Learning to Fly Written by Martin Jacobs. Illustrations by Sam Felix Joseph
2 Learning to Fly Stanley lived at home with his Dad and his older brother Kyle. Their Dad was out a lot so Stanley didn t see him much. Stanley s Mum had died almost two years ago. She was his best friend and Stanley had sat with her night after night watching her getting sicker and thinner, sicker and thinner. Until one night she wasn t there any more. Sometimes Stanley felt angry that she left him. Kyle didn t go to school much well, he went some days but then he was back by recess. He reckoned that was going enough, and anyway what was the point? So he spent most of his days loafing on the lounge sleeping and smoking and playing his DS. Have you bin playing my DS? No. You have. Battery s flat. You broke mine. Yeah, because you lost my skateboard. That wasn t my fault. Someone took it. Because you left it. Doesn t mean you can break my DS. I can do what I like, fart breath. No you can t. Yes I can. Cause I m bigger and you take my things! Mum gave me that. Yeah, well now it s gone. Like her.
3 Learning to Fly Anyway you re in trouble. Mrs Perkins said you haven t been at school this week. Told you to say I was sick. She said you should be in hospital you re sick so much! Get me a drink. Get it yourself. I said get me a drink! No. Grabs Stanley by his shirt. Get it or you re dead Get off me! Kicks Kyle, who punches him in the stomach. Don t kick me. Take that you little toss! Ow! Stanley felt his head explode. His stomach started to fill with pain. The air stung as he tried to fill his lungs. You re a bully! I m tellin Dad. As if he d care. And Mummy s not here to protect you. I hate you!
4 Learning to Fly Me too. Get lost or there s more! At the bottom of next door s yard was a big old fig tree. Stanley s Grandpa had told him that it was there when he was a kid, and even when his Grandpa was a kid, so it had been there forever. Stanley ran down the garden, his fear turning to anger. He jumped the fence, clambered onto the sprawling roots and climbed the trunk, high up into the branches to his special place, away from the world. The leaves rustled gently in the breeze, trying to soothe him and just as he d done so many times before. Stanley sat and watched the world far below. Hey, Stanerley, is that you? Maybe. I saw you run out of your house. You OK? No. Can I come up? It s your tree. Bonnie lived next door to Stanley. They had played together when they were little and she still had the annoying habit of calling him Stanerley. At school other boys used to tease him about it, so he tried not to be seen with Bonnie. At home they would play and talk together, but as soon as they reached the end of their street, crossed the big road and turned the corner, Stanley pretended Bonnie wasn t there and joined his mates. Sometimes they would tease Bonnie about being a know-all and snobby because her mother went to university. It used to hurt Bonnie that Stanley didn t stop them, but then her mother explained about people needing to fit in and that things had been tough for Stanley and he didn t mean it. Is Kyle being mean again? He s OK. What did you run out here for then? It doesn t matter.
5 Learning to Fly You ve got blood on your nose. Fell in the tree. My Mum always says it s better to talk about things. Yeah, well, big deal, OK? You want to hear a tree joke? No. Why did the koala fall out of the tree? Cause he was asleep. That s not funny. Why did the second koala fall out of the tree? Cause he was holding the first one s hand. Stupid. Why did the third koala fall out of the tree? Cause he thought it was a game! That s a koala joke. Yeah, but they were in a tree. Not a fig tree, stupid. I m not stupid. You re stupid. Well go home then. Stop annoying me.
6 Learning to Fly I was just trying to make you feel better. I didn t ask you to. I was happy here before you came. Mum said that it s hard for you sometimes since your mum died, that s all. It s nothing to do with you. Your mum s just a big know-all. At least she has a proper job and not just at the pub all the time. You leave my Dad... And at least I m not a scaredy cat and hide in trees, and not talk to my friend cause I m afraid what other people say. Don t say that! Scaredy. Stanley felt his face go red and without really thinking, he shoved Bonnie. He watched as she covered her face and started to cry. She deserved it, he told himself, and pushed her away as she grabbed him to keep her balance on the branch. Bonnie fell backwards, and reached out to break her fall and landed wedged on the branches below. She sat there crying before slowly climbing to the ground. Stanley sat watching from his special branch, saying nothing, feeling as if somehow it was all a dream. The seconds turned to minutes and the minutes to what seemed like forever. Oh, very clever. Stanley looked around him. He looked above. He looked below for Bonnie s Mum coming to punish him. Or his Dad. But there was nobody. Thought she was your friend? Who could be up the tree? This was Stanley s tree. His Grandpa had taught him that trees could tell you things but not like this. And then only when you asked them something.
