Jonathan 'Jack' Martin (ex_levitatin843) wrote in notionsic, @ 2011-07-22 15:36:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | complete, jack martin, july 2011, solo |
Who Jack Martin
What Solo: Jack gets overconfident about his powers
When Friday afternoon, July 22
Where Jack's house
Rating Low
The one thing that sometimes bothered Jack Martin about his power of recessive aerokinesis was his limited ability to fly. In his younger years, he’d definitely tried to improve his flight abilities, but he’d never been able to get much higher than his own height. Sure, he’d always been a tall man, but being almost able to fly was such a cruel joke by nature that Jack was sure it was the worst power there was. So close and yet so far away. Granted, once he’d managed to get above the top of the tree in his backyard with a lot of concentration and a fair amount of strain. Then again, it had ended in a crash landing, a dislocated shoulder and a scared three-year-old John who had narrowly avoided getting in the way of his father’s fall. Maria had fuzzed and fretted about how stupid Jack was, trying to comfort John and take care of her husband at the same time. In the end everything had worked out alright and Jack’s shoulder had healed just fine.
That was thirty-three years ago now. A considerable amount of time, almost half a lifetime. Jack wasn’t young anymore, but he didn’t necessarily feel his sixty-eight years either. Some days were worse than others of course, but in general he was a healthy old man whose worst problem was that he wasn’t able to go out running with his dog anymore. Gambler wasn’t a youth himself though, even if he did have some years left, and so it all evened out. That the dog would pass away before Jack did seemed rather inevitable, something that the beginnings of grey on his muzzle was a subtle reminder of. It wasn’t something that concerned Jack in his everyday life however and rightly so – worrying about death got you nowhere.
In the aftermath of a heavy summer rain, Jack and his four-legged companion were out in the back garden, the German Shepherd running about and sniffing all the scents that the rain had brought out. Occasionally he stopped to lift his leg and re-mark his territory. Jack himself was moving without motion – levitating a few feet above the grass, directing his body with subtle motions of his hands. Gambler every now and then came over to nose on his owner’s shoes before disregarding the whole thing. As a puppy, the dog had found immense amusement at jumping up and trying to grab onto Jack’s feet whenever he was levitating, but that behaviour had eventually been culled and Gambler now knew better than to bother anyone with the ability to fly.
Levitating didn’t take much effort and Jack found it very relaxing. His attention was more focused on the healthy shine of the wet garden and the wonderful scent that summer rains tended to leave in their wake. As he reached the big red maple tree in the corner or the garden, he threw a look towards the top of it. It had probably grown a little in thirty-three years, even if it was a negligible measurement. Rising a little higher, he reached out to tug one of the red leaves off, studying its veined build with mild interest. Maple trees had always been his favourite and having one in his own garden had been an obvious choice. Levitating now at his comfortable max height, the thought crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe he could give flying another try. He felt perfectly fine today and he wouldn’t pressure himself beyond reason. Throwing an eye down on the ground, he found that Gambler was preoccupied with a stick he’d dragged out of the hedge. Eye to the sky again, he took a deep breath and turned his concentration inwards.
He knew he could go a little higher than he was at that point. The tricky part was pushing further and still remaining balanced. A little wobble could easily grow into a major balance failure, which was why Jack focused on nothing but controlling his body and manipulating the air around him. Somewhat unsteady, he managed to rise above the tree with careful movements, allowing himself a grin as he rose above the foliage. There was a slight breeze, just enough to give him some leverage, but not strong enough to blow him off-kilter. Once he’d found satisfying balance, Jack took another deep breath and sought to rise even higher. At first he felt fine and a rush of excitement flowed through him. Tilting slightly, he soared a few feet sideways and found that he still was in control. Containing the excitement was necessary to avoid falling, but Jack couldn’t help but throw a glance at the ground again. Being this high up caused him to shiver, but it was a good shiver and he smile again as he flew back towards the tree, all the while keeping a very low speed.
When he’d returned to his starting point and was planning to fly around the tree, his attention was shaken by a sudden outburst of barking from below. Jack had just enough time to glimpse the hissing cat that emerged through the hedge, before his suspended state failed and he was falling. It was approximately forty feet from the top of the tree to the ground, but there wasn’t much time for thought before the grass rushed up to meet Jack’s body in a painful impact. The man gave a shout of pain before his consciousness gave out and the world around him went black.
**
When Jack came to again, the world was initially dark. His vision returned slowly and then he was staring at the ceiling of a car. He knew it was a car because he heard the rumble of the engine and felt the pull of gravity as it turned street corners. Along with the engine sound, there was the sound of sirens – an ambulance. He didn’t get much time to reflect on this as someone leaned into his field of vision.
“Mr Martin? Jack, are you with us?”
Jack wanted to answer that yes, of course he was, but then the pain hit him and caused him to grimace. “What happened?” he asked once he could open his eyes again.
“You’ve got a concussion and a broken arm. Your shoulder is dislocated as well.” The man placed a hand on Jack’s healthy arm. “The neck brace you’ve got on is just a precaution. Do you remember what happened?”
It took a few moments. “...I was flying. Well,” he corrected himself, “trying to fly.”
“Recessive aerokinesis, right? Your neighbour told us,” the man clarified when Jack looked confused.
“What about my dog?” Jack then asked, suddenly worried.
“Your neighbour, Ms Clayton, she took care of the dog.”
Jack would have nodded, but the pain and the neck brace made it impossible. “We’re going to the hospital?”
“That’s right, but I don’t think you have to be too worried. It seems like you had quite a fall, but you seem to be pretty okay for someone your age.” The man gave a wink to let on that he was only teasing him.
Giving a small smile, Jack closed his eyes. “Thanks,” he said with a soft snort. “Wake me up when we’re there, will you?” The pain in his head was making his train of thought nearly impossible and rest seemed like the wisest move right now. He knew he wouldn’t be allowed to rest too much if he had a concussion – not with the amount of check-ups the nurses would be doing to make sure he was alright. Once he was thinking a little straighter, he’d contact his kids and let them know what had happened. For now, he just wanted to fade away for a bit.