The Boy Who Could Fly

Milly:
I found out about the boy next door. His name's Eric Gibb. They think he's autistic.

Louis Michaelson:
He's got some marbles loose, or what?

Milly:
Well, they don't exactly know, but he's never spoken a word in his life and he doesn't like being around people. There's some institute that wants to come and take him away, but Mrs. Sherman says he's better off with his uncle. He's in my class at school. Mrs. Sherman, she used to teach those kinds of kids. She thinks that maybe being around normal people will help him, or something.

Charlene:
Where are his parents?

Milly:
That's the weird part. When Eric was five years old, his parents went on a trip to Spain or France or someplace like that. The plane crashed and they died.

Charlene:
Oh, dear.

Milly:
Now, what I heard is that the moment the plane went down, Eric was alone in his room and without anybody even telling him anything, he started to pretend to fly. It's like, somehow, he knew his parents were about to crash. The way he figured he could save them was by being an airplane. He's been one ever since. [long pause, then Milly starts humming the theme to "The Twilight Zone"]

Milly:
What do you know about Eric? Have you ever seen him do anything weird?

Geneva:
That;s all I've ever seen him do.

Milly:
No, I mean really weird.

Geneva:
Dinky Patterson told me something weird about him once.

Milly:
Who's Dinky Patterson?

Geneva:
Dinky lived here before you; had your room. Anyway, Dinky used to get really annoyed with Eric climbing around outside his window. So, one day, he took his BB gun, stuffed the barrel with wet Kleenex and started shooting at Eric.

Milly:
That's real sweet.

Geneva:
He said he kept it up for about an hour, but Eric wouldn't budge, so he finally gave up. Here's the weird part: the next day, Dinky's looking around for his BB gun. You know where he said he found it? See that telephone pole? Dinky said it was up there, up on top of that box. That, somehow, Eric put it there. Of course, Dinky was the biggest liar I ever knew. It probably never happened.

Milly:
Probably. What happened to Dinky? Why did he move?

Geneva:
His dad got some hotshot job in Atlanta. Took the whole family. [pause] So, where's your dad?

Milly:
He died.

Geneva:
What of?

Milly:
[flatly] Cancer.

Geneva:
Everyone in my family dies of cancer. My grandmother had stomach cancer. She lost 300 pounds before she died. Never looked better in her life. What kind did your dad have?

Milly:
I don't know.

Geneva:
They didn't tell you. They never tell the kids. Did it take a long time?

Milly:
Can we drop the subject?

Uncle Hugo:
Don't shake the floor, please. [Hugo repeatedly drops a cork on the floor until it lands on its end] There you go. You see, you can't start on a bottle until the cork lands on its feet. It's very frustrating when it takes a long time. On the other hand, it's quite delightful when it happens on the first toss. [offers the bottle to Milly] Care for a drink?

Milly:
No, no thank you.

Uncle Hugo:
Are you calling me a drunk?

Milly:
No.

Uncle Hugo:
Why not?

Psychiatrist:
Tell me about your accident.

Milly:
I was on a bridge, reaching for a flower and I fell over the railing.

Psychiatrist:
You told your mother something about a boy who rescued you.

Milly:
What are you, a shrink?

Psychiatrist:
Yes.

Milly:
Great, now I'm wacko.

Psychiatrist:
It's important that you tell me everything you remember about this. Let me be the judge of whether you're wacko or not, okay?

Milly:
Yeah, okay. I fell fifty feet without a mark on me, except for this. [points to the small bandage on her forehead] And I got this when I hit the railing. I didn't hit the ground. Somebody caught me. It was a boy named Eric. He can fly. [pause] I'm wacko, right?

Psychiatrist:
No. Did you see him fly?

Milly:
No, but you don't know Eric. All he does is sit in his windowsill and pretend to fly. His uncle said he's seen him do it and I've seen really weird things around their house. He can. What other explanation could there be?

Psychiatrist:
Well, you fell. You have a concussion. You were losing consciousness. Maybe what you thought was Eric catching you was a tree or a bush breaking your fall. Your mind could be playing tricks on you. It can do that.

Milly:
That's impossible.

Psychiatrist:
It's more possible than a boy who could fly. [long pause] Dr. Nelson told me about your father. He committed suicide not long ago.

Milly:
[defiantly] He did not.

Psychiatrist:
How did he die?

Milly:
[with difficulty] My father had cancer. And when he found out that he had it... he didn't want the rest of the family to suffer needlessly. So one day, he kissed us all goodbye and he said that he loved us all very much. [crying] Then he went away.

[after Eric and Milly flew in front of the entire town, Eric flies away, never to be seen again]

Milly:
[narrating] That night, I found out why Eric flew away. Our house was crawling with people who wanted to see Eric Gibb, the boy who could fly. There were scientists and doctors and TV reporters. When they couldn't find Eric, they did tests on me, because I flew with him. They did tests on Uncle Hugo, too, because he was a relative and had the same genes. Then they took everything out of his room and sent it to some laboratory. I guess Eric was afraid they'd do the same to him. Everyone had a theory on how Eric was able to fly. But there was one I liked the best.

Mrs. Sherman:
[on TV] Well, Eric always dreamed of flying, so maybe if you wish hard enough and love long enough, anything is possible.

Milly:
[narrating] Mrs. Sherman was right. Eric made us believe that anything is possible if you really try.

Charlene:
What happened to your face.

Milly:
Someone threw a ball at me.

Charlene:
Who threw a ball at you?

Milly:
No-one threw a ball at me, it was an accident.

Bad Boy:
So you thought you could make it around the block? [Louis pulls out a water pistol] Oh, so now I'm supposed to be scared of a water pistol?

Louis Michaelson:
There ain't no water in this gun.

Bad Boy:
So what's in it?

Louis Michaelson:
Piss!