EPILOGUE: Flying Across Surfaces

I dreamed I could fly.

Surely, it is a difficult feat to do with simple magic, but it wasn't impossible. But, I knew this feeling of flight was altogether different.

It felt like I could feel the weight of the very air I breathed in. It felt like I was swimming through water; if water wasn't so heavy and resistant. No, I felt like I was a feather in the wind, capable of hopping up steps of galeful bursts or slide down a chute of a down-sloping breeze. I felt like I could dance with the rotations of a wild tempest.

I flew, and I was one with the wind.

Soon, I came upon floating islands, and the sky above me was a wall of clear, blue waters. Yes, floating above me were the oceans themselves. I gaped as I flew underneath the surface of the ocean, staring as schools of multicolored fish waved at me, always in constant motion. A whale sung to me as I passed by it, its song melancholic and deep. I went closer towards the floating ocean, daring to touch at its surface. The water broke away at my touch and down fell a few gallons of sea water, weeping like the rain itself.

'Ah, this is how rain falls down to the earth.'

I flew a bit more along the ocean's surface, marveling at how it could stay afloat. A curious octopus, twice the size of my head and with tentacles that grew longer than my body, soon started to follow me around. I weaved around the air, and it followed my dance in the water. I was soon so entertained that I allowed myself to laugh, and the feeling seemed so foreign for it seemed it had been a long time since I had laughed so truly.

The octopus then seemed to gesture at me to come closer with its curling tentacles. I followed it as it swam onwards with great speed. I pushed through the air as hard as I could, but the direction of the winds pushed back against me. I grew angry at the wind for not following my wishes.

"Wait!" I shouted at the octopus, and for a little while, it did.

But, then it started to move again, and I knew I had to hurry or I might lose sight of it.

Yet, I soon found out I was simply too slow.

Weeping and lying on the air, a troupe of galloping prawns came next to me, and blubbered at my ears. Annoyed by their chatterings, I came into motion and bade them goodbye. I flew further on and away, but they had soon caught up to me. They blubbered and caused loud bubbles in their wake.

"What is it?" I asked them, annoyed by their noise. "I have just lost a friend, so I would like to be in the quiet!"

But they only blubbered on. One of the biggest prawns seemed to gesture with its long whiskers, urging me forward.

"You want me to follow you?" I asked in wonder.

They blubbered a tiny bit louder.

Gently, the troupe led me forward, and I soon became friends again with the wind, and it came to follow my instructions, if I asked nicely.

"Wind," I whispered. "Please lead me to my friend octopus."

I felt the wind answer my call, and I knew I could fly all the more faster. I smiled at the troupe of prawns and thanked them for their help. I can still hear them blubber on happily even as I had flown a long distance away.

The wind guided me swiftly across the air, and soon the waters above me had turned brighter and clearer.

As though it was telling me that I had arrived, the wind slowly died down, and I laid suspended just below the oceans, and just above the ocean water, I could see the glowing sun. I stared at the wrinkly sun through the liquid and wondered what it would look like if I stood above this wall of oceans.

Then, a single dark spot appeared on the surface of the sun, and soon grew larger and larger and larger, and soon I had come face to face with it.

"Octopus!" I shouted in joy and surprise.

Slowly, it beckoned me forward again, and this time, I was ready to control the winds, however...

The octopus swam not across the surface of the water, but swam deeper upwards. I felt a great confusion and fear for I knew I could never breath under... or above in the water.

However, the octopus only waited for me once, looking back at me with its rectangular-slitted eyes. I took a deep breath once, and then dived up into the waters.

I felt the cold touch of the sea, and at that first moment, it had filled me with a refreshing feeling. However, as I kicked my feet and moved my arms to go further up, I knew there was no wind to guide me, and I could only rely on my weak limbs. Halfway through the ocean, I felt like I could no longer hold in my breath, but the octopus' shadow was still moving above me, and I knew I had to keep pushing upwards.

