Fly Free: A novel - Part 2

I reached about 21,000 this EARLY morning, just after midnight, when I realised it is Friday the 13th. Whoo-hoo. Cute.


Info: Fly Free

“I love to fly,” said Daniel.

In his mind, he was determined to play cool.

“Fly?” Christine Montello asked, scarcely aware of repeating what had already been repeated for plethora of times. Maybe it was the twelve-year decoration that was in need to have a change first. Even the potted plant was still green and upright. Or perhaps it was a good sign.

“You understand that. The thought is driving me crazy lately, though I couldn’t see the difference between before and after,” Daniel said.

“It had gone worse.”

“Yeah.”

“Mind to elaborate further?”

Daniel shifted on his armchair uncomfortably, despite how he used to doze off few times more easily than listening to his Maths teacher, whose name Daniel had forgotten. “I woke with sorehead these days,” he said.

Montello waited.

Daniel muffled a groan under his breath. “It’s not the real sorehead, but somewhat like an annoyance when the thoughts of flying, or falling as in your term, clouds my mind.”

Daniel paused again, wanting Montello to start off with anything, but he realised grimly that the psychiatrist knew him too well, because it did not sound like Daniel to end the story like that.

“I felt like a bird locked in a cage, and I do fear losing my humanity too.”

“Humanity? Why do you think BASE jumping will make you lose your humanity?”

“Without an urge to take off the equipment, doc, and a human wouldn’t drool upon seeing a black street rat, including those behind the Old Grammar School.”

Montello was already in her thirties and never did she come upon such a statement from a boy who acts normal (well, most of the time). Daniel never mentioned that. Daniel almost never spoke with the grumpy tone he was using now. When he sulked, he sulked with a five year old temper, never be serious of it.

“Is it the first time?”

“Not really.”

“You never mentioned that.”

Daniel shrugged. “I would not have – the feeling is dismissible. It did not grow intense until recently.”

“But it’s something vital for me to know, Daniel. Everything you face can lead to a clue to a cure.”

“I thought you understand me, that point is not too crucial and anyone would be awkward to speak of it. Alan did not know that either.”

The nature bliss looking face was gone, leaving the worn out soul exposing the scars and the pain. Montello immediately felt a pity for the boy, even when the hope was hollow. She had known Daniel when he was five, and never left her special patient since then, especially in a rural town like this.

Daniel was her third patient, and never quite got it when she recalled how she had met him. The young boy had just lost his father and they met in an awkward situation, where Daniel, deeply shaken, was always looking forward to leap down from her office window (and now it was grilled). Montello had treated Daniel like a friend, speaking to him through hard times, and telling all but few of her own experiences being with Daniel’s late father. Though she could not answer Daniel why Professor Curtis changed his last name to Aquila. Their relationship had improved vastly since then.

“Yes, but peoples’ mind works differently, I may not fully understand your problem,” Montello said. “Have you gotten a check up from the docs?”

Daniel cringed and Montello’s sharp eyes took note of that. Her sense kept her up.

“No, I didn’t,” Daniel said stiffly. “I believe the only cure is to keep flying.”

“Alan has complained to me about your reluctance to get a proper scan,” Montello remarked cautiously. “I could try asking you – “

“No, not check up!” Daniel groaned. “Not the untrustworthy body-scanning goons!”
“I’m just asking, not forcing. Your safety concerns everyone in the town,” she said. Daniel tutted in disagreement.

Montello bored her eyes into Daniel’s, trying if this could let Daniel open up more to speak, and a question popped out in her mind, almost like a psychiatrist’s instinct.

“Had the craving stopped?”

“Er… no.”

Montello smiled. “How was it like, being up in the sky flying?”

Daniel expression shifted from dark to confusion, and then to a face full of jovial. The reluctance to speak out had gone off. “That’s tricky. I hardly think of anything when I’m flying… I mean free falling. I just feel my feathers…”

Montello could not force her eyebrows straight. The right one lifted naughtily and naturally.

“I mean, my skin,” Daniel blabbered excitedly. “I like the speed, I like the feeling of light weight, and it’s like I’m free! Chuffed from top to bottom, like Alan always mentioned. I know I belong to the sky.”

“Did you ever look down?”

