Kalishia's Wings (Part Three)

 Scene 5 (Review)

"I have never seen a parent so dedicated to ensuring that their kid could recover from paralysis as you, Marvin." The Doctor chuckled. "This is crazy, but it just might work. Though, I won't be able to let you use this until her bones heal. Also, you'll have to show me that it's safe for you to use first too.

"No problem. " Marvin smiled.

Scene 6

Marvin went back to work at his engineering job over the next few weeks and worked late in the garage building the life sized pair of wings. He worked for hours to ensure the safety of the device night after night. Finally, the wings where ready to be officially tested.

Marvin had Marsha help him with the straps on the wings to his torso. He attached the electrodes to the back of his neck to control the wings with thought. As soon as Marvin turned on the device the wings spread out gently.

"Whoa!" Marvin exclaimed, "It works!"

"Let's get you out of the garage with those things, I'm afraid your going to hit something with those wings fully extended." Marsha commented.

"Well, She will need to navigate tight spaces from time to time." Marvin replied.

"Yeah, but I think you should give it some practice first, Marvin." Marsha laughed.

"Alright, let's go." Marvin said, as he folded the wings back in at his sides.

Scene 7

Once they got to the park Marvin extended the wings again to full length. He started to flap them slowly and then tilted them a little bit while still in a standing position to generate lift. Marsha watched in awe as Marvin lifted off the ground and hovered with the wings flapping a few feet above the ground.

"This is amazing!" Marvin laughed.

"Can you land?" Marsha asked.

Marvin slowed the flapping speed and gently touched back down on the grass.

"It's good that I got the hover figured out!" Marvin said excitedly.

"Alright, you can hover and land, but can you fly?" Marsha asked as she put the helmet and go pro camera on Marvin's head. "I'm going to really suit you up this time, if you crash I want you protected as possible."

Marsha helped Marvin put on shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads, and some arm braces as well as a torso pad and shoulder pads.

"Are you trying to make me a marshmallow?" Marvin giggled.

"Marvin," Marsha said with a slightly annoyed tone. "you need to avoid hurting yourself."

"It's gonna work." He replied as he leaned in to kiss Marsha.

Marvin slowly took off into a hover again before he adjusted the wings to fly forward in a horizontal position.

"Yeeeha!" Marvin shouted as he zoomed over the park. He gained altitude and climbed a little higher before making a sharp turn at the edge of the park and then gliding back towards Marsha.

"You've got to try this, Marsha. It's incredible!" Marvin shouted as he prepared to land in a standing position again.

"I'm not sure I could actually control that thing." Marsha replied skeptically.

"Come on, You can get up on my shoulders." Marvin smiled.

Marsha jumped up on Marvin's back and hung on with her arms around his neck like a piggy back.

"Ready?" He asked, as he started flapping the wings and took off.

"I'm surprised that the wings can handle this much weight!" Marsha exclaimed as they soared back and forth across the park together.

"Purposely, I wanted Marsha to be able to do this too!" Marvin laughed.

"You are one incredible Dad, Marvin." Marsha complimented him.

Scene 8

Kalishia came home from the hospital the day after Marvin's flight test. While still immobile, her bones had healed and she was given an exoskeleton to allow her to stand. She still however, had no way to walk.

Marvin submitted the flight test footage to the doctor and they waited for a response.

School would start in a few weeks for Marsha as the summer was coming to an end. Marvin wanted Kalishia to be able to use the wings at school. Though she would be a junior in high school this year, Kalishia had a whole new world to start the year with.

After the Doctor responded with the go ahead, Marvin took Kalishia up to the park for her first flight. He wheeled her over to the middle of lawn where Marsha helped him lift the wings onto her and secure the electrodes. The wings themselves where charged with large solar batteries and Marvin had purchased three of them so that there was always a charged battery to last the day.

"Alright, as soon as I turn this on, your thoughts will control the wings. Visualize them as a part of yourself. I showed you the test flight videos, so hopefully, you have a good idea for flight tequinques by now." Marvin told Kalishia as he did up the last buckle around Kalishia's waist and tightened it.

