Rescue: By Air Or By Sea
Part 1: In the Beginning
Copyright 2020
by Shawn Jipp
I had just returned from a business trip to Las Vegas where I had to attend the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) and I was anxious to settle back home and holo chat with my fiance, Maria. I had met Maria at a company workshop in Silicon Valley. She had worked at our Silicon Valley campus for three years and had just recently been promoted to a marketing product manager position. I was a Systems analyst with emphasis on cyber security working out of our headquarters near Seattle. We both had to do a fair amout of travel for work back in those days.
When we first met, I knew that Maria was a very talented individual with a charm and mystique that I had not seen before. Maria was also quite attractive to me. Maria and her family had somehow managed to immigrate (escape) to the US from Venezuela just a few years before the Pandemic of 2020 when she was just a baby. She was an only child like I was. Perhaps that was another thing we shared in common. Their first years in the US were very difficult due to the social climate brought on by the former Trump regime and then the economic recession. Maria had a gifted intellect along with a large dose of common sense thrown in and did well in school. Her family was able to scrape enough money together to send her to college and she got a degree in Social Media Marketing.
On our first date we decided to start a long distance relationship and see how things went. I had always thought that long distance relationships were a bit silly for those of us not living in some far away place like Antarctica, but I must admit in some ways they are better as the lack of physical contact allows the relationship to develop mostly based upon common interests and beliefs that are often overlooked or obscured by the raw physical element. Sometimes the physical part of a relationship can also obscure long term goals and common interests and not let the two people confront those areas in which they really are different. Don’t get me wrong, purely physical relationships can be exciting and fun but often do not last long, or at least not forever. Long term human relationships seem to be the goal of most, but not all humans. Still, it was very difficult for Maria and me when we were not able to really be together.
During our LDR (Long Distance Relationship) period we shared our lives via holo video, video, audio, and text. We shared our dreams and our aspirations. I believe we tried to be honest with each other back then, well mostly honest as you will see. We tried to see each other in person at least a couple of days each month when our work travel schedules permited and after our frequent flyer miles had built up. We had been talking about the possibility of one us relocating soon so that we could be together and share a home. This was a major decision for each of us, as one of us would have to change their job position and lose some of their seniority. Our company was large but employees didn’t just get to choose their career and switch their locations at will.
Neither of us had been married before and that is why we wanted the engagement to last at least a year. Marriage seemed like a major decision and we did not want to rush into something which we would eventually regret. We had both seen many of our friends make this mistake all too often!
But there was one huge problem in our relationship, one giant fact that had not been shared or communicated. This ‘thing’ was on my side of the relationship. It was about me. It was my fault it had not been shared before, but I knew it would have to be addressed before our relationship could continue and ever have the possibility of moving forward.
Maria flew into Seattle and we planned to have dinner by the lake with a stroll afterwards. I would finallly tell Maria. I had been fighting this need for revelation for months but it could no longer be postponed. It must be done as soon as possible. Looking back, I had so many butterflies in my stomach because of the fear that I would lose Maria.
Wow, what an evening it was! No, it did not go quite as expected.
We ate at a small Thai restaurant near the lake. We both have always really liked most Asian food and especially Thai. The dinner was great. The weather was good. This would definitely be the night of the confession. It all seemed to happen so quickly. Maria could tell there was something on my mind even though I was doing my best not to show this. The dinner was unusually good and I was so happy to see her again. Then the revelation process began, and it was a process.
Maria looked at me and said, “David, I know you pretty well. What’s wrong?”
I tried not to seem surprised by her question and was disappointed that I had somehow given away my apprehension and fear. I answered, “Well, there is something I did wish to talk about with you.”
“Sure, go ahead. What is it?” She replied while leaning forward and putting her hand on my hand.
“Um, we’ll, it’s not that important. We can talk about it some other time,”I said while thinking to myself, Wimp! it must be done, it must be done, it must be done!
