The Last Day of School

It was the last day of school and he figured he wouldn’t waste his time sleeping for the rest of the summer.  Even as his parents dropped off to their slumbers and the sisters fell into dreams, he was out on the back second story deck pondering the universe, suspended several feet above the earth.  By starlight and moonglow he surveyed the endless cornfields and patches of forest stretching southward from his perch on the edge of the small town.

A groundhog trundled through some high grass along the fence line, but stopped and stood on its hind legs when it sensed the thin upright shadow floating above the field.  It was the boy who sometimes called out to him on sunny days.  He fled from other upright walkers, but this boy was different.  They would sometimes make eye contact and with his homey hole so near at hand he tolerated the uncertainty and strangeness of the situation.

The deer was less certain as it stood stalk still amongst the corn rows waiting for the boy to disappear back into his home.  It was also aware of the groundhog who took chances by standing man-like above the grass.  The deer thought it foolish and was certain the small creature would pay for it some day.  Better to stay hidden, keeping one’s ears upright and eyes sharp, sniffing the air.  The boy, like others of his kind, could kill from a distance.    

But the boy’s mind was not preoccupied with thoughts of vigilance or the need for survival.  He was imagining the possibility of tornadoes raging in the distance and whether there was life on other planets.  He wanted collapsible wings and a jet pack to launch himself from that deck into the radiant darkness.  He wondered if angels exist and if they knew he was looking to emulate them with fanciful contraptions.  Was flying synonymous with freedom?

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