Meet Jabir, Nita's charge, and find out how he copes with his inability to fly.
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It wasn't fair that he couldn't fly--every Payeh his age could fly. Male or female, they'd all taken their first flights and were confidently soaring above the city, while Jabir stayed behind alone. It would have been bad enough to just be the last to fly, but to still not be able to fly... There had only been a few months between the first Payeh his age to take flight and the second to last; it had been two years since then, and Jabir still couldn't fly.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked his mother, expecting her to give him a cheesy answer about him being a late bloomer or special.
"I have no idea," she scoffed. "The doctor can't find anything wrong, but something must be."
Jabir frowned. He didn't know why he expected her answer to make him feel better--he couldn't think of anything himself that would ease his mind, how could he expect her to? Still, her answer bothered him. If he'd known his father, he would have asked for a second opinion. Given then circumstances, he instead settled for being different and accepted his fate.
If he couldn't fly, he couldn't work or participate in any of the other normal activities in the city like his friends, which meant he had all day to himself. When they were young, he and his friends use to play in the woods and the meadows nearby. Now, he wanted to see something different; he longed to experience something they had not. That desire is what first prompted him to spend his time in the water--he'd never met a Payeh that could swim.
There were rumors about eight-legged creatures beneath the sea--Cecaelia, the exceedingly superstitious called them. Supposedly part humanoid and part cephalopod, they were said to be agile and dangerous by some and kind and protective by others. The rumors kept most Payeh out of the water, but Jabir was willing to take the chance.
Under the water everything looked blurry, his body was heavy, but his mind was light as a feather. The water would crash over him as he struggled to stay a float, and it reminded him of the tumbles he'd taken trying to take off from the ledge above the city. The attempts were exhausting, and possibly a waste of his time, but for some reason, he wouldn't give up. If he couldn't fly, he was going to swim...
When he awoke in the sand with the golden skin of the young Cecaelia who had apparently saved his life, he couldn't believe his eyes. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined they were real, let alone that he might see one. This was his chance--
"Wait! I won't tell anyone I saw you if you'll stay," he called out to the fleeing and visibly frightened girl. "Could you teach me to swim?" he added the question half-heartedly, expecting the situation to continue playing out as it were.
The ripples surrounding the girl, who had dove under the water to obscure his view, disappeared. Jabir held his breath, did that mean she had stopped at his pleading? Or that she'd dove even further beneath the water?
"What's wrong with me?" he asked his mother, expecting her to give him a cheesy answer about him being a late bloomer or special.
"I have no idea," she scoffed. "The doctor can't find anything wrong, but something must be."
Jabir frowned. He didn't know why he expected her answer to make him feel better--he couldn't think of anything himself that would ease his mind, how could he expect her to? Still, her answer bothered him. If he'd known his father, he would have asked for a second opinion. Given then circumstances, he instead settled for being different and accepted his fate.
If he couldn't fly, he couldn't work or participate in any of the other normal activities in the city like his friends, which meant he had all day to himself. When they were young, he and his friends use to play in the woods and the meadows nearby. Now, he wanted to see something different; he longed to experience something they had not. That desire is what first prompted him to spend his time in the water--he'd never met a Payeh that could swim.
There were rumors about eight-legged creatures beneath the sea--Cecaelia, the exceedingly superstitious called them. Supposedly part humanoid and part cephalopod, they were said to be agile and dangerous by some and kind and protective by others. The rumors kept most Payeh out of the water, but Jabir was willing to take the chance.
When he awoke in the sand with the golden skin of the young Cecaelia who had apparently saved his life, he couldn't believe his eyes. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined they were real, let alone that he might see one. This was his chance--
"Wait! I won't tell anyone I saw you if you'll stay," he called out to the fleeing and visibly frightened girl. "Could you teach me to swim?" he added the question half-heartedly, expecting the situation to continue playing out as it were.
The ripples surrounding the girl, who had dove under the water to obscure his view, disappeared. Jabir held his breath, did that mean she had stopped at his pleading? Or that she'd dove even further beneath the water?
