Flying with Wings - 1. Chapter 1

“You know, when I was small, I always wanted to fly.”

“So you want to be a pilot then?”

“No, not that kind of flying. This might sound funny, but I want to fly on my own wings.”

I chuckled lightly at his remarks, earning myself a light punch on my arms.

“Don’t laugh. It’s not a joke.” He said, slightly pouting while he gazed through the stars. I stopped laughing, and followed his gaze to a certain direction in the sky, only to find a bright shining star blinking over the horizon.

“Maybe one day, you will.” I said slowly, before I heard him sighing softly beside me.

That was Ryan. A lean, short and overly underweight guy who’s been living with me since both of his parents passed away. Both him and me - along with a few other kids - were living in a completely remote place in California. However, the place we were living are decent. A small community, around 1 hour to the nearest town. I would like to say that this place of ours was serene and peaceful, with the old man still going out for occasional hunting and the old ladies went out their lawn to spray out some water to their freshen up their gardens and patches of vegetables.

Ryan stood up, and brushed off the dust that stuck to his pants and back, before he took a glance at me.

“Alex, aren’t you going home yet? It’s past midnight already.” Ryan said, his chirpy voice echoed in my ears like a soft music. I looked up towards him, seeing his bubbly smile, and felt my lips crept into the same kind of smile as well.

“Nah, you go first. I think I’m going to stay here a little bit longer, just to kill time.” I told him, and gave him my famous sweet smile, to which he just nodded.

“Suits you. Don’t catch colds. And don’t bring back nightmares.” He chuckled a little, before he slowly trotted away to the familiar lanes that brought us here, and disappeared behind the bushes.

Now, it was my time to sigh. Ryan always managed to make my heart pounds, with his silly remarks and cheerful attitude. Ever since they met, not a day went by without him thinking about Ryan. His first meeting with Ryan was tragic. It was the day he lost his parents, both of them. Ryan was not like him. His family came from the San Francisco city, and so was Ryan. They had to move down here to this remote place when his father was stationed in the community hospital nearby. According to him, it took him a few months to settle in, and he hadn’t really made friends in school either. Apparently, the kids around him were avoiding him like a plague, calling him names just because he was a city boy who don’t know how to camp in the woods. But that was before Ryan met me.

I remembered vividly the first time I heard a loud, explosive sound in the air when he was fishing in the creek that evening. The sound was so loud that I almost fell down the water the instant I heard it. I remembered rushing through the shrubs, ignoring the occasional pricks on my skin as well as tumbling down the buttress root of the trees a few times along the way, before the path cleared up in front of me..

What I saw was most terrifying. A classic white Sedan was lying upside down on the road, and it was on a massive fire, probably the loud explosive sound I heard from before. I squinted my eyes in the direction of the car as the heat from the fire was making my body tingled and squirmed in terror. I was dumbfounded. It took me a few minutes to digest everything in front of me, before suddenly my eyes captured something moving at the very edge of the road. I ran to the moving figure, registering that it was a kid. A beautiful one, despite the dirt and scratches that smeared his face and body.

He probably did not see me coming, for apparently he kept on crawling forward to the burning car. I took a look at the boy, and the way he dragged his feet seemed to be a little bit strange. I may not be a doctor, but I knew clearly that a boy’s foot should not be crooked to a strange angle like that. I supposed that I had to keep him safe as I was afraid that the car might explode again.

Working based on my instincts, I quickly knelt down beside him and took him into my embrace, which he struggled to break free from my grasp. However, his energy was draining - probably from the pain and exhaustion that he felt - and his continued struggles eventually subsided, until he just put both of his hands around my waist and put his face on my chest. I could hear a faint sob coming from him, but I could do nothing besides calming him down.

I sighed slowly at the bitter memory that puts us together. Finally, feeling the chills biting my bone, I stood up, and slowly walked towards the same path that Ryan took earlier. I looked down as I stepped lightly on the gravel, my mind still thinking about Ryan. At first Ryan was a stranger. Then, he came into my life when my mom decided to take him to live with us. I was overjoyed by the fact that I finally got a little brother to hang out with.

