Terry Neale - Jo-el

“Show me.”

Sally put the real time image on my heads-up display. The girl was struggling in deep water, the waves close by breaking on the reef, she was more than two miles out from the shore. A split screen showed a few people on the shore standing at the water’s edge, anxious faces.

“Can she save herself?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Isn’t there a rescue boat?”

“No. No one on the shore can see properly, they don’t know the difficulty she’s in.”

“Who’s that on the shore?”

“Father, mother, boyfriend and brother. The boyfriend and brother have iphones.”

“Okay, let’s go. Bounce me into that cloud.” I pointed at a fluffy cloud to the right of the girl, probably about four thousand feet.

Yikes! I was in the cloud, blind, completely disorientated, no idea what was up or down. I held steady for a moment then let myself drop and quickly the cloud was gone, the sun was bright and the deep blue sea was spread out below me. I searched for the girl, but couldn’t see her.

“Where is she?” I exclaimed aloud.

“ To your right, forty-five degrees,”

I swung around and spotted her flaying about in the waves. I drifted lower and saw fear emblazoned across her young face, her eyes screwed tight against the salt water, her right arm dead by her side. I wondered for a moment how she would react to this winged man coming toward her from the sky. Would she faint? I guess that would be okay. But she hadn’t seen me yet, the stinging salt water no doubt affecting her vision. I wondered what was happening on the shore. Could they make me out? Are they screaming? I’m sure everyone on the beach would be in motion once they heard people screaming. But I couldn’t worry about that right now.

“ What’s her name?”

“Marianne LeGaute,” came the reply.

I was almost there; she still hadn’t seen me. I dropped into the water beside her, the current was strong, the water warm. Waves tossed us up and down as I reached under her torso with my right arm.

“Marianne,” I said, in French. Actually, I said it in English but it came out in French. Jeez, this tech stuff is cool. “I’m going to take you to the beach.”

She turned her head to me and opened one eye, it was horribly red. She hadn’t seen me drop into the water, she didn’t know I could fly, she was about to experience the ride of her life, but she didn’t know it. I could see that the tether rope to the kite was unhooked. I put my left arm under her legs at the knee. “Rest your right arm across your chest, your collar-bone is broken.”

She looked at me bewildered. How would you know that? I was sure that was what she was thinking. Who are you? Where did you come from? How do you know my name? But she said nothing. Her will to live was strong and her fear of me in that instance was not going to break it. She fought hard to keep her eyes open and watch me.

Slowly I lifted her out of the water and above the waves. She was staring at me all the time. She must have seen the wings flapping behind me.

“ Je vais au ciel?” Am I going to heaven?

I smiled kindly, a strong feeling of emotion enveloped my body, it felt exhilarating to be saving this young girl’s life. “ Non!”

She studied my face as we flew the few miles to the beach. She was a pretty girl with bright blue eyes and perfectly tanned skin. Her brown hair was fastened in a ponytail at the back, her lips shivered. As we neared the shore I searched the faces lining the beach. I could see cell phones held up toward us. Faces were gasping, one lady lay on the sand, probably fainted. Sally told me where her parents were standing and I picked a spot maybe a hundred yards along the beach away from them. I spotted the landing perfectly, didn’t want to fall flat on my face with Marianne in my arms, that wouldn’t look too cool on YouTube. Definitely not a Superhero trait. For a short while I remained still holding Marianne, my wings spread large behind me. The crowd had stopped also, unsure what to do, faces wide with amazement, breathing deep and fast, nerves ringing. I’m sure they were perplexed and frightened by this winged man, uncertain how to react. Marianne was still staring at my face, lost in a trance. I walked slowly towards her mother and father, who were now in front of the group. The cell phones and cameras were still active. This was perfect.

When I was ten feet away I stopped and said, “Her right collar bone is broken.” French again. I held her out for her father to take her from me, which he did. ‘ Merci,’ he said, I could see bewilderment and tears in his eyes.

Then I turned toward the ocean and lifted off into the sky. I banked around so that I could see the people on the shore watching me, the videos still recording. I headed north on Sally’s instructions toward the Marina area and when she confirmed I was out of sight I bounced back to my family-room.

“Sally,” I called out. I changed back to Dave and sat down on the sofa, grabbing at the TV remote. I clicked on the TV and turned to CNN. Nothing yet, no breaking news. Sally was in the armchair. “What’s happening?”

“Twitter is going crazy,” she said. “The first upload to YouTube is nearly complete.”

“What are they saying on Twitter?”

“That a winged man rescued a girl on the beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most responses are ‘bullshit’, ‘publicity stunt.’ That sort of thing. A link to a picture was just posted.”

“Show me,” I cried out.

Sally put the picture on my heads-up. It was me flying in with Marianne in my arms. Nice shot, blue sky and puffy clouds in the background, stunning blue sea spread out like a blanket.

“Put the responses on the screen.” She did. Most were the same as she had already mentioned. No one believed I was real. That was to be expected.

“The video upload is on YouTube,” she put it on the screen. Again, it was me flying in toward the beach and landing, thank God I didn’t blow that. It looked so real, but then again it was. “Show me the comments?” Same stuff as Twitter no one believed there was a man with wings. I glanced at the TV, nothing, then I considered it from CNN’s point of view. They weren’t going to air something that they couldn’t verify, especially a man with wings. I needed to give it some time. Wait for the people on the beach to talk to reporters. See the interview with Marianne and her parents, it was bound to happen, I was sure of that.

“Can you monitor CNN and other news channels, Sally?”

“Sure.”

I switched off the TV. “Let me know if something comes on.”

“Okay.” Then she told me I should take another of the life pills, so I went upstairs to get one. I guess I felt somewhat disappointed, I wanted the news agencies to flood the networks with my rescue straight off the bat. On reflection, I realized that wouldn’t happen. I decided to take a shower and then I lay down on the bed and fell asleep. It was nearly five when I woke up.

I fixed myself a Black Label on the rocks and settled into my seat on the sofa. I was alone, well not really. Sally wasn’t there physically, or should I say, I couldn’t see her, but she was always watching. Weird but I was becoming accustomed to it.

It had been a crazy day, yet I had this absurd feeling of power inside of me. The alcohol slowly seeped into my bloodstream and a mild buzz wrapped itself around my body, warming me from the inside. I ran through the events in my mind. Rio and the English guys, that brought a smile to my face, I wondered how they were doing without their passports and cash? Fuck’em! Melody and her friend, a threesome that didn’t happen, did I regret it? nah! The pickpockets at the statue of Christ the Redeemer. Alice Springs, the two thieves. I wonder if they’ll will put two and two together and think I’m the same guy as rescued the girl on the beach. I doubted it, no wings, too far away, different face. Well not for a while anyway. My home town of Cork, the Irish stew, the foiled rape. I told that girl my name, she will have an inkling, but no one will believe her. Sydney, oh wait a minute, that was before Cork. I took another sip. Flying in Canada, that was special, I must do that again, I told myself. Then finally Marianne, kite-girl. I wondered how she was doing?