Very few people realize that one of the things skydivers love so much is the feeling of peace that a person feels hovering so far above the Earth. Jake was one of those few people. That a skydiver must feel what he felt was a realization that occurred to him, one day soaring above Manhattan.
Jake loved flying. Today was one of those rare days when his grandfather gave him permission to glide above the landscape looking over his territory. Staring over the parks and buildings below, he realized that a skydiver in a parachute must have some idea of what he felt. Up so high, the world was perfectly quiet and somehow still, despite the wind. The world below was beautiful and at once distant and unreal.
Of course, there were things that Jake felt that skydivers would never know. When Jake looked at the far away earth, he could clearly see individuals in perfect detail. He watched people and creatures as they went about their days, talking, playing, working, and hustling. He kept his eyes open for anything that looked odd.
He felt the wind as his wings cut through it and it rushed over his back. He soared up and dropped back down at rapid speeds, only to shoot up again. The freedom was dizzying.
Jake all but stopped and looked at the ground beneath him. His eyes moved over the East River, and the Stock Exchange, Central Park, and Harlem. He looked at the mundane bridges and buildings, but he saw the magical, too. The city between Noho and Soho, the centaurs on their way home from work, the unicorns, and the mermaids. And it's my job to look after it all, he thought.
With a shriek of adolescent joy the young dragon was off again, rushing though the wind, even as he knew, far below, his grandfather was cursing him for being late again.