Goodbye Sky Harbor Read online

  “It’s okay, we can talk about it.” Genesis assured. “Well –” Before Creed could reply, Genesis had already cut back in. “I mean, it’s no big deal really. I just want to make sure that we stay friends no matter what. If that means just forgetting it even happened then that’s what we must do, you know?”

  “So –”

  “Or if we have to kiss again then that’s okay too.” Genesis interjected again.

  Creed looked up as they started to approach their morning meet up spot. Genesis smiled as the sun began covering her face with its blinding rays, almost matching her eyes. Creed was forced to squint as he turned his head to look at her. They stopped at the corner of the street, right before the highway. It was almost time for Genesis and Creed to part ways. “So, does that mean I can actually kiss you again?” Creed asked.

  “What?” Genesis exclaimed. “I don’t even get a date, dinner, nothing?”

  Creed watched in dismay as she took off once again. Out of all the nuances in their relationship, he really couldn’t stand that about her. He flailed his arms in the air and then turned to cross the street. As he looked out to see if any cars were coming he heard footsteps approaching him from behind. Creed felt hands moving across his shoulder, pushing his body around in an aggressive motion, almost knocking him over. He barely had a chance to react before Genesis’ soft lips were upon his. His body started to relax as he pressed his hands against her waist, pulling her towards him. After they kissed the two of them stood there for a moment gazing at each other.

  “I really wish you would stop doing that.” Creed finally said.

  “What?”

  “Running off like that.” He shot back. Genesis smiled and pulled Creed down for another kiss. They both stood there together effervescently illuminating in the reflection of the sun.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Premier of China wondered if the air conditioning had broken inside the Ministry of National Defence building, located in Beijing. Shui Huang started noticing multiple drops of sweat running down his face while he tried to keep his composure and focus on the meeting at hand. He was there joined by his four Vice Premier’s and President Bai Zhang. Also in attendance were members of the National Defence, including General Liu Zhou of the People’s Liberation Army, and right next to him was Wang Min, General of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force; who was currently speaking at the gathered assembly. A few minutes after Premier Shui began sweating, he also noticed his vision was slightly blurry and his breathing had become a bit shakier. He tugged at his collar, struggling to loosen the grip.

  “Excuse me gentlemen.” Shui couldn’t take it anymore and immediately stood up from his seat, excusing himself from the room. The attendee’s briefly fell silent while they watched the premier walk off towards the exit.

  Once Shui made it in the hallway and the door shut behind him, he hunched over in aggravated exertion, hoping the symptoms would start dissipating. The premier was having a panic attack. While he stood there with his hands on his knees, Shui suddenly remembered back to the first time he had felt similar symptoms. It happened a long time ago while his grade school class was on a field trip, visiting the Forbidden City. Shui happened to become lost in the melee of visitor’s that day and couldn’t find his way back to the rest of the class. The premier remembered there was a Buddhist monk that had approached him during his attack. The monk calmly placed his hand across the young boy’s head and then placed Shui’s hand over his own heart. As the two of them stood there, Shui wasn’t sure if the monk was performing harmonious trickery, or maybe a form of divine intervention. Whatever it was, it was helping him calm down. In fact, while Shui continued to relive that memory in his head, he noticed his heart was already calming itself. His breathing was becoming less labored and he could now feel the cooler breeze coming through the vents in the ceiling. Shui took another minute to gather himself out in the hallway before re-entering the conference room. He took a quick glance at himself, making sure his shirt was tucked in before rubbing some of the sweat stains on his collar and underarms.

  Shui opened the door with a more precise certainty and marched confidently back to his seat. He had made it back just in time to hear President Bai confront the assembly with his own personal deposition.

  “Gentlemen, we have a problem that we can no longer overlook. I do not happen to agree with U.N. officials over the dealing of this growing issue with the United States. I feel like empty threats, regardless of their validity, are still threats that need to be dealt with. Additionally, the president has doubled his forces in the Pacific and Indian oceans and regardless of their reasoning behind these actions; I find this to be an immediate threat to national, and even worldwide security. The question remains, should we sit around and wait for them to turn into actions? Keep in mind, that by then, it could be too late. The President of the United States is continuously taking it upon himself to issue out these unsubstantiated claims to multiple countries without any form of liability or accountability, all while seemingly doing whatever he wants. And by now, you all know that I will not tolerate this any longer. We knew this type of behavior was destined when he was elected to his country’s highest office. But when is enough, enough? I have listened to his disheveled claims for the past few months, as well as observed his obscene and grungy demeanor, and I must say, that this reminds me of the same behavior the world witnessed back in the early twentieth century. How long should we stand by and let this continue before we act? I say no more gentlemen. I know some of you might not fully support me on this decision, but I feel like it is the only way to restore order and faith in the entire world’s population. I am giving permission to the Chief of Staff to formulate a plan of action and move ahead with a full-on invasion of the United States.”

  Immediate groans and distinct tension began to pick up there in the room at that moment. Premier Shui’s panic attack had receded but there was still a sense of apprehension all over the room.

