kite seemed forever away。
Then below me I noticed Bryce ing around the corner and through the vacant lot。 And I
could tell from the way he was looking up that this was
his kite。
What a lucky; lucky kite this was turning out to be!
“Can you climb that high?” he called up to me。
“Sure!” I called back。 And up; up; up I went!
The branches were strong; with just the right amount of intersections to make climbing easy。
And the higher I got; the more amazed I was by the
view。 Id never seen a view like that! It was like being in an airplane above all the rooftops;
above the other trees。 Above the world!
Then I looked down。 Down at Bryce。 And suddenly I got dizzy and weak in the knees。 I was
miles off the ground! Bryce shouted; “Can you reach
it?”
I caught my breath and managed to call down; “No problem!” then forced myself to
concentrate on those blue and yellow stripes; to focus on them
and only them as I shinnied up; up; up。 Finally I touched it; I grasped it; I had the kite in my
hand!
But the string was tangled in the branches above and I couldnt seem to pull it free。 Bryce
called; “Break the string!” and somehow I managed to
do just that。
When I had the kite free; I needed a minute to rest。 To recover before starting down。 So
instead of looking at the ground below me; I held on tight
and looked out。 Out across the rooftops。
Thats when the fear of being up so high began to lift; and in its place came the most
amazing feeling that I was flying。 Just soaring above the
earth; sailing among the clouds。
Then I began to notice how wonderful the breeze smelled。 It smelled like … sunshine。 Like
sunshine and wild grass and pomegranates and rain! I
couldnt stop breathing it in; filling my lungs again and again with the sweetest smell Id ever
known。
Bryce called up; “Are you stuck?” which brought me down to earth。 Carefully I backed up;
prized stripes in hand; and as I worked my way down; I
could see Bryce circling the tree; watching me to make sure I was okay。
By the time I hit the slide; the heady feeling Id had in the tree was changing into the heady