I have no skills for flight or wings. To skim the waves effortlessly, like the wind itself, I’d much rather do that.
I grew up next door to Amelia and her sister, Pidge. We climbed so many trees together. I’ll never forget the day Amelia said she was sure I could fly. So convincing was she, that I lept from an apple tree with arms outstretched. I held a grudge against her for a long time after that debacle.
All these years later, here I am, happily married, still in Atchison. I follow Amelia’s adventures and marvel at her courage. She’s world famous while I’m best known for my prize-winning apple pies. In summers, I always enjoy canoeing on Lake Warnock. Sometimes I stop to stare up at the sky and think about her. Imagine my shock today, when I heard the awful news.
Written for Monday Prosery at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets across the globe.
EXPLANATION. I’ve inserted myself into history in my flash fiction, pretending to be a neighbor of Amelia Earhart in her early childhood days.
HISTORY: Amelia Earhart (1897 – 1939) and her sister, Muriel (nicknamed Pidge; 1899 – 1998) were born and raised in Atchison, Kansas. There is indeed a Lake Warnock in the town. In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane. In 1932, she became the first woman to make a nonstop solo transatlantic flight and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. On July 24, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. She was declared dead on January 5, 1939.
WHAT IS PROSERY? For this form, we take a line of poetry and place it into a prose piece. The prose can be fiction or non-fiction, but it must be a piece of prose, not poetry. It can be no longer than 144 words, sans title. We are not permitted to insert words into the given line, but we may punctuate it. We must acknowledge the line, the work, and the poet.
THE LINE WE MUST INCLUDE: “I have no skills for flight or wings to skim, the waves effortlessly, like the wind itself” The line is from The Magnificent Frigatebird by Ada Limon.
IMAGES of Amelia and her sister, Pidge; Amelia as a pilot; and Amelia as a young girl.
lillian the home poet 
I love it when a story is about a real person, to intraduce that childhood friend to Amelia is so well done, and in the end maybe it is better to be famous for the apple-pies than what happened in the end.
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Thanks, Bjorn. I struggled in the writing of this one….took quite a while, editing, changing. At first, the I was a ghost but that didn’t work. I do like what I ended up with. Yes – in this case, being famous for apple pies at the very least, would have a longer life expectancy. I did some research on her sister, “Pidge” and it turns our she lived to 98 and in the Boston area!
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Ha! You may have struggled Lillian but you were still the first one to post and what an excellent micro story it is…
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I enjoyed your imagined neighbour from of Amelia Earhart’s childhood, Lill, and that you began with the prompt lines, so dropping us into the story. I Love the wistfulness of ‘Sometimes I stop to stare up at the sky and think about her’.
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Thanks, Kim. Turns out her sister, Pidge, lived to be 98 and settled in Massachusetts!
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So sad that she outlived her sister. I would have loved to have known what Amelia made of the modern world.
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I really enjoyed this, Lillian. Thank you! Part-way through reading it, I thought, “Oh, it’s Amelia Earhart!” You capture the feeling of being her sister with it’s joys, troubles, and the poignancy. Maybe the start of a longer story?
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Thanks so much, Merril. I did enjoy working with the idea and did some fun research, especially in to her sister, Pidge. Fun to write. Glad you enjoyed!
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You’re welcome, Lillian!
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A great job, Lillian .. inserting your young girl self into the prose! [cannot imagine you didn’t break a bone]
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Well, it really wasn’t me, right? I took poetic license in prose, and pretended I was a neighbor of Amelia Earhart. In the story, since it ended up a “debacle”, I assume “I” did break a bone which is why flying wasn’t for “me”! 🙂
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LOL I knew it wasn’t the real Lillian, you do poetic license well! And I responded to your comment by responding to myself ~ DUH. Yes, my prose is personal and so sad. I read G-Man for years!
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A wonderful story, Lillian. If you had stayed with her you could have had your wish and been the co-pilot! Well done. Nice piece of history.
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HI Lilian, this is a clever piece. As soon as I saw the second picture, I knew it was Amelia Earhart.
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OMG makes fine reading
much♡love
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I just love how you inserted yourself in the story. Adore it really. Lovely prose. Thanks so dearly.
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I love your prosery, Lillian! Very creative!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
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Love the self insertion Lillian, and the ending so poignant. Love the humour of someone leaping from a tree to fly 🙂
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