“You had never jumped?” Daniel asked curiously.

Montello set her face and posture too straight up. Her lips were tight, straight lines. “No, never did.”

Daniel gave her a melancholy smile. “I’ll get you to one of the jumps next time.”

“Uh…” Montello half agreed, half declined. She doubted if she had any glasses left to jump. She was the sort of women, who broke glasses for her life, which explained much that she had never cooked.

“It’s something like that, being free,” Daniel went on. “When I’m up there, I always get sorts of calm, and something… vague, like an expression or a feeling, but not suffice to say as a thought. I know what’s happening down there, or up. I had got the weather a few minutes later right, and I always do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s like someone telling me something, but making it an understanding instead using words,” Daniel said after a moment of hesitation. “It’s the best I could explain.”

The session followed up with supplies of medication to calm Daniel down, and telling him to stick to Alan, again and again.

As Daniel left, Montello found herself studying the boy. Daniel inherited his father’s auburn, downy hair, although there were stiff ones, dominating half of the auburn protein population. The boy was in a good shape, but not healthily fit, as he was in the range of underweight. Although the back was facing Montello, she visualized those watchful, sharp brown eyes before the thought occurred to her. She half feared her knowledge regarding Daniel would override her basic life necessity. Montello sat there motionlessly for a long moment; continue staring at where Daniel had walked out of the room, until the rapid, monotonous beep of her phone shook her into senses. Montello pulled her shirt straight and picked up the receiver.

“Dr. Montello speaking.”

On the other side, it sounded like young man who scoffed.

“Hey doc, you free?” the youth said.

The voice sounded young, a little coarse, and familiar. Montello could not place the voice with the right face. “May I know who am I speaking to?”

“Alan Saal, doc. It hurts to realise my voice is –“

“Alan! How are you?” Montello boomed. ‘I’ll feel guilty later,’ she thought.
Alan paused for a second. “I’m fine, less fine than few seconds ago. Geez doc, I’m not an open highway, no jumping queues.”

Montello flinched at both the distracting sexy voice and his typical joke. “So, what’s your story?”

“Are you free?”

“Yes, Daniel left shortly before you called.”

“Pity, I was going to let you convince him to a scan.”

“Scan! Daniel had shown clear reluctance and disagreement towards this idea!” Montello exclaimed. “It’s not your place, nor mine, to talk him into something he dislike.”

“Fine then… I’ll just – “

“No, Alan, you don’t,” Montello said firmly. “Your scan project is definitely out.”

Alan muttered inaudible words.

“I heard that.”

Alan ignored Montello on that. “So, how was Dan’s session?”

“I ought to keep my patient’s matter secret, and don’t tempt me into your vile ideas, I’m not buying them.”

“I might as well speak to an answering machine,” Alan grumbled. “You know there’s no secret between Daniel and I.”

“There are secrets. Sometimes secrets are inevitable.”

“Maybe he will tell me that secret someday,” Alan said. “Doc, while you keep Daniel’s mind away from jumping, please do not tell him I’m working on convincing him to get a scan.”

“I thought there’s no secrets,” Montello remarked dryly.

“Bloody, you are the one who said secrets are inevitable! No, doc, this is important. I can sense if he don’t get a better treatment for whatever jumping disorder he has, it’s going to get serious.”

“I know that – he was tempted to jump without the chute.”

“That’s exactly my point. Besides, while he was taught to land on open area, he was landing closer to trees, more than ever. I realised the distance between his chute and a tree this morning.”

Montello pondered over to tell or not to tell. She finally said, “Alan, Daniel’s nickname Danhawk for Falconiel or whatever seems no longer to be literal. He’s becoming more as a raptor. His speech, his habits, and a secret.”

“Points taken. So do you agree with me – get him to a scan?”

Montello was tempted to object, but Alan was right. Daniel needed a scan. “I try to be neutral in this situation.”

“Danke, doc. I shall speak to you again.”

“Bitte,” Montello replied with one of the only two German words she knew. “So shall I. Goodbye. I warn you, Alan, don’t overdo anything as a friend!”
Alan had just rolled his eyes over the phone, not grateful that the phone passed no expressions. “I know what to do. I’m not an engineer for nothing!”

“Show off,” Montello muttered.

