There once was a young penguin named Pira.
Pira liked the cold Arctic sky.
Pira liked the clouds.
Pira liked the birds most of all...
...Because Pira wanted to fly!
'How do I fly?' asked Pira.
'Stop dreaming,' said Penelope, her mum. 'Penguins don't fly.'
'Oh,' said Pira.
'Now help me care for your brothers and sisters.'
But Pira had her head in the clouds.
'How do I fly?' asked Pira.
'You are silly,' said Peter, her uncle. 'You can't.'
'Oh,' said Pira.
'Now help me dive for fish so that I may eat.'
But Pira had her head in the clouds.
'How do I fly?' asked Pira.
'Fly?' said Penne, her best friend. 'Stop wasting time.'
'Oh,' said Pira.
'Now help me learn so that I may survive.'
But Pira had her head in the clouds.
'How do I fly?' asked Pira.
'Just open your wings and flap,' said a puffin, perched on a rock. 'It's easy.'
'Oh,' said Pira.
'Now try it with me so that I can find a mate.'
The little puffin flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
Pira flapped and flapped. Then flapped some more. With every flap she strained and stretched and stared down at one of her little feet, lifting, lifting, higher, higher. Then she turned and noticed her other foot still on the ice.
She could not fly.
'Pira!' said her mum.
'Pira!' said her uncle.
'Pira!' said her best friend.
'Pira!' said the puffin.
'You have not helped us. We are tired. We are hungry. We are dumb. We are lonely. Why have you not helped us?'
Pira reached down with her useless wing and grabbed a metal object from the ice, strapping it to her back.
'Because I'm going to fly!' she said.
Fire shot out the bottom of the jet pack. She rose slowly before shooting up into the sky. Pira was flying!
And it was fucking awesome!
© 2012 Ben Safta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Australia License