7 Learning to Fly Up here, birdbrain... I mean boybrain. Stanley looked up through the branches and there sitting on a limb, and looking straight at him was a big old cockatoo with tattered feathers, a half cocked crest and a bent beak. What you causing such a big noisy fuss for? This tree is where we come for a bit of peace and quiet. It s not my fault. She asked for it. That s a screech. Did you ask Kyle for it? What do you know about Kyle? See these beady eyes. Make your mother cry, you would. She doesn t know. She s gone. She used to sit up here. When she was about your age. Right where you are. And your grandfather. And his. Watching the roots of this old tree grow strong. Thought that s why you came. It was true. Stanley always sat in the tree when he felt bad and lonely. And always in the same special place by the old possum hole. The ancient gnarled roots made him belong. He felt pride finding his footholds up the towering trunk and felt safe and warm amongst the spreading limbs, and the whispering of the leaves. Sometimes he hung upside down like the bats and the whole world looked different. Sometimes he even felt like he could fly. I could fly once. Did something stupid, fell off me perch and here I am. Hopping around watching you lot do stupid things. You ll never fly if you do stupid things, Bullybrain. Don t call me that. Hitting girls means your brain must be smaller than mine, and I m a bird and that means you must be stupid. Yeah, but I m not a bully.
8 Learning to Fly If you ever grow up and hit a woman you could get into real strife, stupid. Mum didn t think I was stupid. Hey, what did the possum say to the flying fox? You re batty! It s OK. They ve flown off for the night, they can t hear. Did you really know my Mum? She sat up here with her special love things. Make her sing. Make her feel strong. Learnt to fly right here, right where you are. What special things? Yeah she was a bright one. Still is, I reckon. Brought you up here. Sang to you, sent your friend up to tell you jokes. Bonnie won t want to be my friend anymore. You sure ruffled her feathers some. And her mother s too I surmise. What ll she do? Reckon you and your Dad might have to find out. Hey, there were ten copybrains perched in a tree. One fell out, how many were left? Nine, of course. None stupid. Get it? Could I learn to fly? See that old hole there? Something in there I been lookin after. Take a look. Down deep.
9 Learning to Fly Stanley reached down into the old possum hole as far as his arm would go and his fingers searched around until they felt something cold and hard. Slowly he pulled out a rusted old biscuit tin. Go on, open it. Open it! The suspense is killing me. Stanley prised open the lid and looked. Inside there was an old carved bone haircomb, a glass marble with a swirl of bright blue like a beady eye and a sparkling crystal pushing out from a dull rock. I deduce your mother won t be needin them anymore. Time to heal a few people round here. Keep them close and maybe you ll fly. Were they really my Mum s? Go on. Take them. Be more room in there for me now. Right. I m off. Gotta fly. I thought you couldn t. Just joking! You better wing it too. (Cocky sniffs the air) Going to be a good day tomorrow. See you later. Stanley put the lid back on the box, stood up tall, spread his arms and launched himself through the branches and out over the garden. Soaring high, he could see his world below all the way past the big road as far as his schoolyard. Far below he saw Bonnie curled up in her bed, her mother cradling her in her arms. He circled once and swooped down, through the door to his house, round the big room where his Dad had fallen asleep on the chair, into the room he shared with the sleeping Kyle and landed between the sheets. He tucked the tin box under his pillow and fell asleep. The next morning, Stanley opened his eyes and looked about. Everything was the same. Kyle was sprawled on his mattress and his Dad snored from the other room. But it all felt different. He felt his special tin beneath the pillow. He prised it open and took out his treasures. He looked across at his sleeping brother then took out the marble with the bright beady eye, and slipped it under Kyle s pillow. He put the crystal into his pocket and the carved bone haircomb into his bag and left for school.
10 Learning to Fly He saw the big fig, the branches waving in the wind, the fig wasps buzzing from flower to flower, and the bats hanging down in the leafy shade. He looked anxiously for Bonnie. Was she too hurt to come? Would she even talk to him? Would her mother come out and yell at him? Then everyone would know he was a bully and hit girls. He walked off towards the big road. On the other side, the boys were waving at him, calling him over. Stanley looked back. Bonnie was limping towards him. You OK? That hurt. It was stupid. I m really sorry I shoved you. I didn t think and it was the wrong thing to do. My mother says you shouldn t shove or hit anyone, ever. She s right. Bet your Mum really hates me. She wants to speak to you and your Dad. But she s not angry, she just wants to make sure it doesn t happen again. OK, I guess I really didn t mean to do it. Are we friends again? If you ll have me. Stanley took the precious carved haircomb from his bag and gave it to Bonnie. This is for you. My Mum said to keep it close and I reckon you re close. Bonnie smiled and put the old carved hair comb in her hair. She was glad that Stanley was her friend. After all, they had to live next door and it worked much better this way. Want to walk to school together? What about the others?
11 Learning to Fly I ll play with them at recess. Want to hear a joke Stannerly? Sure. Stanley s hand felt the crystal glisten in his pocket. Overhead, a swirling flock of cockatoos screeched and laughed as Stanley and Bonnie crossed the big road, turned the corner and made their way to school. THE END