I invite you to enjoy this flash fiction by H. L. Burke.

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The chains squeak overhead as the child swings. Up and down. Up and down. Driven by the gentle push of Mother’s hands against her back. Up and down.

The child reaches her hands towards the sky. White clouds beckon. She longs to reach those clouds, to break the chains, and soar, to fly away.

A stronger push, more speed, and she will escape. No more tame park. No more cut grass. No bedtime or rules. In the sky birds are free to travel the world, to touch the heavens. The child will join them. She just needs to go higher.

“High like tree!” the child cries, and Mother pushes harder. The air swishes by. The sky grows nearer. So close now.

Then, with a jerk, the descent begins. The clouds slip from her grasp, and she falls.

Escape. She needs to fly. The great blue beckons like a sea. Dive in! She leans forward, against the fall.

“High like clouds!” she begs.

Slap! Mother pushes her up again. The child kicks her legs.

To fly.

Clouds like spun sugar at her fingertips, past the birds, past the stars, never to grow up, never to come down again.

Whoosh and swoosh.

Mother’s push weakens.

“High like the sky!” the child shouts.

Second star to the right, free as a runaway bunny.

She closes her eyes and rides the breeze. For a moment, at the peak of the arc, she’s unbound. She’s free. She’s a wild bird.

Wings catch her. She’s floating now. The ground fades away. The trees become tiny under her feet, and Mother shrinks to a doll, an ant, a speck. The sky opens up before her. The whole of it belongs to the child. She will fly far and away. To the moon? Or perhaps farther.

The swing beneath her disappears. She’s alone in the air. Moving fast. Too fast. Her arms flail. Her legs kick. Her heart pounds. Is she flying or falling? Did she go too far?

Then sinking speed, back down again, into her mother’s arms. She is safe.

© H. L. Burke

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Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

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