Then, the days passed by, and it turned into months. I started to have a growing feelings towards him. A feeling that I never came across before. It’s not curiosity, and it’s not friendship as well, and certainly not a brotherly relationship. It puzzled me at first, and it scared the hell out of me when I realized that somehow I fell for him, and I fell hard.

I haven’t made any effort to tell him about my feelings yet. I thought of telling him when his 15th birthday come next week. I am mustering all my courage and had planned out a nice outing - just me and him - to the town, since he rarely went to town ever since he lived with us. Thinking about what will happen next week gave me a jitter. I was excited yet afraid at the same time. I just hoped Ryan would feel the same way as I do.

I took a left turn to my neighborhood, and I heard a few greetings coming from the neighborhood kids as I passed the place they usually hang out. Although I knew most of the kids around my place, I don’t really hang out with them as much. I fancy being alone; it helps me to clear out my mind sometimes. Besides, I don’t have to pretend to like everything I don’t, especially their smoking and drinking habits.

I waved to them as I briskly walked passed them, eager to get home. First, because I was starving. Truthfully, I haven’t had any food since this morning, and I only had two piece of chocolate rolls as breakfast before rushing off to the school. And second, because I definitely missed a certain short, hazel-eyed boy who might already be asleep.

Finally arriving at my house, I opened the door and went in. Apparently my mom wasn’t sleeping yet, and so was my dad, for I can clearly hear them talking over the sound of the drama that they were watching.

“Oh, welcome home. Where’s Ryan?” My mom beamed cheerfully as soon as she saw me entering the hallway. I gave her a weird look when I heard the question, and she shot me a weird look as well.

“He comes back early.” I said, and walked out the hallway and went straight to the kitchen. I opened the fridge, and found the leftover pizza that they had for dinner. I took a slice and immediately took a big bite from it, hissing a little as the coldness of the pizza hits me. “I should put it in the microwave first.” I murmured alone, but continued to munch on the pizza, too hungry to care.

“ALEX!!!” I heard the shrilling voice of my mom calling me, startling me a little. I quickly went to the front, only to see her panicked face and a bloodied Peter stood in my doorway.

“Alex, it’s Ryan. He was...He was cornered by a group of guys. I...I don’t know who they are. He was...cornered behind the old warehouse.” Peter said, his voice was shaking with terror, and he had a hard time talking and panting at the same time. It took me a few moments to adjust, before I quickly grabbed my jacket and rushed out, with Peter behind me. I could hear my mom calling me, but I just couldn’t stop my feet from running. All I knew was I needed to save Ryan.

I slowed down a little and let Peter took the lead. After a few minutes of running, I finally saw it. My worst nightmare had come true. I saw a few guys gathering around and laughing, and in the middle of them was Ryan, lying on the pavement. He looked like he was in an extreme pain, and I swore I could see his yellow shirt turned to red. I knew something was wrong the moment I saw Ryan’s expression. Without thinking, I charged to the man, and knocked one of them down. My action broke their strings of laughter, and in turn I fell down to the ground as well. I ignored the ruckus that the other guys were making, and I clambered quickly towards Ryan.

I slowly lifted his face, and put his head on my lap, while I repositioned his body so that he lay on his back. I could see a pool of blood on the pavement below him, and more blood gushing out through the wound on his stomach. I don’t know how deep the wound was, but I was terrified by the amount of blood coming out from the cut. Seeing how bad Ryan was, I felt a surge of anger washing through me as I looked at all of the guys. I spotted one of them who hold a Rambo knife, and I gave him a sharp glare.

“Why did you do this?” I asked in a demanding tone, so low that it almost came out as a growl. The man looked stunned at my question, but then he just laughed maniacally.

“You want to know why?” He said, continuing his chuckles in the ugliest way I had ever seen. His face seemed familiar, but I cannot recall who was that guy. Somehow, that doesn’t even matter at the moment. He smirked as he looked at me, and he slowly traced his Rambo knife with his thumb.

“Well, you see. His father had killed my son and my wife, right when she gave birth to him.” He said, one word at a time, as he kept on playing with the knife in front of him as if it was some kind of amusement.

“You are pathetic!” I heard my dad’s scruffy voice. I looked to my left and there stood my dad and my mom. “You know that Dean tried to save your wife and your son, you fool! He tried his best!” My dad hollered, and I saw the man was a little taken aback.

