Flying By The Seat Of His Pants. - SP2022 Writer

Flying By The Seat Of His Pants

He had a quiet moment, one of those occasions where there was nothing at all pulling at his mindstrings. He began to centre himself and relax on his couch and his surroundings began to fade into inconsequence.

He knew that these moments were special, they were liberating and nurturing with the peaceful freedom to think absolutely anything possible, devoid of influence other than his own subconscious playing like a pixie on candy steroids, a source of free entertainment but absolutely limitless. Anything can happen at times like this he thought, absolutely anything , and there were no hopes or fears, no anxiety or distractions, just time and space and a comfy couch to start on. He was quietly excited and something inside was poking his tingling senses.

Time for another life assessment maybe? The chance to take an alternate perspective and reassure himself a little perhaps? Clarity is always good but what might it bring this time around, should he be scared a little?

Naaaa!

He had done this before and each time he had practiced it many times with and without success and each time with a different outcome. Allow the deep depths to reveal themselves, monsters 'n all. Anything else is cheating he thought, and he enjoyed truth more than any other thing in life, warts 'n all. It was absolution time.

His childhood days of gymnastics had been the catalyst that had brought this playfull excercise to fruition by using his untamed and eager imagination coupled with the memories of his once physical gymnastic ability, sometimes it was good, sometimes it had turned out bad, sometimes it was quite funny and light hearted but it was never painful because he knew deep down it wasn't actually real, just a game, a bit of fun while sat on the couch....or was it?

He closed his eyes and stood at the start of the run up, a sports lane about the width of a football field surrounded by grass with a spinkling of daisies and dandelions high on a plateau of smooth grey rock with views as far as the eye can see. Nice!

He clarified the high plain in his periphery vision and the open view in the distance with its beautiful bright skies, fluffy clouds and distant snow capped mountains. The clean air away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life was a joy. He continued calming himself preparing to start his stride, his breathing focused, his path was clear and a trampette sat waiting at the end of the lane for his arrival. He was nearly ready, the stage was set.

His rhythm started slow, leaning forward and then back again, alternating his weight foot to foot with arms swinging gracefully and methodically backward and forward like a slow motion forward and rewind. Checking his balance, he continued readying himself to propel and launch once more at that seemingly tiny target in the distance.

Would he trip and bang his nose on the trampette again? That one was frustrating. Funny, but frustrating to get so far and fail at the last.

No! Not THIS time. Backward, forward, backward, forward he swayed.

Would he fall flat on his face from clown feet and feel the grazing of the track again? That one was a bit annoying and he remembered blowing raspberries at himself while brushing off the gravel.

No! Not THIS time. Backward, forward, backward, forward he swayed.

Would he just lose his stride and stop mid track like so often before? So deflating to be giving up because of the lack of focus.

No! not THIS time, he was better than that now. Backward, forward, backward, forward he swayed.

No, he was READY.

Keep cool he reminded himself. . let..it..flowwwww....here....we.....GO!.....

He launched slowly and the momentum began to build. Left, right, left, right, he was on his way springing on his toes into a steady sprint towards the target towards whatever may be and beyond.

He was excited and felt good about the buzzing inside at a frequency that seemed to autopilot him effortlessly down the track. The adrenaline was surging. Swooooooosh!

Left, right, left, right, and then he took a gasping breath in and held it while he leapt up into the air.....uuuuuuupp!
And down onto his target.....It was a perfect hit as the little springs creaked in aggreement.

He leaped long and high and landed dead centre of his aim and into the air with a smooth jolt forward and up, and up, and off the edge of that stupidly high cliff, and he spread his arms and then....time seemed to stand still while he glided....silently....

He knew the cliff was high, real high, and the drop was bottomless too, he'd been there before. He was still holding his breath from the final jump and was desperate for a gasp but needed to know.... "How Am I REALLY doing?"

Gliding in that one moment of insanity, he took one final almost impossible quick gasp of air through pursed lips just to feel lighter, bursting his lungs, and there he was....gliding....

Slowly and controlled and with big billowing cheeks, he exhaled slowly and warmth flowed through every ounce of his body, his soul, his spirit, it enveloped him and held him aloft. It was the greatest relief he had ever felt and he gently climbed higher, and higher, and higher. He wasn't falling this time, he had done it.

This time, he was bloody well flying! (And a damn good pilot too).

He swooped and soared in fluid turns, bobing and weaving around the sky. The mountains grew closer and he looked behind him at the cliff he had come from and giggled to himself. The thin clouds were soft, tickling his skin and the sun was warm on his face, and as the relief came over him again, tears began to fill his eyes. There was no pain, nothing tugging him back to remind him of failure, he was doing GREAT. He could do anything. Absolutely anything.

And at that instant he knew that everything at that moment in life..... was unfolding perfectly.


The End.


('Or is it?)

Thanks for the Story Submission.


Good Luck in the Contest!
Johnny

Commenting because this is the first ever ATS short story I've read, and I really enjoyed it - particularly because synchronistically I've been researching & practising the control of lucid dreams over the past few weeks.

I'm super-committed, doing reality checks & keeping a dream journal on my phone - indeed I've been a long-time vivid dreamer with several lucid/semi-lucid dreams, though until now I've not deliberately tried to practice lucid dreaming with real intention, not only to live free & without pain in my dreams (I have a neurological disorder which causes severe neuropathic pain throughout my whole body - being able to live for a few hours of dreamtime being fully fit & having no pain whatsoever will be a liberation of a grand scale, and so I don't really know why I never thought to set my intentions for lucidity so clearly before. Already I am seeing evidence that my dreams are shifting - the characters & scenes appear to be constructed & behaving such that there are many opportunities to become lucid, by questioning absurd or intense dream elements, though I've not triggered a fully lucid dream as yet (I believe it shouldn't be too long until this occurs).

Funnily enough, last night I had a bizarre 'flying' experience, not while dreaming as such, but in fact it was a vision of sorts, which occurred while I had put myself into a self-hypnotic trance. I could perceive myself flying from landscape to landscape, I was still aware of my body & it wasn't an OOBE, it was more like a vision trip, I could feel myself flying through all maner of scenes, often tracing rivers & mountain ranges. It lasted about 15 minutes, but felt much longer, and I really enjoyed the capacity to alter the environment in my mind's eye, and the obvious freedom of gliding, swooping & climbing higher at will.

So yeah, synchronicity, it's encouraged me to see the current efforts as having been confirmed in a way, through the excellent short story of an ATS member, flow of the universe & all that! Thanks for the entertaining read.

Cheers, FITO.

a reply to: nerbot

Insightful and entertaining story! Could be taken a couple of different ways and I very much enjoyed the read.

a reply to: nerbot

A bloody good story, nerbot. A thought-provoking mental experiment that, at the very least, can help relive experiences our ageing bodies can't do anymore. Although, as Argentus mentioned, the story could be a glimpse of something more esoteric.

I love the humour you injected with the failed attempts and you kept me in suspense about the outcome; I wasn't expecting the cliff and flying... perfect!