“It’s a flying horse, a pagamus.  I mean pega… pega…, well, you know what I am trying to say.”  Indris said.

“A Pegasus?” I replied.

 

The grass tickled the backs of my knees as I stared into the sky.  Its rich blue color made a perfect backdrop for the clouds.

 

“Yeah, that’s it!”  He exclaimed with mixed emotions.  Happy to have figured out the word, but upset that he couldn’t remember it himself.  We were you and big words were to be learned and used as often as possible.  

“Where?”

“See there’s the head, the mane, and the wings…”  His fingers danced around the canvas of sky as he traced the mythical creature.  This was the way to spend a summer afternoon, lying back in the grass, looking for cloud shapes and pondering the wonders of the Universe.  

Thinking back on it, my world was relatively small, but at age eight it feltwas enormous.  The canvas, which stretched for miles, was framed by the hills that held the large suburban development.  

“Did you ever dream that you can fly?”  I asked.

“Yeah, but I got tired of flapping my arms and I fell.”

“You flap your arms?”

“Of course, how else you gonna fly?” he asked amazed.

“Well… when I fly, I just kind of … well, ride the wind.  Like when you are at the beach and you ride a wave on your stomach.  I don’t go real fast or high, but it’s pretty cool.”

“How high do you get?” He asks with a puzzled look on his face.  

“I don’t know, a little higher than your house.”  Pointing to the split-level ranch across the street.  

 

“Really?  That’s weird.  I never thought of flying that way.”  He laughed a little.

“Weird huh?” 

“Not weird, I mean… you know what I mean.” Indris stammered. “ Actually, it’s pretty cool, you don’t have to worry about your arms getting tired.”

 

A warm breeze finished the conversation as we both tried to find new shapes.