Now Maria leaned even more forward. “David, if it is important to you then we need to discuss it.”
I thought to myself, damn, this is the moment of truth. “Well, um, there is something that I wanted to tell you. I have not been completely honest,” I said as I looked down at the table and not directly into her face.
Now she seemed concerned and thought for a second before asking, “Is there another woman in your life?”
I thought to myself, yes it must seem that is what I am implying that by the mysterious way I am behaving, so I quickly said, “No that is silly, you are the only woman in my life!”
She paused, looking down at what seemed to be the same spot I had been staring at, “Well then, is there some ‘special’ man in your life?”
“Of course not!” I quickly replied. Although I wondered why that would diminish my love for Maria even if it was true.
She now looked mystified and I imagined her questions going on and on into the night and turning into a slow and painful version of a party guessing game.
I trudged on, “Well, when I was young, actually as far back as I can remember, maybe back to around age six.” I really had her attention now. “You see, I had these dreams and they were very, very vivid.”
Now she looked a bit relieved yet still confused. “Were these nightmares?” She asked.
Egads,I must explain these dreams, I thought to myself.
“Oh no, no, they were wonderful dreams,” I assured her.
“Well then what type of dreams were they?” She asked.
“Oh, well, uh, they were actually dreams about me flying,” I sheepishly replied.
She continued on her questioning spree, “OK, so these dreams inspired you to be interested in aviation and to later become a pilot?” Maria had recently begun to share my interest in aviation and I had flown us several times in small single engine aircraft around the Seattle area.
I then thought to myself that’s it! I could end this right now and just say yes and leave it at that and never discuss this subject again. What a great possible exit point!
I then heard myself replying to her question as if I was suddenly a third party, “Well yes and no. In these dreams I was actually flying.”
“What do you mean?” She asked. Now I really had to explain.
“Well, you see, I actually was flying,” I said. I quickly realized that answer did not adequately answer her question so back to 50 questions.
She continued with her questioning, “You were flying some type of an airplane?”
I answered, “Not exactly. I was just flying. No airplane.”
Her face showed that she thought she now understood. “Well that is definitely odd, and you said you liked these dreams? How old were you when they stopped and how does this affect us now?”
Loaded questions! I really wished I was not there. I decided to try to explain, “They did actually eventually stop. They stopped after something happened.”
Maria asked, “After what happened?” Sometimes people could be painfully short and abrupt in their questions to others.
“After I found out that I could,” I honestly replied.
“You mean they stopped after you realized you could stop these dreams?”She asked. Now she seemed to be getting tired of this game.
“No, no. They stopped after I realized I could actually fly,” I sheepishly answered in a low voice.
Now she was getting impatient. She asked me, “Do you mean you had these dreams about flying until you got your pilot’s license later in life?”
“No they stopped well before I was able to get a pilot’s license. They stopped when I was about thirteen and realized I could actually fly without the need for an aircraft!” I replied. I was proud that Iwas finally being honest. Damn, the cat is truly out of the bag!
I tried to read Maria’s face. It was full of utter confusion. I pulled my hand out from under hers and placed both my hands on her hands. Then I proudly yet uncertainty told her, “Maria, I somehow have the ability to fly through the air, by myself, without the need of an airship or heavier than air craft. I can do it all by myself. It is truly amazing!” There, I had said it.
Maria laughed then in an angry tone asked, “Why are you saying this? Are you trying to be funny? This is not a very funny joke!”
It was not going well. “This is not a joke. I am not making this up. You are the most important person in my life and I wanted to share this with you. I should have shared it with you before now but frankly I did not feel close enough to you to be able to share it. This is a very personal secret in my life.”
Maria sat for a few moments in silence. Her countenance had changed but I could not read her.
She asked me, “Have you talked to a counselor about this?”
“Why would I do that?” I replied.
“Because this is not normal,” she quickly replied.
“I know that. I am well aware of that. A counselor or shrink is not going to change my special ability,” I boldly stated.