  “Are we sure about this sir?” Vice Premier Wei Qian cried out while staring over at Shui with an unconvincing look. Almost everyone there seemed skeptical over this decision except for the General’s, who sat there confidently nodding their heads.

  “Gentlemen, do not think for a second that I have not thought this through over and over in my head. I did not come to this decision so easily, and as difficult as it might be for myself to make, I have exhausted all other options up to this point.”

  “This is the United States of America we’re talking about here your Excellency. There are reasons most countries have never declared war on this imperial giant. We have sustained years of peace with the United States amidst multiple deficient leaders and now you want to puncture that relationship on simple discrepancies? Even if this objectionable pursuit serves to be successful, think of the casualties and the damage that this will cause not only our people, or the people of the United States, but what of the rest of the world?” Wei was trying at a last-ditch effort to inject sensibility into the President before they proceeded with the proposed invasion.

  “I fully understand the consequences and the sacrifices that go along with this decision. I choose to stay optimistic that this will be for the overall good, not only for the republic of China, but for the rest of the world as well.”

  “Why do you keep saying that? Why do we hold ourselves accountable enough to impose on other countries political affairs? We have let multiple countries become run by innumerable politicians with their hideous policies and not once have we felt a sudden responsibility to infringe. Please tell me, why is this different?”

  Before President Bai could offer a response, Gen. Liu stood up with impassioned determination. Everyone around the room instantly became quiet and waited for the general to speak.

  “Do me a favor gentlemen and ask yourself this. If you were given the chance to go back in time and change history, and that one decision had led to the full disarmament and dismantling of Hitler’s regime before he committed
those heinous acts among the Jews, would you have made that decision?”

  Everyone in the room remained quiet as the general became more incensed with every word that came out of his mouth.

  “I guarantee you,” he continued “that every man in this room would’ve made that decision without question. I understand the hesitancy when it comes to this decision, and I respect that concern. But I, along with the president believe we would be doing a good thing here. I believe that we would be doing something that other leaders failed to do decades ago. I believe we are on the right side of history here men, and I believe with all my heart that we can stop this madness from getting worse. War is not something that any man thrives for throughout his life, but sometimes these things become necessary to halt the outrageous actions in this world from spreading.”

  Premier Shui and Vice Premier Wei exchanged concerned looks from across the room. Wei was still unconvinced that this path would be the best avenue to follow at this point, but he felt obligated to stand behind his leader. While the room lingered in silent contemplation, President Bai stood up from his seat at the head of the long conference table.

  “Some of you have known me a very long time. You have trusted me and stayed loyal from the very beginning. You have given confidence in me and elected me to this position with full certainty and faith. Now I ask of that from you, from every single one of you here today. Follow me once more.”

  Just then Vice Premier Chen Li and Vice Premier Jian Cheung stood up and nodded their heads towards the President. Both General’s Liu and Wang followed suit and stood up with conviction. Wei and Shui continued staring towards each other while Keung Shiau, another Vice Premier stood up from his seat and honored the president with a bow. As the entire room began to emerge from their seats, Wei rolled his eyes and stood up with Shui accompanying him. They both turned towards President Bai and properly bowed.

  “Thank you. Now if you all would excuse us; the General’s and I must now formulate a concrete plan of action.” Other than Gen. Liu and Wan, the remaining members in the room started shuffling towards the doors. Wei stopped at the doors to wait for Shui who was still packing up his briefcase. Premier Shui shook hands with the President before making his way towards the exit.

  “What happened to you?” Wei asked. “When?” Shui responded while he closed the doors behind him. “In the meeting back there. You just took off on us.” Wei replied as the two premiers made their way towards the elevators.

  “Oh, it was nothing.”

  “It sure didn’t look like nothing.”

  “Well it was, just a little warm in there.”

  “It felt fine to me.”

  “Just drop it Wei.”

  “I’m just making sure my friend is okay.”

  “I’m fine.”

  The pair made it down the hall and waited patiently for the elevators. Wei looked around swiftly before finally confessing his true feelings.

  “You know this is absolute madness, right?” He insisted. “Yes, but what would be even more madness, would be to rebel against our leader.” Shui responded.

  “But this is different Shui; this is the United States we are talking about.” Wei continued. “Yeah, I heard him in there too. But people forget when talking about the United States, that there are plenty of other powerful countries out here. Like us. Yes, it’s the United States, but we are China.”

  “There could still be no good to come from this. You’re suggesting a big dog against another big dog, and you know what happens when two big dogs fight instead of little dogs?”

  “What’s that?”

  “A bigger fucking mess.”

  Shui smiled as the elevator finally arrived and opened its doors. The pair boarded and pushed the fourth-floor button. “I believe the president knows what he’s doing.” Shui said.

  “Let’s hope he does.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  The next morning Creed made his way downstairs for breakfast. There was an obvious glow on his face as he roamed the cabinets, humming to himself while searching for his cereal. Everything was different that morning for Creed. The colors around him were more vibrant than before. Even the color in his cereal tasted more significant than he could ever remember. This enthusiasm was starting to annoy his father who was lounging in the next room, reading the paper. “Are you humming?” His father asked. Creed quickly paused and looked over at his dad. “No.” he replied.

