Daniel and Jonah Part 12

Part 12

A few days later I called Dan to ask him to request the next Saturday off, which he did, and his request was granted.

"I'll pick you up at about eight o' clock in the morning, is that alright?"

"That's fine," he replied, "what will we be doing?"

"It's a surprise," I answered mysteriously, "but I'm hoping you'll love it. You'll just need to bring sunglasses, and some warm gloves and clothes, ok?"

"Why do we need warm clothes?" he asked, obviously very confused since it was only August and pretty warm.

"Please, just humor me, hon," I grinned, "you won't regret it."

"Ok," he replied dubiously, which nearly made me laugh, "how heavy? Like, winter stuff?"

"Well, at least the gloves, a fall-weight jacket should be enough, and definitely jeans, or maybe even sweatpants."

"In August?" he asked. I could hear the confusion and doubt in his tone.

"Yep. Trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then just do as I ask you to do. We're going to have a blast."

When Saturday rolled around I called ahead to let him know I was on my way and was greeted with a smile as I pulled up in front of his house where he'd been waiting for me.

He slid into the passenger seat and buckled up, asking me once again where we were going as he positioned a gym bag between his feet. It was very warm, and I didn't blame him one bit for not wanting to wear the heavier clothing all day.

"I'd really like for it to be a surprise, Dan if that's ok with you. I'm just really hoping you'll like it. I think you will," I continued, a little more confidently.

He couldn't help but notice what was going on as we pulled into the parking lot an hour later, and he began to bounce a little in his seat, looking up with awe and excitement as the gliders flew like large birds in the sky.

"We're going to do this? What's it called?" he asked.

"We're going to go tandem hang gliding. I'll explain everything to you once we get our gear set up," I grinned.

He had no problem seeking out the main office and took off like a shot before remembering that he was with me. He grinned, a little embarrassed, came back to take my hand and we approached the office a little more slowly. But not too slowly, I noted. I went to use the men's room and suggested to Dan that he do the same before we got started.

Once our gear had been set up on the landing strip and checked by a safety inspector, I began to explain everything to him as I began to buckle him up into the harness and adjusted his goggles, which I fitted comfortably over his sunglasses, and helmet before doing the same for myself. I attached the two of us to the glider, then the glider to a lead attached to the plane which was waiting to help us with lift-off.

"The plane will do the hard work, then it's all fun from there," I grinned. "Don't forget to put on your gloves. It does get a little chilly up that high," I reminded him. Again, I nearly laughed as I saw his look of doubt as he wiped sweat from his forehead. He did as he was told, however, and I gave the pilot the clear sign.

"Hold onto me, hon!" I called as the plane began to taxi and we began to move, speeding up little by little. I prayed that he would enjoy this experience but was prepared to land immediately if it was too much for him. 

Once we were airborne I detached the tow line, but then I heard him scream. At first, I thought he was afraid and started to gently move the bar out to land when I heard him shout, "This is fantastic! Whooo hooooo! Can we go higher?" he shouted.

With a grin, I pulled the bar inward and we swooped up. Daniel screamed again followed by laughter as he took his hands off of my waist.

"I can't believe I'm flying!" he shouted, "I'm really flying!"

"Want to try the controls?" I shouted back to him.

"Nope!" he shouted back, "I'm more than happy to let you do all the hard work! I just wanna fly!"

It wasn't until we viewed the video I'd taken that I saw that he'd closed his eyes. On his face had been an expression of pure bliss. I wanted him to feel that way as often as possible, and made plans to not only take him gliding again as soon as possible, but to bring him outside to experience things he'd missed out on when he'd been younger, an easy target for bullies, shy, introverted, and only willing to go out at night when most other people were already asleep.

(end chapter 12)