“Yes, doc, I have a big red ass to show off,” Alan drawled, and chuckled at his own joke. “Have a nice day, regards from Alan.”

The conversation clicked to an end. Montello shook her head. “Kids these days!”

To be continued...

Fly Free: A novel - Part 1

I have done, like, 8000 words so far. In five days. I'm aiming for 10,000 words today but I'll need to finish off my damned Chemistry presentation first. :X



Fly Free: A Novel
Part 1


Info: Fly Free

It was Daniel Aquila who had started the whole story with his craving for a flight, or dangerously, a fall. BASE jumpers were nothing compared to the poor youth. It was this case that led him to a truth that could never remain as a secret forever. In fact, no secret lasts.

Our story started at a chilly late October morning. The humidity was well low, at least according to the local weather forecast, and the wind was moderate.

Daniel had waked early in the morning, earlier than the sunrise, to sneak out his body and his BASE jumping equipments. It was not an easy job, as nobody would leave him alone outside, all for one reason – to prevent him from jumping off a cliff. Daniel had had more sense than not wearing proper equipments. He did not buy the canopy, neither the helmet, nor the protective pads. Nobody who knew Daniel in their right mind would give him a chance to own them. But someone did, and the very man was his deceased father, who shared a mad penchant in jumping off cliffs like committing suicides.

No matter how hard his mother tried to lock the equipments away, Daniel had managed to pick the lock (he had learnt the trick when he was in a gang, which later he was dragged out of it by his concerned neighbour). This time was the third time, and it turned out as successful as ever. Mrs. Walsh (who refused to be called Mrs. Aquila) considered selling the equipments but never did.

Daniel scanned for by passers before moving out from his cottage to the open field, pushing his mountain bike along. Hanging over his back is a satchel large enough to bear all the equipments he was currently not wearing. He had climbed over a wooden fence and half dragged his bike along. He had a moment on his bike before walking up to a peak - with a cliff - he knew.

The sun had rose. Daniel was overlooking the colourful picturesque view of English Lake District, though most leaves had fell. The grass field was a piece of golden turf. It felt like being the top.

Daniel grabbed a relaxing moment for deep breaths before started with his equipments. With his seven-cell Blackjack canopy, he stood at the edge. There was no fear, just pure excitement. Something of a type of instinct wanted him to ‘fly’ without the equipments. Daniel pushed the though away – he was still a human after all, no matter how much he thought of himself as a falcon.

In a single movement, he checked the line from the pilot chute, looked at the target and jumped. There was no fear; he had even performed free fall aerobatics before reaching the exact second to deploy the chute. Everything happened in a blur. It had ended as hastily as it had started. Daniel savoured the taste of adrenaline in his system while visualising the fall again. One fall was not enough, he thought.

Finally, he pulled the canopy back slowly, as though it was an operose task. He was complaining about the need to retrieve back his bike when a foot entered his peripheral vision. Daniel looked up and his heart dropped. The boy was clearly furious. Daniel was so struck by that expression on the other’s face. His steel grey eyes had made the effect of grimness too. Leaning against him were two bikes. One belonged to the boy himself; another was Daniel’s.

“Alan? How did you…?”

Alan glared at Daniel. “You are going to explain yourself, Dan. I pedalled like a mad bloke for miles.”

Daniel pushed himself up weakly. He was still experiencing the massive high – his leg muscles did not work quite well.

“But I did not make even one tiny scratch!” Daniel protested. “I had measured everything right, I had deployed exactly on time and landed fully equipped.”

“Please, this is not another argument about BASE or not,” Alan said as he packed the canopy back into the bag for Daniel. His steel grey eyes made no room for Daniel to shoot back. “Everyone is concerned of this matter. You had tried to jump off a cliff without these gears before and you almost did. Even BASE jumping is not any safer."

“I know! If you were in my shoes, could you suppress, like, ten more cravings for jumping off a cliff every day?”

Alan was momentarily puzzled by Daniel’s statement. Normally, Daniel would go sulking, but not this time. It worried Alan. “Had the cravings increased?” he asked.
Daniel nodded. “A lot, since like last week or so.”

“It has grown more serious, hasn’t it?”

“I think so.”

Alan flung the pack over his back and stood. “You need a session with Montello right now.”