“No! That’s a lie! He’s supposed to save them! He’s a doctor!” The man screamed in reply, before he looked straight to Ryan and me. “But it’s okay. I’ve taken revenge on both of them, and now their son as well. I have no more regrets!” He said, and laughed again - this time all of the men laughed together, as if there were some kind of funny jokes passed around.

I felt Ryan’s hand tugging on my shirt, and I saw him struggling to say something. I leaned down a little until I can hear his breathing. I could see his lips moving, but I couldn’t make out the sound he was making as he tried to breathe at the same time.

“A- Alex...my time- has come….” My eyes were wide when the words finally hit me. I looked at him and clutched at his shirt.

“No! Don’t you dare die now. Don’t you dare die on me!” I said, almost hysteric. I looked at him, and I could see his lips curved a little into a crooked smile. I shook my head and I put my hands on his cheeks. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but his body felt colder than usual. I saw him coughing, and I was panic stricken.

“No! Ryan, don’t leave me. I can’t leave without you!” I said, along with the tears that started to flow down my cheek. He just shook his head slowly, and mouthed ‘it’s okay’ weakly. He moved his hand and took my hand, clutching it tightly.

“Ryan, I love you!’ I don’t know where did the courage come, but I couldn’t wait no more. I can see him slowly slipping out of consciousness, and I don’t want to regret anything later. His eyes opened a little bit wider when I said that, and he nodded.

“I- know. Me too- But we- We are not meant- Meant to be now. Maybe in- Another time.” He said softly, before he slowly closed his eyes. I almost screamed, and I don’t really care what happened around me anymore. I just want Ryan to hold on for his life. I screamed out, and called his name repeatedly, until he finally went limp on my lap.

Suddenly, I felt sick and disgusted with that man, and all of the guys that were with him. How could they messed up with people’s life? And more importantly, how could they messed up with Ryan’s, when he clearly had nothing to do with the incident. I could feel my hand trembling in anger, as I slowly put Ryan’s head off my lap to the pavement, and I slowly stood up.

I clenched my fist, and quickly I sprinted towards him, and I managed to give him a punch on his face, before I heard a few loud ‘bang’ and a searing pain shot through my back. I stumbled to the front, before I knelt down. The pain was unbearable, but I managed to slowly crawl back to Ryan, before I fell flat on the pavement. I don’t know what had happened, but I could hear a few screams. It was deafening, and I saw my dad punching another man, while my mom rushed to my side. She muttered something about ‘shot’ and ‘not your fault’, but I couldn’t really catch what she was saying as I slowly felt dizzy, before finally my vision blurred, and everything became black.

“Hey, never thought that I could see you here, Alex.” I turned around at the sudden greetings, before I smiled a little.

“It’s been a long time since somebody calls me that name, Ryan.” I said softly, smiling as I looked at him. He was clad in white, and there was this light that illuminates around him making him looked more lovely than ever.

“Well, it’s been a while since somebody calls me that name too. Besides, I have a new name now.” Ryan chuckles, and smirked a little. I just nodded, and looked at him.

“Oh yeah? Let me guess, they call you Cupid, the angel of love now, is it?” I said in a mocking tone, which made both of us erupted in a soft laughter.

“Yeah. And to be honest, I kind of like the name. And the best part is, I got my own wings now.” He replied and gave me a blinding smile. I just nodded, and the memory of thirty years ago played in my mind.

“You always wanted a wing, right?” I asked, although I clearly knew the answer. He let my question drifted off, before he looked at me.

“Who is it?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows a little. I smiled softly.

“My mom. It’s tonight.” I said slowly. He nodded, and looked down.

“Well then, I guess I don’t want to interrupt you and your work.” He said, before he knelt down and touched the tombstone. “Don’t dwell on our graves for too long. You’ve got a life to take.” He said, before he spread his white fluffy wings apart.

“Goodbye, Angel of Death. Till we meet again.” He said, his cheerful smile never once leaving his lips, before he flapped his wings and shot off as fast as the light. I just chuckled, and smiled, before I, too, spread my black wings and flew away from the two tombstones - the tombstones that carved our names, and the date we died.