The "Overcoming Adversity" Bloghop

This bloghop was organized by Nick Wilford @ Scattergun Scribblings. The entries will be compiled into an anthology to help raise money for his son to attend a specialist college. Please visit Nick's blog and check out the other entries in the bloghop.Thank you for reading.

Flight

Two men in uniform lifted me from my wheelchair and gently placed me onto one of four bucket seats in the passenger area, buckling me in securely. The other passengers were already in their chairs, with palpable excitement reverberating off the walls of the cabin. We were all winners, chosen for a very special flight. I looked out the window at the launch pad, hardly able to believe I should be among them.

The captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker, welcoming us to Utopia. The engines kicked on and the whole ship pivoted upward, pushing me back in my seat. The launch pad was nearly gone, enveloped by thick smoke and sparks from the rockets. A teenage girl strapped into the seat across from me looked over, grinning widely with a mouth full of white braces. I couldn’t help but to smile back.

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

My hands shook as the rocket left the ground behind—and with it, all I’d been through since the accident, all the things the doctors said I’d never do again, and all the walls that had been thrown up around me. When the smoke cleared, the launch pad, the station, and the city were all within a circle no larger than a dime dropped in the grass. And then it was gone, swallowed up by the whole Earth as we left her behind, too.

Clouds swirled over the continents. City lights illuminated the side hiding from the sun. And we could see it all in one panoramic view. The sun smoldered in the nexus of the solar system, and the moon peeked shyly from behind its mother’s protective stance. A vast blanket of planets, stars, and galaxies stretched out forever, reaching for Heaven itself.

The captain announced we had reached our cruising altitude and we were free to move about the cabin. Everyone but me clapped and cheered. I had no idea where my wheelchair had been stored during the flight. I’d have to wait to be helped out of my—

The girl across from me hastily unbuckled herself and squealed as her chubby body floated out of her chair. The other two passengers also rose from their chairs and found themselves swimming through the air, flipping and twirling, dancing and laughing with gaiety I never believed I’d feel again.

I fumbled with my buckles, impatient to be released from the confines of my chair. The girl with braces glided by and extended her hand to me. I took it without question, and her momentum pulled me effortlessly from my chair. As soon as I was up, she let go of my hand; and I found myself soaring throughout the cabin with the other passengers—the other special winners. I reached the window with surprising ease and gazed out at the celestial perfection. The doctors said I’d probably never walk again, but they never said anything about flying. So I flew.