Believer's Melody

Flying in the air is not as comfortable as you may think it is. Especially if the only thing keeping you up, is nothing but a skinny hand. Was I hallucinating or dead? I didn’t know. I hated heights ever since I could remember. When I was six, even going up on the slide at the playground freaked me out. I absolutely refused to go on airplanes. So I wasn’t exactly excited about flying through the air at a hundred miles per hour. And no matter how many times I told him to go slower, he didn’t listen. In fact, he went even faster.

I was scared out of my head. I was confused. My hair was whipped around and the strong wind stung my face. I felt like somebody was trying to crack my skull open with a hammer, my throat was dry and numb, and I couldn’t breathe. “Run, please!” I said in a last desperate attempt. “Please stop!”

He looked at me with his pale blue eyes. I saw them twinkle, and then he smiled an awful smile. “No!”

I glared at him, and he glared back. I was finding it hard to take in air. He was so evil; so horrible. I wanted to slap him right across his stupid rosy cheeks. He gave me a little smirk, and then, I felt myself tremble. A whole new feeling engulfed me; and that, is when they came. The tears. They were threatening to spill. I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried. Adults didn’t cry. Adults weren’t supposed to cry, especially over something as ridiculous as this. I heaved my chest, trying to hold it in, but it just didn’t work. I lost control and broke out into sobs. I felt like a stupid little baby, but I couldn’t stop. All of a sudden,
Run stopped. I expected him to yell at me again, and possibly bonk me on the head, but he didn’t.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Why are you crying?”

I tried to say something, but it didn’t work. All that came out were wet hiccups.

“Stop crying.” he said, in a soft voice.

I couldn’t.

His face crinkled up in despair. “Please stop crying.” he pleaded. He set me down on a nearby cloud. It was soft and fluffy. I touched it. My hand went right through it. Run sat down beside me, fiddling with his fingers. He looked a little uncomfortable, and it was the first time I saw him looking a little nervous. “I’ll go slower, if you want.”

I sniffled and wiped the moisture off my face. I felt extremely embarrassed. Run might not have been real, but still. T he last time I had cried like that in front of somebody was when I was eight. “That is exactly what I want.” I said.

He smiled faintly and then offered me his hand. It was much slower this time. I kind of liked the way my hair blew back and the feeling of weightlessness I had. I was actually beginning to enjoy it. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up.

“Where do you come from, girl?” Run asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

He scrunched up his face in thought and looked up at some little purple birds that were flying by. Finally, he said, “I don’t know. I don't know where I come from.”

“Then…why did you ask me if you don’t even really know what you’re asking?”

There was that blank and vacant stare again. His blue eyes glazed over again. Then he blinked. “Do you have a mother and a father?” he asked.

“Yes. I do. Do you?”

He smiled a big smile and nodded proudly. He turned his head up. “Yep! And they are the best mother and father you will ever see. They are everybody’s mother and father. But they like me best. I know it. They both live at The Meadow of Coon. It’s where I live too. Where do your mother and father live together?”

“Well, they don’t live in the same place…” I began.

He frowned. “What? They don’t live with each other?”

I shook my head.

"But…” He was obviously confused. “Why not?"

"Because, not everyone's mom and dad live with each other."

He looked at me as though what I just said was the most ridiculous thing in the whole world. "But mothers and fathers have to live together! Why don't they?"

I shrugged. It was an uncomfortable question. "Well, sometimes, after a while, they...fall out of love, I guess."

Run tilted his head."Fall out where? And what is love?"

I scoffed and crossed my legs together. "You mean to tell me, that you don't know what love is?"

He scrunched up lips. "Well, do you?" he asked, annoyed.

“I---“ But before I got a chance to answer, something flew above us. Something very big. It cast a shadow over us, making everything dark. After it had flew for some time, I realized what it was. It was a gigantic bird, two times bigger than me. I had never seen anything so magnificent and noble. It’s shiny golden feathers trailed gracefully behind it as it soared gracefully through the sky. It titled to the side, and I saw it’s eyes, which looked just like big diamonds. It let out a beautiful cry. “What is that?” I asked, awed.

Run didn’t answer me. There was the most mischievous and devilish grin forming on his beautiful face. He was glowing. He let out a cry, mocking the bird. “I am going to steal the birds fancy feather and keep it for myself!” he declared.

My eyes widened. “No! You can’t do that!” I said, horrified.

“Don’t tell me that I can’t do it!” he shouted. “I know I can! And I don’t listen to stupid girls like you!”

“Have some common sense! Do you really think you can take that bird on?”

“I don’t want any!” he growled. “Don’t say that!”

“Oh god. Just don’t do it. Please don’t---“ He grabbed my hand, and then were off again, going faster than ever. Here came the gut-wrenching nausea again. Run looked so determined and absorbed, that I doubted he was going to stop, even if I started crying again.

He flew after the enormous golden bird, trying to grab a hold of its golden tail feathers. His fingers brushed against them, and the bird noticed. It squawked, and flew higher into the air. Run laughed at it. “Come back Mr. Bird I only want your feathers!” Then, he did a spot on impression of the bird’s squawk and followed it up.

“Get away from me, pesky boy!” the bird cried. It flapped it’s huge shiny wings in frustration. “You shall have none of my feathers!”

Run laughed again and then screamed, “Hurry up, wind! We need to catch up!” He tugged on the invisible wind with his hand, and we went faster. I couldn’t see anything. Everything was just a messy blob of colors. My mouth was opened, and I was sure I was yelling something, but I couldn’t hear. By this time, I don't think Run even remembered I was there. I clung on to his hand, praying that he wouldn’t forget and let go.

We were getting nearer and nearer to the bird. It was starting to slow down. “Oh please stop chasing me.” the poor bird panted. “Stop it now!”

“Don’t worry.” Run said cheerily. “It will only hurt a bit!” With that, he reach out his skinny arm, grabbing the bird’s tail. It let out a deafening screech, but Run just cackled. The bird flew around in circles, trying to throw him off, but he kept a strong hold of it. With one strong tug, he plucked the shining feather off of the bird’s bottom. Run let out a whoop of victory and waved the feather in the air.

The bird let out a scream that was so loud, that it made holes through some of the clouds. It turned around, eyes filled with fury, and with its gigantic talons, it kicked us. I lost a grip of Run’s hand and I was falling. I couldn’t even bring myself to scream. I hoped my death was quick and if I was lucky, painless.

The last thing I saw was Run, sitting with his legs crossed on a cloud. He was watching me fall with a look of utmost interest.