Sky's Wish Comes True

Ever since Sky was just a kitten, she knew she wanted to be a pilot when she grew up. She even slept with a toy airplane every night. She lived on an island with a small airport that had seven hangars. She would spend her days there, watching the planes take off and land. One day, an old tortoise came up to her. He walked upright on his hind legs, wore glasses, and used a cane.

“Hi. My name is Charlie. What is your name?”

“Hi Charlie, I am Sky.”

“Well, Sky, I have seen you here every day for a long time. You must really like airplanes,” he said.

“I sure do!” Sky said.

“Would you like to go fly with me?”

“Yes! I would like that very much!” Sky said.

“Ok, let’s go!”

Charlie and Sky went over to the hangar where Charlie’s airplane was kept. He opened the garage door. Sky was very happy to see Charlie’s airplane. It was red, had two seats, and where the people sat, there were no tops.

“Wow! It is beautiful!” said Sky.

“Thank you. This is called an open-air propeller plane.” Charlie said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I am!”

“First, you will need these,” said Charlie. He handed Sky a pair of goggles and a red scarf. Sky put them on.

“Ok, let’s get you in!” Charlie said as he pushed a ladder over to the plane. “Here you go. Get in the back seat.”

Sky climbed in. She was so excited to finally fly. Charlie then locked the seat belt.

Charlie got into the front seat and started the engine. He steered the plan out of the hangar. He then got on his radio. “Charlie to tower. Charlie to tower. I’m getting ready to taxi to the runway.”

“Tower here. You are clear for takeoff. Have fun, Charlie,” the voice said.

Charlie then made the plane go a little faster as he turned toward the runway. When he got to the beginning of the runway, he stopped the plane and said, “Ok, Sky, are you ready?”

“I’m ready!”

“Ok. Here we go. Hold on tight!”

Charlie then hit the gas, and the airplane went really fast. He pulled back on the yoke, and the plane took off. They were flying!

Sky had never been so happy in all her life. She held her front paws up as the wind rushed through her fur.

“Are you doing ok back there?” Charlie asked.

“I’m doing great!” Sky said, excitedly.

Charlie flew for about thirty minutes before coming in for a landing. Now back on the ground, Charlie slowed the plane down and steered it back to his hangar. He came to a stop and then shut off the engine.

“Well, Sky, did you have fun?”

“I sure did, Charlie! Thank you so much!” Sky said.

Charlie got out of the plane and helped Sky down to the ground.

“Sky, I have seen you here every day, and now I know how much you love to fly. Would you like to work here?” Charlie asked.

“You bet I would!” Sky said, excitedly.

“We need another mechanic. Someone to work on these airplanes. Do you think you can learn that?”

“Absolutely!”

“Great. And in my free time, I will teach you how to fly. Come back tomorrow, Sky. I will show you around.” said Charlie.

“Wow! Thank you so much, Charlie! I’ll be here tomorrow! Bye!”

Sky went home, ate dinner, and went to bed. She dreamed of flying up in the big blue sky, of all the places she would visit, and of working at the airport.

The next morning, Sky got up, brushed her teeth, grabbed an apple for breakfast, and ran out the door. Sky then made her way to the airport. Charlie was there waiting for her.

“Good morning, Sky,” said Charlie.

“Good morning!” Sky replied.

“Are you ready to go to work?” Charlie asked.

“I sure am!” exclaimed Sky.

Charlie led Sky over to one of the hangars, where a pekin duck was working on an airplane’s engine. He wore dirty overalls and had a blue rag sticking out of his back pocket.

“Buck, I’d like you to meet Sky. She’s our new mechanic,” said Charlie.

“Good morning, Sky. Nice to meet you,” Buck said, while shaking Sky’s paw.

“Nice to meet you too, Buck!” replied Sky.

“I’ll let you two be. Buck, show her the ropes,” Charlie said.

“Yes, sir!” Buck replied.

Buck then spent the rest of the day going over all the airplane parts with Sky.

The next day, Sky met with Buck at a different airplane.

“Now, this plane here won’t start. What do you think the problem is, Sky?” asked Buck.

“It must be the battery,” said Sky.

“Very good! Do you think you can replace it?”

“Absolutely!” Sky said. Sky then went and grabbed a new battery. She took out the old one, put in the new one, and got it hooked up.

“Ok. Let’s see if she starts. Turn the key,” Buck told her.

It started right up. Sky was so proud of herself to have fixed something. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“Excellent work, Sky. Now, head on over to the tower. Charlie wants you to meet someone. Thank you for your help!” said Buck.

Sky then walked over to the tower. Inside, Charlie was sitting next to a bumblebee.

“Hi, Sky,” said Charlie. “This is Tee. She runs the tower here.”

“So, this is Sky. I’ve heard a lot about you!” said Tee.

Sky blushed. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Would you like to learn about my job?” Tee asked.

“You bet!” said Sky.

“Come find me when you’re done, Sky. We’ll go up flying again,” said Charlie.

“Ok!” replied Sky.

Tee showed Sky the control panel, radar system, and all the other equipment that she used every day.

“I keep my eyes on the skies to make sure it’s safe to fly,” said Tee.

“This job looks like a lot of fun. So, what do we do here?” Sky asked.

“So, as you know, we live on an island,” said Tee. “Every Wednesday, we fly to the mainland to pick up food, supplies, and medicine for the animals that live here. They depend on us for survival.”

“I understand.”

“It’s a very important job, but it can a lot of fun sometimes too,” Tee replied.

When Sky was done, she left the tower. She went to Charlie’s hangar, where Charlie was seated at his desk. He pulled out a thick flight manual and gave it to Sky.

“Here,” said Charlie. “Read this. This is everything you’ll need to know for your pilot’s license test.” It was so heavy that Sky had a hard time holding it.

“Wow. This is a lot,” replied Sky.

“Don’t worry,” Charlie said. “I will help you. What’s in the book is good information, but I have always found that I learn better by hands-on learning. If you’re ready to go up, I’ll let you take the controls for a bit.”

Sky hopped up into the back seat of Charlie’s plane, got buckled, and put her goggles on.

“I’m ready!” said Sky.

“Let’s go have some fun,” said Charlie, as they taxied out onto the runway. When the plane took off, Sky felt a rush of excitement. After a while, he let her take control. She was a little shaky at first, but she quickly got the hang of flying.

In the months that followed, Sky worked on the planes with Buck and learned more about air traffic control from Tee during the day. She then studied her manual at night. Charlie took her up flying a lot, and eventually, she got to the point where she didn’t need his help at all. In time, she got her pilot’s license. Charlie then retired shortly afterwards and left the job of flying up to her. He even gave her his favorite airplane.

Sky never lost that rush of excitement when she took off. This was the life for her, and she loved every minute of it.