petrified!”
Michael turns me around to face the wide expanse of countryside behind me. Lights twinkle in the distance, and the dark sky goes on forever. My lungs fill with cold dry air, and I look down at him. He is smiling so I laugh.
“This is pretty cool but why didn’t you just fly us both up here? Two is better than one, you know?”
“Because I really wanted to do this.” He moves his arm to the left, and I zip across the air toward a patch of snow-covered trees.
“Ahhh!” I scream and crash into the softness. I don’t fall but spiral around as snow rains down. I burst out laughing and accidentally drop the lantern. It sails into a snow bank and disappears. “Again!” I yell, and Michael flings me back across the clearing and into bushes protruding from boulders. I feel like a marionette, with Michael pulling the strings.
He tosses me in the air, doing flips and spins and dangling me upside down. I fear we’re pushing our luck and gravity will eventually demand to be obeyed, but Michael is relentless. He sends me to the top of the hill, skirting me across the snow until my boots skim the surface like I’m snowboarding. Down into nature’s half-pipe and then back up, high into the air in a double backflip. I cry out, arms flailing, but I never lose balance because the puppeteer is in control.
I drop fast, zooming at an arc to slide across the crystallized pool on my butt. I fly down the frozen river, hitting a few mild waterfalls, and bouncing along on my bottom. I’m laughing so hard that my tears are running horizontal from my eyes.
Six Flags never had a ride like this!
I shoot down the river, hit the next waterfall, but take flight instead of dropping. Michael is returning me to the top of the cliff. I hover over the deep pool with my arms straight out and slowly rotate a three-sixty. A cold breeze ruffles my clothes and lifts my hair. Twice, I turn a full circle before coming to a stop on the ledge of the waterfall. He has set me down on a particularly lumpy chunk of ice, and I squirm to get comfortable. I’m panting great swells of fog. I look down at Michael, his arm still raised in my direction; he is the maestro, smiling in satisfaction at the end of a concert.
I hold out my hand, begging him to join me. Fetching fans out along his forearms, and then Michael drifts up the face of the cliff to sit next to me. Once he’s settled, the fetching retracts so it won’t cut me, and he slips his hand in mine; it’s warm and I snuggle closer.
“Thank you so much,” I say, breathlessly. My nose and ears feel red and frozen but I don’t care. Next to actually flying with Michael, that was the most amazing experience of my life.
“A bit of the local flavor,” Michael says, and tugs at my heart three times.
“I love you, too,” I say, and he winks.
Our legs dangle over the edge and we look out across the countryside. We’re so high up that the views go on forever. As far as the eye can see there is only white. Blankets, mounds, clumps, crevices, and valleys of white. If Heaven doesn’t look like this, they’re getting gypped.
“How is it that you just
now
learned to do that? I mean, I guess I thought it would come naturally, making people fly.”
“No, not naturally, exactly. You see, during a fight, guardians can hurl the enemy around, knocking them into things. Destroying them. With you, I was concentrating my efforts into a pinpoint target, making you rise and fall, turn and twist, as I wanted. I’ve never done it before. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Are you showing off?”
“Yup. Are you complaining?”
“Nope.”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you.” Michael grows serious and clasps both of my hands in his. “Sophia, I made the winter trials.”
My heart stutters and I stare at him. I let it sink in for a moment, and then I throwmy arms around his neck. “Oh, Michael! I’m so happy for you! You’ve waited so long for this!”
I can’t believe it! He has
Michael turns me around to face the wide expanse of countryside behind me. Lights twinkle in the distance, and the dark sky goes on forever. My lungs fill with cold dry air, and I look down at him. He is smiling so I laugh.
“This is pretty cool but why didn’t you just fly us both up here? Two is better than one, you know?”
“Because I really wanted to do this.” He moves his arm to the left, and I zip across the air toward a patch of snow-covered trees.
“Ahhh!” I scream and crash into the softness. I don’t fall but spiral around as snow rains down. I burst out laughing and accidentally drop the lantern. It sails into a snow bank and disappears. “Again!” I yell, and Michael flings me back across the clearing and into bushes protruding from boulders. I feel like a marionette, with Michael pulling the strings.
He tosses me in the air, doing flips and spins and dangling me upside down. I fear we’re pushing our luck and gravity will eventually demand to be obeyed, but Michael is relentless. He sends me to the top of the hill, skirting me across the snow until my boots skim the surface like I’m snowboarding. Down into nature’s half-pipe and then back up, high into the air in a double backflip. I cry out, arms flailing, but I never lose balance because the puppeteer is in control.
I drop fast, zooming at an arc to slide across the crystallized pool on my butt. I fly down the frozen river, hitting a few mild waterfalls, and bouncing along on my bottom. I’m laughing so hard that my tears are running horizontal from my eyes.
Six Flags never had a ride like this!
I shoot down the river, hit the next waterfall, but take flight instead of dropping. Michael is returning me to the top of the cliff. I hover over the deep pool with my arms straight out and slowly rotate a three-sixty. A cold breeze ruffles my clothes and lifts my hair. Twice, I turn a full circle before coming to a stop on the ledge of the waterfall. He has set me down on a particularly lumpy chunk of ice, and I squirm to get comfortable. I’m panting great swells of fog. I look down at Michael, his arm still raised in my direction; he is the maestro, smiling in satisfaction at the end of a concert.
I hold out my hand, begging him to join me. Fetching fans out along his forearms, and then Michael drifts up the face of the cliff to sit next to me. Once he’s settled, the fetching retracts so it won’t cut me, and he slips his hand in mine; it’s warm and I snuggle closer.
“Thank you so much,” I say, breathlessly. My nose and ears feel red and frozen but I don’t care. Next to actually flying with Michael, that was the most amazing experience of my life.
“A bit of the local flavor,” Michael says, and tugs at my heart three times.
“I love you, too,” I say, and he winks.
Our legs dangle over the edge and we look out across the countryside. We’re so high up that the views go on forever. As far as the eye can see there is only white. Blankets, mounds, clumps, crevices, and valleys of white. If Heaven doesn’t look like this, they’re getting gypped.
“How is it that you just
now
learned to do that? I mean, I guess I thought it would come naturally, making people fly.”
“No, not naturally, exactly. You see, during a fight, guardians can hurl the enemy around, knocking them into things. Destroying them. With you, I was concentrating my efforts into a pinpoint target, making you rise and fall, turn and twist, as I wanted. I’ve never done it before. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Are you showing off?”
“Yup. Are you complaining?”
“Nope.”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you.” Michael grows serious and clasps both of my hands in his. “Sophia, I made the winter trials.”
My heart stutters and I stare at him. I let it sink in for a moment, and then I throwmy arms around his neck. “Oh, Michael! I’m so happy for you! You’ve waited so long for this!”
I can’t believe it! He has
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