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sga_flashficThe Sky Is Just Another Name
dracostella
G
Episode tag: Grace Under Pressure
~500
He dreamed of golden feathers, coarse and regal under his hands. The fall of complete blue around them as they descended into the sky. The nonhuman voice that roared in his ears, echoing in his insides.
"Johnny, wake up," his mother said. And he did.
But he remembered.
What he had forgotten was the day before . . .
The sun had barely risen when Johnny found a gold stone the size of his head in the forest behind his house. Bits of soil and leaves half covered the stone but it was glistening beneath the brown earth.
When Johnny picked up the stone, he was surprised to find that it was as light as a kitten, and warm to the touch even though it had recently rained.
Curious, he pressed his ear to the stone and he felt something move gently inside. An egg, Johnny thought. A very weird but very beautiful egg.
Johny knew that it must have fallen from a nest because a egg like this belonged to something that could fly, and Johnny was determined to return it to its home.
But it took nearly an hour to find the nest, though it nestled right above him.
The nest was almost as big as Johnny's bedroom, perched up high above countless branches. Yet it was only visible through a concentrated effort, as if parts of the nest disappeared into the branches.
"Wow," Johnny said as he carefully put the egg inside his backpack, "that's a nice nest."
Once the egg was secured, Johnny focused hard to find the nest again. Then, taking a deep breath, Johnny began to climb the ancient tree.
Although the tree was barren of branches in its lower quarters, Johnny's tiny feet easily found purchase on the knots and wrinkles of the bark. But the nest was up so high that it took him most of the morning before he was even half way up.
"You better be a really really cool bird," Johnny told the egg.
And while he rested, hugging the tree like a lizard, he thought he heard the sound of hooves beneath him, but he never saw any horses.
It was high noon when he finally made it all the way up the tree and crawled into the giant nest. There were two other golden eggs there like the one he had. Johnny petted them a little. "Good eggs," Johnny told them. Unlatching his backpack, he deposited his egg with its siblings. He took a moment to watch them shine together in the sunlight, and felt immensely proud of himself. But then he saw his long way down the tree, and sighed.
When he got back down to the ground, it was almost dark, and Johnny hurried home. His mother was already at the door. Her brows narrowed in worry.
"Where on earth were you?" his mother asked. "I looked everywhere."
"I was..." Johnny started to answer, but he had already forgotten.
That night he dreamt of flight, carried on enormous wings; the weight of the earth lifted.
Years later, John would still recall his dream of golden feathers.
But forever fleeting--what was never meant to be remembered--was a promise that had been made in the sky.
You have saved something precious of mine. I shall save something precious of yours.
***
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffin
Grace Under Pressure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Under_Pressure_%28Stargate_Atlantis%29
Title from Song for the Song of the White-throated Sparrow by Don McKay
dracostella
G
Episode tag: Grace Under Pressure
~500
He dreamed of golden feathers, coarse and regal under his hands. The fall of complete blue around them as they descended into the sky. The nonhuman voice that roared in his ears, echoing in his insides.
"Johnny, wake up," his mother said. And he did.
But he remembered.
What he had forgotten was the day before . . .
The sun had barely risen when Johnny found a gold stone the size of his head in the forest behind his house. Bits of soil and leaves half covered the stone but it was glistening beneath the brown earth.
When Johnny picked up the stone, he was surprised to find that it was as light as a kitten, and warm to the touch even though it had recently rained.
Curious, he pressed his ear to the stone and he felt something move gently inside. An egg, Johnny thought. A very weird but very beautiful egg.
Johny knew that it must have fallen from a nest because a egg like this belonged to something that could fly, and Johnny was determined to return it to its home.
But it took nearly an hour to find the nest, though it nestled right above him.
The nest was almost as big as Johnny's bedroom, perched up high above countless branches. Yet it was only visible through a concentrated effort, as if parts of the nest disappeared into the branches.
"Wow," Johnny said as he carefully put the egg inside his backpack, "that's a nice nest."
Once the egg was secured, Johnny focused hard to find the nest again. Then, taking a deep breath, Johnny began to climb the ancient tree.
Although the tree was barren of branches in its lower quarters, Johnny's tiny feet easily found purchase on the knots and wrinkles of the bark. But the nest was up so high that it took him most of the morning before he was even half way up.
"You better be a really really cool bird," Johnny told the egg.
And while he rested, hugging the tree like a lizard, he thought he heard the sound of hooves beneath him, but he never saw any horses.
It was high noon when he finally made it all the way up the tree and crawled into the giant nest. There were two other golden eggs there like the one he had. Johnny petted them a little. "Good eggs," Johnny told them. Unlatching his backpack, he deposited his egg with its siblings. He took a moment to watch them shine together in the sunlight, and felt immensely proud of himself. But then he saw his long way down the tree, and sighed.
When he got back down to the ground, it was almost dark, and Johnny hurried home. His mother was already at the door. Her brows narrowed in worry.
"Where on earth were you?" his mother asked. "I looked everywhere."
"I was..." Johnny started to answer, but he had already forgotten.
That night he dreamt of flight, carried on enormous wings; the weight of the earth lifted.
Years later, John would still recall his dream of golden feathers.
But forever fleeting--what was never meant to be remembered--was a promise that had been made in the sky.
You have saved something precious of mine. I shall save something precious of yours.
***
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffin
Grace Under Pressure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Under_Pressure_%28Stargate_Atlantis%29
Title from Song for the Song of the White-throated Sparrow by Don McKay
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:46 am (UTC)*loves your icon*
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Date: 2007-01-24 04:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 08:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 11:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 03:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 04:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:49 am (UTC)I wish I could find cool eggs...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 05:08 pm (UTC)Perfect.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 05:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-23 05:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:51 am (UTC)Hm... I didn't even though about it being the egg to a pegasus... But you are right, I don't make it too clear exactly what kind of animal it was...
*ponders*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 12:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 03:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 04:53 am (UTC)I love this, and I love the almost didacticism of its tone, and I love this bit --
//"You better be a really really cool bird," Johnny told the egg.//
-- and, of course, I love the ending, but it took me an embarrassingly long time to work out why it worked (possibly because I was first exposed to the spelling in Alice).
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 05:58 am (UTC)And thanks for the heads up on that sentence, it read awkwardly so I changed it. Sorry, I'm spelling/grammar blind. Please feel free to point out any mistakes.
I love the almost didacticism of its tone
Heh, I wish I could say it was intentional. But a lot of my writing comes off that way because that's the way I think and talk and put sentences together. ^^;;;
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-31 07:22 am (UTC)Don't I know how that goes -- a fair chunk of my writing sounds disturbingly like the way I think and would talk if people were more tolerant of conversational tangents in real-time. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 06:23 am (UTC)I shall save something precious of yours. Lol, there's a weird twist if ever I saw one... ;D
Fave lines:
A very weird but very beautiful egg.
"You better be a really really cool bird," Johnny told the egg.
hugging the tree like a lizard
(no subject)
Date: 2007-01-24 05:52 pm (UTC)