Roger Dean Kiser, Sr.
Once upon a time there was a little
boy who was raised in an orphanage.
The little boy had always wished
that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to
understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that
were much bigger than he, and they could fly. "Why can't
I?" he thought. "Is there something wrong with me?"
he wondered.
There was another little boy who
was crippled. He had always wished that he could walk and run like
other little boys and girls. "Why can't I be like them?"
he thought.
One day the little orphan boy, who
had wanted to fly like a bird, ran away from the orphanage. He
came upon a park where he saw the little boy, who could not walk
or run, playing in the sandbox.
He ran over to the little boy and
asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.
"No," said the little boy
who could not walk or run. "But I have wondered what it would
be like to walk and run like other boys and girls."
"That is very sad," said
the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could be
friends?" he said to the little boy in the sandbox.
"Sure," said the little
boy.
The two little boys played for
hours. They made sand castles and made really funny sounds with
their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real hard. Then the
little boy's father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The
little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's
father and whispered something into his ear.
"That would be OK," said
the man.
The little boy who had always
wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said,
"You are my only friend and I wish that there was something
that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys
and girls. But I can't. But there is something that I can do for
you."
The little orphan boy turned around
and told his new friend to slide up onto his back. He then began
to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the
little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across
the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind
just whistled across the two little boys' faces.
The little boy's father began to
cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping his
arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of
his voice,
"I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M
FLYING!"
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