"Dad, it's okay, I'll be careful. These wings are going to give me my life back!" Kalishia replied.

"Ready?" Marvin asked.

"Absolutely!" Kalishia smiled.

Marvin reached over her shoulder and flipped the switch. Kalishia immediately extended the wings with a whoosh before Marvin had even pulled his hand away.

"Careful!" Marvin warned. "You almost hit my arm!"

"Sorry! I got a little excited." Kalishia giggled.

She gently flapped the wings and adjusted to create lift as she increased the flapping speed. Excitedly she lifted off the ground and then hovered for a minute above ground.

"Wow! I'm flying!" Kalishia smiled back down at Marvin.

She landed perfectly again and then Marvin let her go for a forward flight. Kalishia soared across the park, climbing, diving and gliding majestically. Marvin sat down next to Marsha to watch Kalishia fly.

"She is so strong, Marvin." Marsha said as he sat down on the bench next to her.

"It's amazing to see her happy like this." Marvin smiled.

"You gave her a chance for hope!" Marsha replied.

Scene 8

"Kalishia! You're back!" her friend Nadine exclaimed as Kalishia landed at the entrance to the school.

"Yep, I'm back, and I'm a little more bionic. You like it?" Kalisha asked after they hugged with joyful reunion.

"Yeah! I want wings like that!" Nadine replied. "Can I touch them?"

"Sure." Kalishia said as she extended the left wing.  "My Dad built these for me after the accident. They are beautiful with the feathers he added!"

"Amazing, and they are so soft too!" Nadine smiled. "Are you going to fit through the door though?"

"Yeah, no problem. I just kinda flap and hop sideways through doors. The brace doesn't allow me to move my legs, but it gives me stability to stand." Kalisha giggled.

"I'll grab the door for you." Nadine motioned as they went into the school together.

Kalishia hovered down the hall next to Nadine as she put her violin in the orchestra room.

"Apparently, everyone else thinks your wings are pretty cool too." Nadine laughed. "Everyone keeps looking at you in awe."

"It's different, but I like it." Kalishia smiled.

Kalishia's Wings (Part Two)

 Scene 3 (Review)

"You built that?" Marsha gasped with amazement as she picked up Marvin's prototype.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep last night." Marvin apologized.

"This is genius!" Marsha marveled. "Does it work?"

"I think so, I was hoping to come up with something to help Kalishia." Marvin smiled.

"How will she land and take off though?" Marsha asked.

"Good point, I guess I didn't think about that." Marvin sighed.

"That's okay, I think we should show her what you have, it's incredible!" Marsha smiled.

"I guess it is a small ray of hope for now." Marvin replied.

Scene 4

Marvin and Marsha drove back up to the hospital to show Kalishia the prototype around Ten that same morning.

"Do you really think she will be excited about this?" Marvin asked as they drove back to the hospital.

"Well, it's better than the news she received from the doctors yesterday." Marsha shrugged.

"I just hope she doesn't think that the device will attract too much odd attention to her." Marvin commented.

"Anything we do will attract people staring at her, Marvin. It's just a fact of her life we will have to accept now." Marsha sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I guess your right, and a wheel chair isn't very mobile. I think we can give her more mobility than that with these wings." Marvin said excitedly.

Marvin pulled into the hospital parking lot and put the car into park outside the doors to the visitors entrance. Marsha took the box with the prototype in it out from the backseat as Marvin locked the doors of their family SUV.

"I kind of hope we won't have to get a new vehicle." Marsha said as they walked to the entrance. "Kalishia wont be able to get in there with a wheel chair."

"I think that things will work out. It's an adjustment for all of us, honey." Marvin replied with a hint of anxiety creeping into his voice.

Scene 5

"How are you doing, Kalishia?" Marsha asked as they entered her room.

"Not great." Kalishia sighed.

"I brought you something you might really like." Marvin smiled as he opened the box and motioned for Kalishia to look inside. "It took me most of the night to build."

"What is this?" Kalishia asked curiously, as she picked up the winged doll.

"It's a prototype for a mobility device that I hope to build for you. This one is remote controlled, but I hope that when you ware it that I can connect it into your brain waves and that it will become an extension of you." Marvin explained.

