Landed Wings - By Skylhur Tranqille Page 0,1

And she doesn’t like my singing. She thinks it’s foolish and beneath me as a SkyBound. The speech is always the same, she starts off speaking reasonably…

“There are so many other careers, honorable careers, you could pursue. You’re interested in cooking, right? Why not

pursue the culinary arts?”

In the beginning, I used to think she actually wanted an

answer but I quickly realized this is what my English teacher would call a rhetorical question – no response desired or required. After the last question, she winds up and starts to screech…

“You are at the top of your class academically – why can’t you pursue serious subjects? Don’t you care about the world you live in? You’re a smart SkyBound designed (who knows what that means?) to be great. Instead of embracing your gifts, your destiny, you’ve latched onto a by product of your genetic makeup. “

Then she gets downright nasty…

“I can’t believe my daughter wants to live like a LandBound. Can’t you see them for what they are? They don’t do anything! What have they contributed? Nothing, that’s what. All they do is take, take, take. Who is responsible for the years of peace? Why do you breathe crisp, clean air? Who makes the world you live in possible?! YOUR people, the SkyBound. Instead of wanting to make a meaningful contribution, honor your heritage, you want to just sing. You are not here to entertain or champion the LandBound, the LandBound are here to entertain us.”

And as if that’s not enough, my mom wraps up with her warped philosophy…

“I get that you don’t understand what I’m talking about or why things are the way they are. You think I don’t understand you, but you’re wrong, I made you. You feel like something’s wrong, you don’t know what to do about it and you don’t even know how to define it. You think by changing the order of things, by singing, you can make a difference. I’m going to tell you something no one else will be willing to tell you - everyone craves order. They want to know how they fit, where they belong, who they belong to, where they come from and where they are going. They want to live in a world of expectations, not uncertainty. They would rather live the life they know is limited rather than live a life not knowing what the next day brings. This is the construct of every successful society. Uncertainty breeds fear and fear breeds chaos. The real problem here is your unchecked, unguided emotion. Your constant barrage of feelings blinds you to the truth. The LandBound are there because that is where they belong. If the SkyBound begin to sing, taking away the entertainment of the LandBound then we begin to upset the balance of our society. LandBound may become unsatisfied believing they should live like SkyBound. By your actions you risk sparking chaos and rupturing the peace we all enjoy. Do you see? Are you hearing me?”

At this point, I am always faced with a choice, I can either A, assure her that yes I see her point and will give serious

consideration to a more meaningful life path or B, tell her that she’s just using complicated language to justify her prejudice and start an all out verbal brawl. One day maybe things will be different, but right now, at seventeen, I’ve got to go with option B. I’m always ready to rumble.

My dad Gneiss is my mom’s opposite. Complete opposite. He is laid back about everything. He and mom are two extremes. She’s too severe, he’s too relaxed. My dad is a musician (instrumental of course, instruments are approved for SkyBound), so he approves of my life choice – secretly of course, he knows better than to cross my mother. But I can't talk to him. Not seriously. He’s more a friend than parent. He’s one of those friends whose good one day and terrible the next – you never know where you stand with him. Sometimes I wonder if everything is alright upstairs. Things that he should take seriously, he doesn’t and stuff that doesn’t mean anything means everything to him. I can’t describe what I feel from my parents as love, on one side I get anger and disappointment, on the other, a benign apathy. Both of them share one thing in common – they REALLY don’t understand me. I don’t like asking my dad to fly with me. I never really forgave him for forgetting about me