(no subject)

[hetoldthisstory.livejournal.com]

The Spokane Indian Reservation is outside the town of Wellpinit, Washington. That's the eastern part of the state. Its residents don't leave often.

Not even the weird ones.

So that's why when the front door opens and a man -- fairly average-looking, hair long and unbound -- walks in, he blinks. Mostly because there's never been a bar in Thomas Builds-the-Fire's bathroom before, but also because this place is not the Spokane reservation. It is, in fact, white. Very white.

Weird he may be, but Thomas Builds-the-Fire knows better than anybody that weird and stupid don't mean the same thing. Not all the time, anyway.

For the moment he's just standing, and looking, and listening. Because this? This is weird.

Maybe he walked into a story.

Comments

[hetoldthisstory.livejournal.com]

Thomas closes his eyes and tells this story:

"Once an Indian boy jumped off the roof of the tribal school and flapped his arms like a crazy eagle. And the thing was, he flew. Just for a second, he flew. He hovered above all the other Indian boys who were too smart or too scared to jump. 'He's flying,' they yelled on the ground. And they couldn't believe it, because whoever heard of an Indian who could fly? But he did. Right up until he lost altitude and crashed, and broke his arm in two places. Another boy started a song. The others picked it up, made it a tribal song. 'He broke his wing, he broke his wing, he broke his wing.' They ran around and flapped their arms. And they hated him from then on, because he did what they did in their dreams."

Thomas opens his eyes and smiles.

"That was me." Pause. "I like the future."

[flybywash]

Oh, he's good.

A slow grin spreads across Wash's face as he listens.

"We got the easy way out with the flying," he agrees. "I never tried that. Closest I ever came, well, before I went to flight school, was almost stowing away on a transport by accident." He picks up another apple slice. "I'd go down to the docks and be annoying at all the pilots, right? And one time, one of them finally let me on board to take a look around. All of a sudden her captain's giving the order to start the takeoff sequence and I'm still three floors away from the hatch. Ain't moved that fast in my life."

[hetoldthisstory.livejournal.com]

"But you didn't break anything," says Thomas, finishing off his apple slice. "Right?"

[flybywash]

"Right. But to fly? Like that?"

He grins.

"Not to mention knowing that you did it -- I'd take a broken bone. Well. I wouldn't mind it."

[hetoldthisstory.livejournal.com]

Thomas's smile is secret.

"It wasn't that bad. But that's all I'm saying."

And maybe a little conspiratorial.