"So why aren't you firefighting?" I ventured to ask.
Blade paused, hovering for a little bit. "It's hard to explain."
"Explain anyways?"
"You were bound to ask. I love saving lives, going in through the danger and coming out of the smoke, covered in soot and gasping for air. However, there is… always a point during the career of a fireman that he has to look back and reflect. I'm no spring Cadillac, that's for sure."
"You are old," I commented.
The helicopter rolled his eyes and shook off my comment as though it annoyed him. He didn't answer, however, leaving me to just listen to the sound of his rotor blades.
"Yeah. I'm not young." Blade was still hovering. "Actually, I turned… old a few years back."
"Are you retired?"
This seemed to bother Blade. "Thinking about it, actually."
Not hearing what Blade said, I flew on ahead. "It must be fun to be a firefighter. What do you as a firefighter?"
"I, uh, fight fires."
"NO WAY. That must be intense. Does it get hot?"
"Sure. Let's go with that."
"Do you love what you do?"
Blade had caught up with me by that time. "Yes, but it does get hard. It's tough."
"I bet you can't do this!" I flew belly-up for maybe five seconds, feeling my cockpit pulse with the pressure. When I rolled back over, Blade was watching me with his silent stare. He wasn't really smiling, and for a moment, he seemed to need to take a few deep breaths.
Trying to break the silence, I turned on some music. Not being a big fan of music with words that make my head spin, a soft piano song began with some guitar. I like guitar, but just so you remember: enjoy the sound of a guitar, not the taste. Splinters on the tongue hurt.
Slight and sweet, the music drifted a little. From a cloud, Blade emerged with the cloud going in all directions like cotton candy. His eyes were closed and he breathed deep.
When you fight fire after fire
With no choice but to fly higher
Your rotor just wants to stop.
The hydraulic fluid in my veins
Is tired of all the strains.
Paint covers old dings and burns
But not what the heart really yearns.
Saving life after life in an endless firefight
Takes its toll on this old chopper.
This journey must eventually end
And I have decided to finally land.
The skies are endless, the clouds light and white
But I only know the smoke of fire's light.
Stopping the flames is getting harder
And I certainly don't want to die a martyr.
No-plane can fly without landing eventually.
Their wings and engines run dry, you see.
But who wants to admit that they are on in years?
Growing old is a pain that sears.
This journey must eventually end
And I have decided to finally land.
I saw a tear roll down his nose. He was crying for some reason.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Blade Ranger didn't look at me, instead he was talking about landing or something like that.
"You want to land?"
Finally, he looked up with a bit of a start. "Huh? Oh… no. Keep flying."
"Okay."
"Proto," Blade asked. "what do you think about your job?"
"I'm on vacation, so I don't have to think about it."
"If by vacation you mean fired…."
I interrupted. "VACATION."
We both continued to fly. Blade was strangely silent, but I was jabbering on about a lot of stuff. Stuff that I couldn't tell I was talking about. Stuff. Jumbo jet stuff, not helicopter stuff.
"I can't fight fires anymore," Blade said.
That stopped me dead. So dead that I dropped in altitude and finally got going again at around 3,000 feet. Blade seemed a little concerned and had decreased his altitude as well.
"You no longer fight fires?" I didn't believe what he was saying.
"No one can fly forever, Proto." Blade seemed to be getting a little weird, his voice was a little cracky and chokey. "Not even me."
"What happened?"
"I got old." Blade zipped ahead. He didn't answer.
Which was when he flew into that thick thing of clouds.
When his tail rotor seized up.
When he began to spin out of control and his body went the opposite way of his main rotor blades, trying to match up with the same speed.
When everything that can go wrong with a helicopter in midflight seemed to go wrong.
And then down, down, down he went.
"Blade!" shouting in desperation, I went backwards. "Come back up! Don't go down!"
Too late. He already was out of my eyesight. Earshot, no.
This journey must eventually end
And I have decided to finally land.
Screaming as I barreled downwards, my mind was racing faster than… uh… than a car that is not going as fast as my mind.
Doesn't mean you have to die
Because I will help you fly.