"That's amazing! And, to think that you stayed up all night, just for me." Kalishia replied, getting a bit emotional. "I'm so used to helping everyone else that it's strange to have people helping me."

"Want to see me fly it?" Marvin asked.

"Yeah!" Kalishia said, lighting up.

Marvin took the doll and flipped a switch on the back of the wings. He turned on the remote and then set the doll on the table beside Kalishia's bed. Marvin slowly increased the wing flap speed before adjusting the angle of the wings slightly upward as the doll laid on it's stomach. The doll took off from the table and Marvin flew it majestically in circles around the small hospital room.

"Whoa!" Kalishia exclaimed. "You'r going to build me something to let me fly like that?"

"I hope so!" Marvin smiled.

"But, I have to lay on my stomach, won't that be near impossible to do with the palatalization?" Kalishia asked.

"Yeah, you'r Mom pointed that out too. It's not perfect, but it's a good start." Marvin sighed.

"Don't feel bad, Dad. I love it! You'll find a way!" Kalishia smiled.

"Thank you for your positive spirit, Kalishia. I don't know what we would do without you!"

The doctor came into the room just as Marvin was putting the doll back into the box at Kalishia's bedside.

"What's that?" the doctor asked Marvin.

"Oh, this?" He replied, showing the winged doll to the doctor. "It's my idea to give Kalishia mobility eventually."

"Did you build this last night?" the Doctor asked as he examined the doll in his hands.

"Yeah, it took most of the night." Marvin smiled.

"I have never seen a parent so dedicated to ensuring that their kid could recover from paralysis as you, Marvin." The Doctor chuckled. "This is crazy, but it just might work. Though, I won't be able to let you use this until her bones heal. Also, you'll have to show me that it's safe for you to use first too.

"No problem. " Marvin smiled.

To be continued in the next post :) 

Kalishia's Wings, A Short Story

 

Synopsis:

Kalishia's Wings is a short story about Kalishia's journey as she became paralyzed and how she learns to overcome it and accept a new way of life. Enjoy the adventure as Kalishia and her family face loss, grief, and search for hope!

 

"Kalishia! Wake up!" my sister Allison yelled.

"It's Saturday..." Kalishia moaned with my eyes still shut and droopy with sleep.

"You really are delirious honey." Mom soothed.

Delirious? Kalishia thought. That's an odd way of describing my morning defiance.

"It's gonna be okay, we're all here with you." Dad said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Kalishia's head ached & throbbed. Her thoughts felt foggy. Startled, she realized that she had no idea where she was. Kalishia's heart threatened to jump from her chest. She tried to wake up. She willed herself to re-enter her reality from the dream world. Finaly, after a long struggle, Kalishia opened her heavy eyes.

"I'm in the hospital!" She exclaimed.

"You where hit by a car." The nurse chuckled.

"This isn't funny!" Kalishia huffed.

"You've been paralyzed." The doctor stated.

The moment the doctor told this to Kalishia, her heart sank. She had loved being on her school track team. It was everything to her. Track was her safe haven where she actually fit in somewhere for once. How could she be a member of the track team now if she couldn't even walk?

"Dad, am I gonna get kicked off the track team?" Kalishia asked.

He turned toward Kalishia with a glum expression. "I don't know, Kalishia. This will change everything about our way of life, but it isn't hopeless."

"It feels hopeless to me." Kalishia replied, her voice crackling.

"Honey, it's going to be alright." Mom said as she grasped my hand and the tears ran down my face.

"How can you say it's going to be alright when I will never walk again?" Kalishia huffed angrily.

"We're going to find a new normal." Mom said softly.

"Normal is the life I will never have again, Mom" Kalishia sobbed.

"I think it's best if we give her some time alone, Marsha." Dad said as he turned to leave the room.

Scene 2:

"Let's go get something to eat in the cafeteria, Marvin." Marsha stated as the family regrouped in the hall.

"I don't want to eat." Josh commented.

Kalishia's brother Josh never wanted to eat when he was feeling sad. It was just his odd way of manifesting his stress.