Daniel did not pause to stop his groan. “Not the shrink again! I’m so cheesed off with her. I mean, she is nice, but there are no real progress, and I have to do nothing but to talk with her.”

“A shrink is just a temporary solution,” Alan assured. “There must be a cure.”

Daniel cast a weary glance at Alan. “And that needs a head to toe research on me. I know it, Alan. I don’t want to know what’s off in my body.”

“Don’t you want to escape the cravings?” Alan raised an eyebrow.

“I thought we have discussed this before! I want to live normally, but that does not mean I will allow something non-living operating on me.”

“It’s just a scan, no scalpels. Get a bottle, hawkie.”

Daniel shook his head. “Untrustworthy scans.”

Alan sighed. He could not understand why Daniel always did have a hard time surviving with anything concerning technology. In the end, Alan shook it off. He passed the bike to Daniel and the boys cycled slowly back to the little rural town they lived in.

To be continued...

Blog Polis Diraja? No comment...

@sixthseal @pinkytham: Polis Diraja Malaysia have a blog? No comment. http://tnbpolice.blogspot.com/

Can you believe it? At first I thought it would be all in Malay and full of dryness. And unbelievable. Sudahkah mereka turut menghadapi persaingan teknologi polis di England? But hey, not bad. Good stories and the best of all, the groovy cool profile picture.

Jangan Tensyen.

I look at the animation, then at the phrase: Jangan Tesyen. It actually made me grin. I wonder who are the casts. They are a funny pair - a white and a middle easter(?), I assume. Already my mind is creating a red riding hood tune.


I had a good read: http://tnbpolice.blogspot.com/2009/10/baran-panas.html

I'm not surprised to see someone would murder for cigarettes. Pity, that man looks like a good guy without fags.

Arrrrrr... Biollllooooooogggggiiiii Βιολογία δεν ειναι εύκολος! But, it's a good subject. Love it. I'm only having problems with PJK textbook. And I'm going to get polo-ed by physics tomorrow.

NaNo Month

1st of November, NaNo starts.
Don't know what's NaNo? Click Me.

I made a new cover for the novel I'm writing for NaNoWriMo. :D

Young Adult Science Fiction.
The only son of a late brilliant scientist, Daniel Aquila always thinks that he is a falcon. He never wants to know why he loves flying -or jumping from a cliff - so much.

But Alan and Uncle Sky will not leave Dan alone. When they find out about a Science Project and Dan was involved in it as a toddler, Dan couldn't ignore the surfacing secrets, and his urge to fly is putting his life into danger. He must either find a way to fly, or search for the cure that would lead him to a heart-breaking truth.

Footnote:
Book Cover Peregrine Falcon Image from http://bit.ly/3DJlvw
Lighting Brush from http://www.redheadstock.deviantart.com/
Silhouette done by my hand and I.

I woke early. I woke for the first time at 4:30 am, and then at 7 am. Because of dreams.

I had bad dreams. I remembered there are two dreams for seven hours. Maybe many dreams had interconnected with each other. Nevertheless, connect or not, I did not sleep well. Who still counts molecular formula in their sleep? AHH! But my brain just have to create a question, what is n? (Molecular formula, n = RMM/empirical formula).

The only difference with the reality is, I have to solve it no matter how pain my head is, and no matter how illogical it is. That damned question is Biology, Add Maths and Chemistry all rolled into one. It was a whole new formula, n= something something Bio+Chem+Maths. How was it supposed to make any sense?!

So all I could remember were the horrible 'n', frustration and a headache. Good sleep? No, not really, and could not complain much. I could not even blame the Biology Notes I made yesterday.



P.S: I DIDN'T GET STRESS IN EXAM! NO MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE!

Polo-ed Splinter

Note: Polo is a nifty little replacement for swearing words, like shit or damn. First usage in Chemistry tuition yesterday.



Today I got a micro wooden splinter in my right foot sole. It's nasty when I'm enduring it for hours at school. Worse - the half of it, stuck deep inside, was left there when the top half came free.

I had used a needle to prick skin by skin, just to get deep enough to get the polo-ed splinter out. It's no better than having a strand of hair under the outer layer of skin, nor any worse than that. Yes, could you believe a strand of hair - clever and stiff enough- got into my sole?