For the Love of Super Soldiers

Solid Recollections

Hi All!
*cue corporate email*
It's been awhile.
Welcome back to FLOSS.
(which is what we should all be doing following holiday dinnaz or meals of any kind)

Enjoy.

💛

Chapter 21: Solid Recollections

An unstoppable giggle burst through my lips as the world went round and round, its speed increasing with every passing second. The trees in the yard were full-on blurs now; every trunk and leaf was rapidly blending into the grass below until my entire periphery was a dizzying mashup of green and blue.

"Faster, Daddy, faster!" My usually quiet voice had risen to an unprecedented volume as I cried out with full on delight. The air rushed through the billowy fabric of my dress. It was almost like it was working in tandem with my father's large frame, going back and forth between spinning and leaning. Nimble fingers that were always wrapped around pencils or covered in chalk dust were now gripping his shoulders as though they were anchors. And they were—the sheer force of his pivoting was nearly enough to send me flying in all directions.

There existed the basic rules of physics, after all.

"Hold on tight, Anni!" If it were even possible, he picked up his pace. My small hands were barely hanging on to the threads of his shirt but the exhilaration I felt in my chest only skyrocketed. The danger of getting into the air was worth it.

"Alright, takeoff! Takeoff!" We had done this so many times before and I knew what was coming. He was the rocket ship and I was its commander...a well-equipped duo preparing to ascend the skies and survey the stars.

But we were still grounded. Maybe he needed a nudge.

"Take—!" My mouth slammed shut from the force of his jump.

"We have lift-off!" He yelled. "Spectacular launch, Commander Anni! Where shall we go?" The smooth baritone of his words resounded throughout the yard, bouncing off of its nonexistent walls. His was a voice that always brought me comfort.

And sometimes accompanied mischief.

"Uhh...Jupiter!" He made a move to jump. "Nope, wait..." Then froze. "Saturn!" His knees were bent again.

"Okay, okay, I got it! Plutoooo!" I yelled with conviction. It was an absolutely reasonable and astronomically sound choice. My head bobbed with unbendable resolution.

He had begun bouncing on his heels and making sputtering noises as though his engines were failing. I shook atop his shoulders, his shirt becoming more and more wrinkled with my attempts to maintain balance.

"Too...many...cosmic...possibilities...can't ...make it!" Every word was emphasized by a jerky movement. I was sure I was shrieking at our failure; this couldn't have happened during every single expedition, could it? Maybe my ship was fine and it was my father that was faulty. The two weren't really one and the same.

I pondered.

If I were on the ground to properly release my frustration, I'd have stomped meteor-sized divots—would they even be called divots at that point?—into the earth.

He descended further and further, stumbling around the yard and leaning this way and that, our ship, my ship, coming to a rumbling halt. I tumbled out of my perch and rolled several times before landing a ways away in the grass.