"You need to eat, Josh. We all do." Marvin replied.

"Fine, have it your way." Josh grumbled.

"You're always grumpy like this." Alison stated to Josh.

The family sat down at a booth with their food in the far corner of the hospital cafeteria.

"What are we going to do about Kalishia needing wheel chair access to the house?" Marvin asked Marsha.

"Maybe we should contact some of our neighbors to see if they can help us build a ramp?" Marsha suggested.

"Yeah, it's just that I hate to make us the needy project family, Marsha." Marvin replied around a bite of his pasta.

"Sometimes, we have to learn to accept help, Marvin." Marsha commented.

"What if Kalishia doesn't want the help?" Josh asked, piping into the conversation.

"Kalishia is going through a lot right now, Josh. She doesn't fully accept that this will be her new way of life." Marsha answered.

"Maybe a wheel chair isn't the right solution for Kalishia." Marvin suggested.

Part Three:

Marvin didn't sleep well that night as Kalishia stayed in the hospital. He kept thinking that there had to be another way to help Kalishia get her life back. Then, out of nowhere, he had a crazy idea. He would build Kalishia a pair of wings. He would give her the gift of flight.

But how? How would he give his daughter such a miraculous gift?

Marvin had studied engineering for years but he had never attempted a project quite like this one. He would need to test the device for himself before it could ever be used by Kalishia. His problem was, Kalishia didn't have time to wait. She needed freedom from the oppression, and she needed it quick before it's too late.

After tossing and turning, Marvin finally stumbled his way out to the work bench in the garage around two in the morning. He started to doodle down some ideas and built a prototype with some odds and ends on his shelves. Marvin managed to create a working folding mechanism in his wooden dowel and plastic trash bag model. However, he still wondered how well his design would handle the counter wait of a miniature person.

He needed a weight to represent the scale of his own body weight. According to his calculation, the wings would need to carry around 10 times their own weight. Marvin took a look at his messy shelf again and pulled out a block of balsa wood. it was light and easy to work with.  Marvin thought it would be good to carve a figure with it and then he'd attach some nuts and bolts inside for weight.

He ended up creating a miniature flying person that was remote controlled by the time Marsha found him asleep at the work bench the next morning.

"Marvin?" She asked as she gently shook him awake.

"Yes" he replied groggily.

"You built that?" Marsha gasped with amazement as she picked up Marvin's prototype.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep last night." Marvin apologized.

"This is genius!" Marsha marveled. "Does it work?"

"I think so, I was hoping to come up with something to help Kalishia." Marvin smiled.

"How will she land and take off though?" Marsha asked.

"Good point, I guess I didn't think about that." Marvin sighed.

"That's okay, I think we should show her what you have, it's incredible!" Marsha smiled.

"I guess it is a small ray of hope for now." Marvin replied.

To be continued in the next blog post :)

 

why are we drawn to do the impossible

 We hate failure, at least most of us do. But, what if I told you that most failure is the greatest teacher mankind has ever had?

Mankind has been chasing after the so called impossible of their time for years but the why behind it all is quite shocking. There is a phycological explanation, when we are told that we will never reach a dream, a deeply desighered passion, it ignights a fire within us to prove wrong our doubters. This drive has incredible and forceful strength.

Take Thomas Edison for example, the great inventor of the lightbulb was told that he wouldn't be able to create an electric lightbulb but he did!

Richard Paul Evans, the best selling author of the Michel Vey series personally lives with turrets syndrome. Yet his books have taught me that disability doesn't have to keep me, a dyslexic writer, from chasing my dreams. Richard Paul Evans taught me that being different is amazing!

Paul Orfala, the creator of Kinkos, now FedEx, was a dyslexic drop out who became a successful entrepreneur! Nobody saw that coming!

J.K. Rowling was rejected by 13 major publishers for Harry Potter. Now, the series inspired 7 movies and an entire theme park attraction!

George Washington, led the American Revolution's army into freedom. Yet, at Vally Forge the entire army nearly starved to death.

My point? All of these people faced hardships in their journey to reach an impossible dream. What is thought impossible today will beacon to the rising generation "I'm possible".