Fish Fry Fly! (short story)

In Sky City, to breathe is to fly.

I was going to take a tour through the official Montgolfier tour-ship, but my friend, who was also conveniently a local "big-shot", insisted on getting the "real feel", so...Well, here I am.

This is my first time with a personalized flighter, so my friend is helping me off the ground. We start at the 15th floor of a skyscraper, an impressive height for all newbies alike.

I look down, and instantly I understand how it feels when a baby takes its first breath. To be truthful, it's breathtaking.

He suddenly jumps off to launches his flighter. I jump off hastily, after him. As if he wanted to make me learn in stress, he immediately unloads both the handlebar and the foot rest, creating a box around him. Of course, I follow suit. We are free-falling now, and I feel my stomach twist and turn. He, on the other hand, just confidently carries on.

He looks at me and winks. I force a smile back. Just behind him, his hand is pointing at a greenish lever right beside him. I look around, and just as he motioned, a lever dangles. He then motions with big hand gestures: 3! 2! 1! Pltt.

The originally negligible wings suddenly spread wide on both of our backs, pulling us backwards. The handlebar, on the other hand, crashes on my chest and I struggle for breath, panting heavily. Seeing this, my friend laughs, almost falling off his flighter. I must have looked funny.

Then, I look forward...

I lost my breath again. But this time, it's not because of the handlebar. The sight, is just... beyond description. It's as if the law of gravity was forgotten. There are zeppelins everywhere, in longitude AND in latitude. The scene resembled those old thermometers where different colored liquids floated in variance underwater, Except these puffy little vehicles range from little balloons selling hot cross buns to Gigantic fish-like structures selling... whatever they sell. I think the best thing, though, are those little puffs of clouds that at times dot the sky, making it feel almost surreal.

Suddenly, I notice a humming noise at my back, and I stare back. My friend, laughs a little bit more and explains to me: "Those, are solar engines. It's what's keeping you up. Don't damage them~!"

No. Way. Those little silvery metal things CANNOT be the things holding me up. But then, Who knows? It has been a WHILE since the first solar engine was made. For all I know they'd made smaller.

We wait a little while to get me familiar, then like the wind... with the wind, he darts across the sky.

I follow closely. Feeling a little bit confused, I inquire where we are going...

"Fish Fry Fly!"
"Wait, what?"
"Just follow me. Come on!"
"why?"

"Oh, you'll thank me for this, Mr. Reporter. This will be the best scoop of your LIFE."

Amerikrat:Customs (short story)

    "NEXT!"

    A quiet boy with a ruffled sack walked up to the customs office. He took out his papers and put it on the counter. It was instantly snatched away.

    "You's From Sky City, eh?" snickered the fat man behind the civic counter as he checked the young man's credentials. "Ha! Why didn't you's fly over the wall with your little flimsy whatchamacallits...flighters, right. Them flighters."

   
    The young man just stood there in silence. The guard, not satisfied with the retort, or rather the lack of it, just humphed and continued on...

    "A Reporter, eh? You knows that them reporters and media persons are forbiddened here, right? You'd gonna need'a get another job. And TRUST ME, you gonna have a hard time tryin' to find one." He said, unconsciously rubbing his silver hammer and chisel pin he received upon his promotion into a customs officer. As a nobody who struggled his way to this high, he personally knew how hard it was to find a job in the city without proper credentials, let alone a stranger.

    Again, the youth just stared down silently. The guard sighed. By then he is starting to pity him a little.

  

    "Y'know ya can still head back, right? The you's not officially technically in the city until customs. And tellya a little secret... the ride counts only 'til you go inside city grounds, so yer ticket's still valid. You sure ya still wanna stay? In the city, I mean."

    The guard waited for a response. Slowly, he lift his eyes to meet the guard's, then, as if his spirit was previously absent and had just been returned to him, he opened his mouth. With a low but almost youthful voice, he returned...

    "Thank you for the warning, but I'm afraid lost something very precious to me, that's why I need to go in the city."

    "Okeys then. Here ya go." He said as he handed back the papers to the young man. "Have a safe trip, boy!"

    "Thank you, my friend." replied the youth as he fumbled to stuff his paper back in his sack. The guard looked on, curiously.

    "Hey, kid."

    "?" The youth looked back.

    "What, by chance, did ya lose during your travels? 'Cause y'know, we have a p-pretty large Lost and Found office on the back and stuff..."

    He expected something sour, like the others before, but instead, the kid just smiled the widest smile at the guard, as if to say "thanks, but it's not that simple", and walked on, leaving a dazed guard behind.

    What a strange kid... The guard thought happily, a smile still in his face... friend...eh? I could use some of that

    Then, back to reality. The guard readied himself to the next stranger.

    "NEXT!"

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This is a small narration of the main character Ethan's past. He's from Sky City, y'know =)