Excerpt: Fly Free

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 gray 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.