“OK”
“OK what?”
“Do it now!” She demanded as she pulled her hands out from under mine.
“Do what now?”
“Fly over that damn lake!” She testily demanded while pointing to it.
“I can’t do that,”I slowly replied, confused as to why she would ask me to do such a thing here.
“Is it because you can’t really fly?!” She asked with sarcasm.
“That is not it at all. It is because this is a public place. I can’t have people see me fly. The police would probably arrest me or the military would probably perform experiments on me or maybe they would just outright kill me!” I replied, thinking of how terrible it might really be for me if I was to do that right here, right now.
Maria was silent. I was silent.
Then after what seemed to be a long silence and with a tone of finality, she said, “Well, if you really do have this ability, you must prove it to me. You must show me how you fly without an airplane. If you don’t want to do that, then I will agree to go to counseling with you as I really do love you. But this situation must be resolved either way before our relationship can continue.”
I looked into her dark brown eyes. I thought of how much I loved her and after all, she was giving me two ways out of this dilemma in which she must have felt I had put us in. I must do it.
I replied, “Ok then, I will do it. I will show you I am not crazy and I am not lying about this. Let’s drive right now to somewhere remote and I will prove it to you!”
Maria looked a a little surprised, and maybe even a bit scared. She was silent for a few seconds but then said with a wry smile, “Sure, I can’t wait!”
We drove for over an hour to a place I knew was uninhabited and where prying eyes from nosy humans would not see my secret, unique ability. We did not talk much during the drive. The elephant was truly in the room or should I say in the car? We finally arrived and walked a little ways from the road. Luckily there was nearly a full moon. The weather was almost perfect for me to go for a flight. It wasn’t even raining, which was odd for this time of year. What were the odds of that?
We parked off of the road and then walked for a bit to the edge of some water. For the next fifteen minutes I showed her my special gift of flight. I tumbled and flipped and hovered and dived. I went high and I went low. Flying was truly my favorite activity! I was so honored and humbled to have this ability and to be able to share it with the love of my life.
I landed next to Maria and looked closely at her face. She had a big smile that would not go away. She grabbed me and hugged me so hard and long I had to eventually pull myself away from her so I could breathe.
“Well, what do you think? See, I wasn’t lying!” I said.
“Wow, I still can’t believe it”, she told me, “as now I know we were meant to be together!”
I was confused. “Why is that?”
She replied, “Because of...”
“Because of why?, I asked. She seemed suddenly to be at a loss for words. She must be speechless after my little demo flight, I thought to myself. She must still be in a state of amazement. I had done some pretty clever maneuvers if I said so myself, ones that I had only recently been practicing. That must be it. But it wasn’t because of my maneuvers, as I would soon find out. Maria then began to share with me.
“You were not the only one to have fascinating and amazing dreams when you were younger. I did too,” she said while looking down at the ground as if she was a bit embarrassed.
“What where your dreams about?” I asked.
In an excited voice she told me “From the time when I was a little girl I was always very fascinated with the story of Jesus walking on the water and then for years I would have these odd dreams and then when I was thirteen...”
I interrupted her, “Wait! Wait! are you trying to tell me that you can…”
Now she had a big smile and yelled “Yes!”
“Show me!” I exclaimed.
Well to make a long story shorter, Maria and I were married about six months later. We still don’t know why we are blessed to have our ‘special abilities’ but we are thankful we do. We have begun seriously exploring ways in which we can help others with our ‘gifts’, as we both agree that surely they must have not been given to us just for us to enjoy, but to somehow help others. Perhaps this is true of all ‘God given’ gifts and abilities and skills that people have? Think of the poets, the musicians, the writers, the actors, the painters, the sculptors, the graphic artists, etc. Some people plainly just have ‘it’!
Oh yeah. One last thing. We have recently gotten heavily into ‘cosplay’ and have been thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if each of us had our own special outfit to represent our own unique gift?
