The Flagpole

…

"So," Line started.

"So," Link replied in an irritated tone.

"You ever just… I don't know, look out at the sky."

"We're airmen, Line. That's all we look at."

"No, I know. But… did you just look at it?"

Link paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Just look at it, Link! What is it? Why is it blue? Why are all the clouds below us?"

Link sighed. "Okay? Why do you think the sky's blue?"

"Well… I don't know. If you think about it, the night's black. Maybe the goddesses decided to make the day sky blue because white with black spots would've been too boring."

"White with… black spots."

"Yeah. And—and if you think about it, black spots would be kinda stupid in a day sky. You'd never be able to tell the difference between them and flies. Can you imagine swatting at flies all day and realizing 'Oops, those are stars'?"

Link pursed his lips as he thought about it. "Yeah, that'd probably be annoying."

"Right? So they got rid of stars in the day. And who would want a white sky? I mean a white sky. How could you tell where the sun is so you can avoid looking at it?"

"Sooo," Link droned, glancing up at his bangs. "Why couldn't they make the sun a different color?"

"Pfft. C'mon, Link. Who makes the sun a different color?" Link, with an exhausted sigh, let his chin rest against his chest. Line continued, "That's like… like telling the captain to shave his beard. You just don't mess with nature. And that's what the goddesses said, so they decided to change the color of the sky instead. And they made the sky blue so the sun could stay yellow."

Link frowned at the logic. "Wait. The sun's yellow, but it blends with a white sky. So why does it blend with a white sky?"

"Because that's how yellow works, Link! It blends with white. Don't you remember when we hid that jib after I accidentally peed on it?"

"Yeah, you never explained why you were aiming in that direction."

"Focus, Link. Anyway, remember when you said we should tell the lieutenant, but I said we shouldn't bother with it because the urine would blend in with the fabric? It's the same thing!"

"It's not the same thing! We still stole the jib to hide it! You peed on it!"

"It wasn't like I did it on purpose! You're still not listening! If we had left the jib alone, we wouldn't have gotten caught."

Link glanced over his shoulder to try to look at Line, confusion molding his face. "Wait, I thought this was about the sun being yellow."

"Exactly!"

"What 'exactly'!? You're just babbling!"

"Well, I gotta do something! I'm bored!"

"Really! You're bored! In spite of where we wound up?"

Line tilted his head to one side. "Well, you gotta admit, we don't have a whole lot to look at. Just sky, sky, more sky… Hey, look over there!"

"What!?" Link asked, hoping for something new.

"Even more sky!"

Link gave an annoyed sigh. "This is stupid."

"That's what I told him."

"Yeah, that just made it worse."

"W—if I knew Geoff and the guys left, I wouldn't have said anything!"

Link rolled his eyes. "You didn't give me a chance to warn you."

"C'mon, Link. Can you see anything?"

Link paused as he glanced around. "Yeah, but you're not gonna like it."

"Don't worry. I can take it."

Link could not help the smirk across his face. "More sky."

Line groaned. "Think if we shout for help some more, someone might hear us?"

"I'd be easier if we could try dropping something. My pockets are empty."

"I've got a spare rupee in my pocket, but I can't reach it. Eeh… I probably shouldn't drop it anyway; someone'd just steal it."

"Ahoy, boys!" a man's voice called from below. "You two all right?"

"Lieutenant!?" Line called back.

Link felt Line squirm in the ropes holding them to the pole. "Stop it, Line!" he shouted. "That hurts!"

"Look, Lieutenant, we can explain!"

"No need to, boys," Lieutenant Luke called back. "Airman Dawson already told us about the Traveler who stranded you up there. We'll have you down in a bit; we've got a small problem."

"Wha—What problem!?" Line demanded.

"Line!" Link shouted as he started struggling back in the off-chance Line might feel it.

"Well, the rope's looped through a crank, but the crank handle is missing," Luke explained to them. "We're looking for it right now."

"Why can't you just cut us down!?" Line asked.

"Because you'd fall and die!"

Link and Line exchanged a moment of silence. "Yeah, that sounds reasonable enough," Link told him.

"Okay, Lieutenant," Line hollered back.

"We'll be back in a moment," Luke said. "In the meantime, try to get comfortable."

Link and Line sighed as the air around them became quiet again. It was hard to get comfortable because the ropes were beginning to dig into their skin. It was probably the only good thing about being tied to a flagpole; it kept them from falling.

"Hey, Link," Line spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever just… looked out at the sky?"

Link heaved a defeated sigh. "Yeah. Yeah, I do, Line."