Gilda the Griffin

~Gilda the Griffin~
Chapter Two - A Chance to Fly

"Mama, Papa, is it my turn to fly yet?" I asked, hopping up and down on our cloud nest in the sky as Mom and Dad came back from catching dinner. My mom looked at my dad with a smile, but he had a look of pure worry on his. He huddled close to mom.

"I don't know, Gilda's only 7 years old, and she only just started learning how to glide a week ago..." he whispered. My dad's words made my heart sink, so heavy I thought I would fall through the cloud.

"Please, oh PLEASE! I'm turning eight tomorrow!" I begged, looking up at my dad with longing eyes. I whimpered, hoping to sway my dad's decision. He looked at mom, then back to me after a few seconds and broke out in a loving smile.

"Alright, Goldie, tomorrow, when you turn eight, we'll let you fly with us. Call it your birthday present," he said, winking at me. I burst into joy, dancing around on the cloud, the sun was setting across the afternoon horizon.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Mom caught me mid air while I was bouncing.

"Now, sweetheart, let's get you to bed. We wouldn't want you too tired to fly now would you..." she said, hugging me then carrying me into our nest and tucking me into bed, touching my nose as she pulled the covers over my feathers. I yawned and slowly drifted off to sleep as my mother sang me a lullaby:

Hush now little griffin,
rest among the stars.

Let your dreams carry you
to lands near and far.

Though you may fear
the darkness of night.

The song that I sing,
Will let you take flight...

Her voice was like that of mockingbirds singing sweetly in the summer breeze. She stroked the feathers on my head as she sang, cooing and calming me to a restful sleep.

The moon is your lantern,
The stars are your friends,

Guiding you back to your lining

When night turns to day
and dreams end at dawn

Wake to the daylight that's shining

That night, I dreamed of flying through the stars, meeting an entire flock of golden griffins, waving at me as my wings lifted me above the clouds. It felt wonderful, the wings flowing past the current of air, the clouds flow past my feathers like the spray of the sea. I flew amongst the golden griffins, feeling their mighty wing beats flap as if with a massive pulse, carrying me along with it. I flew above the crowd doing the barrel rolls and loop-de-loops I saw the Wonderbolts do once. It felt just like magic...

I woke up the melodious singing of mom as she conducted the chorus of birds that fluttered among the clouds. I jumped out from underneath the covers as I remembered what day it was.

"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" I shouted, bursting out of my bed, scaring the birds, "Oops... sorry..." My mother just shook her head and smiled. Dad landed shortly afterward, carrying breakfast for the whole family.

"YAY! Haddock!" I shouted happily, running for the fish, "Thanks Dad!"

"Don't mention it, it is your birthday after all," he said with a smile, "It's not much, but I hope you enjoy it." His words echoed in my mind...

We were far from the Equestrian border, in the lands of the Dominion. It was dangerous to go on land, or even the sea to fish. There was always the constant fear of being captured by diamond dogs and sold into slavery. I was too young to know what slavery was, let alone worry about it. Even so, I wasn't a stranger to being hungry. Some nights I had wondered why mom and dad came back empty handed from an entire day of fishing. Later I realized why.

Our family was fortunate to be close to the ocean rather than some of the other griffins on land. Many griffins were scratching a living by eating... unnaturally. Mom and Dad had decided to start a food life line, fishing for enough food for the other griffins we lived near and transporting the fish to their homes, risking their lives to help others, coming home too exhausted to eat themselves. When I found out that they were doing this, I couldn't help but feel proud of them, and hoped that I could be as strong enough to help them.

After thinking about all those times when I saw them go to bed hungry, I pushed the fish towards them.

"I want you to have it, I'm not hungry..." I said, smiling, although haddock was my favorite fish, I could survive not eating it for one morning. They looked hungrier than I did. Dad looked at the fish, then at me.

"Goldie, what's wrong?" He asked looking at me, worried, "Are you sick?"

"No, no, I'm fine, I'm just not hungry at the moment. You have it." They looked at each other in shock, then back to me, finally understanding.

"I see... anxious to fly aren't you." They misunderstood completely of course, but I was happy nonetheless.

"How about we split it then, smaller portions mean we'll finish faster." He cut the haddock into 3 sections, one for each of us. Mom and Dad lifted their sections, "Bon Appetite."

After we ate, we took perching positions at the edge of the nest, priming our wings.

"Remember Gilda, stay very close to us, keep your tail behind you, and your wings out," mom reminded me. To be honest, out of both of them, mom was the better flier. Dad always joked about how if I ever grew up to fly like mom, we'd have to tow him with a rope just for him to keep up with us.

To be safe, they tied a rope to me that linked me to them in case I fell, but I knew that I could do it. I just have to remember the dream, soaring through the air with a flap of my wings, then cruising to a glide.

"Alright, here we go!" Dad said, nudging me to start, "Happy Birthday, Goldie." I looked back at him and smiled, a tear in my eye. I spread my wings, crouching low for take off, then sprung off with my back legs, aided with a powerful flap of my wings to send me into the air for the very first time. Taking off felt even better now that I knew that everything was real: floating through the wind, swimming through the clouds. It was just like in the dream, just like everything I had hoped for.

We flew together, just the three of us, one flying next to the other, a chain of three griffins flying in sync through the air, and for the first time in my life: I felt free. Griffins were always meant to fly, we were built to fly, and we loved every thrilling, fascinating, fleeting second of flying through the air, able to fly up to the stars if we wanted to, and down to feel the cool spray of the sea on our fur and feathers.

We swooped down low and dragged our back paws through the rolling ocean waves, the fresh, salty breeze filling our noses with all the scents of all the wildlife of the crisp blue ocean. This was magic, this was freedom, this was home.

We turned around, headed towards our nest again. I was slightly saddened, it all went by so fast, like the entire day simply passed us by in less than a minute. I wanted to fly some more, but I felt my wings start to become tired. If I could, I would fly until my wings fell off, if that could happen. We saw our cloud nest in sight. Mom and Dad looked at me, both about to ask the same question.

"Did you have fun?" They both said with a smile, their feathers a slight yellowish cream color from the sunset. I opened my beak to answer, to describe how wonderful it felt to fly for real for the first time, then...

*BOOM*