The wind swept Dan into the air and off the cliff.
He was flying, for the first time, for the last time. Behind him, the realm of
earthly matters descended into a green and brown blur of nothingness. Ahead of
him, the blue sky expanded out into a new ocean, mimicing the one below him.
Higher and Higher he flew, pushing himself towards the top-most reaches of space
and air. He fired through the clouds and into the stratousphere, bursting with
joy and excitement as the white fluffy bed below him became smaller and smaller.

Around him, the sky began to shift colors, turning from a light blue into a
darker, fuller one. Above, the stars began to come out, twinkle and shine out
from the blueness, giving way to a tablecloth of  open space. Blackness gave way
to the blue expanse, and still Dan rose. Clouds slipped apart and revealed the
ground once again, a mishmash of colors, lights, and veiny roads. The ocean was
still obscured by darker white clouds, obviously rain bearing. And still Dan
rose. Beyond the confines of earth, out into space.


Further and further out from the planet he ventured. It was limitless, his
ability to propel himself. Eventually, he saw the entire continent he had left
behind, all clouds relegated to the part of tiny shapes obscuring still smaller
portions of the ground below them. And still Dan rose.

Out into space, in low orbit around the blue ball. The Earth spun slowly below
him and the continent began to pass from view, replaced with a large pool of
ocean, dotted with stormy clouds and flashes of lightning.

And now Dan passed the satellites. Hundreds of steel contraptions, lined with
fines of reflective solar panels. They looked like glinting structures of cray
paper and foil, twisting around in soft orbits of their own as the passed over
the planet irradiating it with television and phone coverage. With radio waves
and photographic evidence of disidents.

And still, Dan flew higher. Behind him, the planet became smaller as he rose
into high orbit. He passed larger, more complex objects of humanity.
Contraptions which had been constructed in by multiple trips. Tubes and
bulkheads sealing out the deadly vacuum.

Dan rose even further, but now felt as though he was being watched. He turned
and looked again back at the planet below, at the satellite's he'd left behind.
And he saw a larger, cylindrical shape becoming larger on the horizon. It looked
as though it were chasing him, faster than he felt he could move.

A friend, he thought. A compatriot coming to congratulate me on my newfound
skill! I shall greet it!

Dan turned and flew back towards the tube-like object. He sped backwards towards
it and soon saw it's form and discovered it's purpose. Upon it's long body it
bore the red white and blue mark of the empire. In front, a door began to open.
A gift, Dan felt. A gift for I, the first to pierce the sky!

From inside the hole came a large pole, extending out towards him. It was ringed
and covered in a dark metalic paint he did not recognize. Many rings began to
protrude from the interior surface of the rod, and these started to throb with a
blue light.

Dan moved closer, swinging around to the side of the object to see if there was
an inscription. But the ship turned to face him with the rod, keeping him
squarely in front of the ringed object. And now it throbbed more heavily. And
now it glowed from tip to tail with a beautiful blue light.

And now Dan fell, burnt and lifeless. And now Dan began to burn more, a flaming
ball of charred being, descending back towards the Earth he had escaped.

And now the General finishes his report. And now the President has it read to
him. And now the threat to the security of the empire is gone. And now we all
feel safer.