Strategy 4 - Flügel

The son of Daedalus, Icarus, is well-known for his escape from Crete by flying with two pair of wing which his father crafted.

For once I am about to experience the moment which Icarus had. The lightness of my body, the clear mind is all I could feel. My body lifted off the ground like plane taking off from the runway.

For that moment, I managed to catch a glimpse of the orange sun in midst of the gray clouds. That faint orange hue of it which seems trying to capture the one’s attention. It was splendid.

However the story of Icarus ended up falling down to the ocean after his wings got broken up as he flew too close to the sun.

The next moment, I crashed down hard on my bottom.

“Ahhh! “ She screamed at me at a volume equivalent to the height of Mount Everest. The shockwave seems pulsing toward me, emptying the surround air as if turning it into a vacuum.

My mind was blank.

Wait. I couldn’t even think of what had happened. My senses was impaired, I couldn’t feel well since the pain of my bottom numbed my sensation. My ear was still ringing from that deafening scream.

The culprit was right in front of me.

She was staring down at me. She was surprised that on how exaggerating it was. But to me, it wasn’t an act.

Of course, I recovered immediately as it was not pleasant for someone to lie down on that dirty ground.

I managed to find a spot along the bench.

While using my hand dusting off the dirt which stained onto my uniform, Audrey was looking at me. I guess staring could be a better word to use.

“Are you okay?”

Audrey asked me worryingly but in her soft voice. Probably she was feeling responsible for it and was feeling guilty. But that soft voice doesn’t seem to suit this barbarian at all.

Nonetheless, I was partly responsible for that as well. If only I did not startle her earlier, nothing like this could have happened.

“I’m okay…”

I assured her as I do not want to make her feel worse. To tell you frankly, I wasn’t even feeling good. My previous cold which I gotten few days ago had already clouded my mind and I could actually feel my breath is getting heavier and heavier. Together with that fall earlier, I could say that I already half-dead.

The next moment, there is a cracking sound which echoed through the quiet surrounding. It was Audrey who left my back burning once again.

“You know you nearly scare me to death!”

She mentioned without shedding any guiltiness in her words.

“Seems like the earlier image of her is just an illusion, and probably she was like this all along” I jolted down onto my memory’s notepad.

The next few minutes were us, waiting for the bus. She was sitting right beside me, but I couldn’t want to start any conversation as I could feel that my back could no longer withstand her attack anymore. They are on the verge of breaking.

The surrounding was only filled with the buzzing noise of the passing cars until Audrey’s phone rings.

Even though her ringtone is a bit too loud, but it is energetic just like the owner herself.

Her face got lilted by the LCD display as she flipped her phone and read it. She was reading it words by words. That explosive Audrey appeared to be so quiet now.

Maybe I spoke too soon.

The moment when she finished reading, she exploded. Yelling in the bus stop like some lunatic. She was grasping so tightly to her phone that she might broke it any time. I actually feel pain for her parent’s wallet if she really broke it.

Her yelling however only lasted for a split second.

Right now the situation was tense. Audrey was as if like an unstable explosive substance which might react anytime. I would feel the wrath if I accidentally startled her again.

From far, I could hear a louder buzzing noise. I strained my eyes as I was trying to find out which bus it was. However it wasn’t going to the direction of the hospital.

Nonetheless, why could I care for that as well? Especially since Sheryl got discharged earlier and also it is not like I got another relative or friends for me to visit in the hospital.

As the bus approached, I realized that it was empty since this bus wouldn’t go to any interesting places.

“Do you have anything later?”

Audrey asked me in a hurry. It was quite random of her, especially since she is going to visit Kobe in the hospital later on.

“Not really…”

I replied back to her especially since I don’t have any activities after school. It was pretty much the same all long where I went home straight after school.

The next moment, Audrey was holding onto my hand and I got dragged into the bus by her.