  “Why are you humming?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Creed that sounded like humming, you were humming.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  His father shook his head and averted his attention back to his paper. Creed smiled as he poured more milk into his bowl. Creed’s mind was no longer racing about the kiss and there weren’t any Kerouac quotes to meddle over while he just sat there enjoying his breakfast in complete serenity.

  Everything surrounding Creed that morning on his journey to meet up with Genesis was mostly all a blur. From the beating of the sun to the birds aggressively clamoring away was every bit incognizant. Instead of pondering over the kiss like he had done almost the entire day before, he was now just looking forward to possibly another one, and maybe even many more after that. As he approached the corner of Crismon and Guadalupe he noticed that Genesis was not waiting there for him on the other side. She must be running late, he thought. As soon as Creed made it to the other side he looked earnestly down Crismon before peering down Guadalupe where she’d usually originate from. Nothing. He looked down at the clock on his phone and noticed that he was running later than usual. She should be here. She wouldn’t have gone on without me. Creed started to text Genesis before he heard a distant wail coming from behind the drug store across the street. He immediately took off in an erratic sprint. Creed made his way around the back of the building where he found Garrett and his two buddies harassing Genesis by a large Oak tree.

  “Hey.” Creed screamed out. Garrett turned his head and noticed Creed approaching.

  “Ah, there he is.” Garrett replied.

  “What the hell are you doing Garrett?” Creed noticed that the guys had thrown Genesis’ backpack up on one of the branches of the tree. “Are you serious man? What are you in pre-school?” Creed barked.

  Before Creed could make his way toward the tree where Genesis was standing, Garrett’s buddies had already begun to cut off his path. Creed clenched his fists in anticipation. As the boys motioned away from the tree, Genesis began climbing to retrieve her backpack. Creed moved closer towards the boys who were now slowly back peddling away. “What are you going to do Creed? You really think you can take all three of us?” Garrett snidely boasted.

  “Why? Are you afraid?” Creed replied. Just then Genesis heard a crack in the branch below her. She looked down to examine the branch before hearing another crack. Genesis immediately gazed over towards Creed who was staring right back at her. In the blink of an eye the branch eventually gave way and Genesis started falling towards the ground. Her hands flailed upwards in an immediate panic. Without thinking Creed lunged towards the tree. As he moved forward Creed began to feel a force of energy beneath him. The force abruptly jolted him into the air and before he could even realize what was going on, Creed was now flying towards the tree. He reached the falling branch and Genesis, just before she hit the ground below. Creed scooped her up and was momentarily suspended in the air before slowly floating back down. Garrett and his sidekicks looked on in horrific shock. Their mouths all dropped simultaneously. Genesis stood there in dumbstruck amazement while trying to catch her breath, staring up at Creed the entire time. He peered down at her with a peculiar expression on his face. “What the hell was that Creed? She asked. “I have no clue.” He responded.

  Creed stood there for a moment before letting out a giddy laugh. They both stood there staring at each other awkwardly; entirely ignorant of the fact that Garrett was still standing helplessly with his pals.

  “Creed?” Garrett muttered.
Creed looked up and noticed the shell-shocked boys, frozen like statues. After a prophetic pause, Creed then wrapped his arm back around Genesis and smiled pretentiously.

  “Hang on.” he said.

  “Wait – what?”

  Before she could formally protest, Creed was already in the air again. Genesis frighteningly shrieked as they floated upwards. The boys still frozen on the ground looked on as Genesis and Creed disappeared into the sky. Genesis began noticing people and cars on the ground were slowly becoming little tiny specs, like ants scurrying across the kitchen floor. Within no time they were flying through the clouds. Creed gazed straight ahead as his passenger continued surveying the view in utter wonderment. A multitude of thoughts were now perusing through her head. She was finding herself now the victim of a mental shit storm. The pair flew around for a little while longer, searing through the clouds like a knife through butter. Genesis couldn’t even rustle through her impeding thoughts fast enough before Creed decided to descend back towards the ground. They floated above the concrete for a moment before touching the pavement. “Now that was cool.” Creed proclaimed.

  Genesis peered all around the street trying to regain consciousness, or even reality. Her attention turned towards trying to find out where they might’ve landed or if anyone had possibly saw them.

  “Where are we?” Genesis finally blurted out. “Not sure, but we’re probably going to be late for school.” Creed replied.

  “We left our backpacks at the tree,” Genesis explained. “We have to go back.”

  Creed grabbed onto Genesis’ waist once again, but before he could attempt anything he felt her hand push away.

  “No, no. Let’s walk. I think I’ve flown around enough for one day.” She requested.

  They both exchanged smiles, before heading off down the street. Genesis reached out her hand and grabbed for Creed’s hand. He pulled her towards him landing an emphatic kiss upon her lips. Creed kissed her with more confidence than before, as though it was deserved.