Evan Burl and the Falling, Vol. 1-2

by Justin Blaney

CHAPTER ONE

  I found myself in a kingdom of stars and clouds. Endless. Deadly. Blue as blood.

  Stretching without blemish from one side of the world to the other, the sky was perfect but for one single inky speck.

  If anyone was watching, they might have wondered if I merely napped on a pillow of thin air.

  But it was nothing so pleasant.

  This was a falling.

  For what felt like hours, the whole world seemed frozen below me. Except for the wind, everything lay silent. It seemed as if I could stay up there forever. It was beautiful really, if I ignored the fact that I was hurtling toward the ground at a speed that would turn my bones to gravel upon impact.

  I didn't even feel sick to my stomach—until the last thirty seconds.

  First, the rolling mountains and hills lumbered toward me like big bullies begging for a fight.

  Then houses and barns popped out of the ground, grasping hands from a fresh grave pulling me down into the earth where I belong.

  Ten seconds later, what seemed like a bit of lint stuck to my eyelash transformed into a living human, far below. Then more. Dozens. Hundreds of people. Working, eating, anything but looking up to see me plummeting through the sky.

  Another ten seconds—far too soon—and the whole world rushed up at a speed that turned my stomach to acid.

  The last hundred feet were the real test.

  Gulping one last lungful of air, I realized in that moment that I was less brave and more foolish than I could possibly have imagined.

  And right before the end, I closed my eyes.

  Like I always do.