Slowly, so very slowly, the sun grew steadily larger and the octopus looked clearer. But, at this point, my lungs were ready to burst and my vision was growing clouded. I wanted to cry from the stinging and dizzying pain, but I knew my tears would only add little to the great salty waters.

'So close now!' I thought, and I really was. I felt like I could break through the surface any moment now, but why haven't I still done it? The sun seemed so close to me that I could almost touch it. I still moved my arms and legs as hard as I had always done. 'But will I reach it? Can I reach the surface?'

My vision was growing dark now, and a tinge of red now filled its edges. My legs and arms, if I didn't move around for a mere second, would grow as cold as the fishes. "Wind!" I cried in desperation. "Help me!"

I soon blacked out, but I was awoken by a sudden surge of great force from behind me and soon, I had surfaced from the waters and broken into the air. I spluttered and coughed for breath, still fighting for balance in the ever moving waters. I tried to call for the wind so I could fly into the sky, but it no longer replied.

I cried helplessly for the octopus as I waded around the high and heavy waves. The ocean churned in this side of the ocean, and the sky wasn't as clear and bright as it seemed from underwater. The clouds hung low and dark, and lightning threatened to strike down at the violent waters. I called on endlessly for help, and I choked just as much.

"Help!" I screamed, crying into the stretch of empty waters. "Help me, please!"

And then I heard a voice.

"You know, you should just calm down and reach down with your toes," the voice told me, clear despite the noises from the storm.

"Go on," it urged me on. "Reach down with your feet and you'll see you can stand above the water."

I did as it said, and calmed myself down so I could reach a toe downwards... and found cold, solid sand. I placed my weight down on it and straightened myself up. Standing with my head above the water, I found myself at a calm and serene lake. The storm was gone and the sky was without a single cloud. A white, yet obviously well-used paddle boat floated beside me. On it was a person with a straw hat on.

"See?" he said. "You thrashed and panicked so much you caused a storm."

"I guess," I muttered, feeling at the warmer waters. Then I turned towards the boy as a thought struck me. "An octopus! Have you seen one?"

"In this lake?" he asked in shock. "I doubt you would see any other creatures than the occasional fish and crustaceans."

"But..." I looked down in disappointment.

"Well, what are you doing in the water, anyway?" the boy asked, holding out a hand towards me. "Come up on my boat. A human being is always better grounded on solid surfaces, don't you think?"

"Maybe," I agreed, and took his slightly sunburned hand. He hefted me up easily onto the boat, and it barely even swayed.

"Now, don't you feel better?" he asked me, leaning his head down on his hands. Unfortunately, I couldn't see his face clearly from underneath his hat. And before I could even reply, a bird cawed from right above us. It flew around our boat, its pure white feathers glinting in the sunlight. I said, "I used to have a bird like that."

"You did?" the boy asked. "It must've been magnificent."

"He was," I agreed, looking up as the bird flew on and away from us, off to somewhere else; Hopefully, to somewhere better.

"Well, come paddle with me, then." The boy gave me a paddle from underneath our seats. I slowly took it from him and found it incredibly heavy. He said, "It's heavy, isn't it?"

"Quite so," I murmured, then looked up at him. "But the water was heavier."

"I would think so."

We paddled around the lake, sometimes making careless mistakes so our boat never left and only moved in a little circle. I laughed a little bit.

"Are you heading off to school?" the boy asked, to which I flinched at. He continued on, "We better go back to land now if we don't want to be late."

I nodded eagerly, and paddled a little bit more harder, the gentle waves neither helping nor impeding our little quest. Soon, we had docked onto the sandy soil, and I hopped off onto the ground. My mind grew clearer and the dizziness abated. The boy spoke true. I did feel more grounded on the solid surface.

I breathed in the gentle breeze and it smelled of pine and wood. I heard him call to me, pulling at the boat and harnessing it up with his ropes, "So, won't you be late? Go on, now."

"I-I'll wait for you," I told him quite shyly on my bare feet.

His bright grin was all I could see as he told me, "Why bother? I'll be there with you in no time!"

Then, just as the boy was about to remove his hat, I had awoken from my dream.