screamed, NO! I shouldn’t think like that. We are Avion. Our gift, our responsibilities, our brotherhood.
I concentrated on increasing my velocity. If I reached him in time, we’d be very close to the fence. It’s coiled razor-ribboned top gleamed menacingly in the moonlight.
Almost there …
UNGH! He landed on my back, striking a nerve. For a split second I felt numb. He rolled off. I managed to catch him, beating my wings as hard and fast as I could. The fence was only a few feet away, we were heading straight for the deadly razor wire. “NO!”, I screamed, “ARRGH!!” Straining every muscle, I willed us UP! …
Cleared it! Barely.
Skylark stirred. Until then I didn’t know whether or not he was alive.
“I’m awake! Let me go”, he said.
We both landed on our feet.
“Looks like we made it past the fence at the same time”, I said.
“Yeah, why’d you do it?”, Skylark asked.
“We’re Avion. Brothers. You would have done the same for me”, I said.
He stepped closer to me and said, “I wouldn’t have, not then, but I would now.”
Skylark spread his wings out, up and forward. Then he hugged me.
I did the same.
THE END
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