Flying

My small family of two children and I lived in a forest area in the middle of a valley called ‘Slanghoek’ or ‘Snakecorner’. It was wine-growing region, so the forest, which consisted of big oak trees was not 'very big'. We lived in a huge house with many bedrooms and lived alongside many creatures; the bees in the roof, the frogs during the rainy season, the crickets, the spiders and of course small harmless snakes.  Even an occasional duck would find his way in through our wide-open back door.  Our big dog Bully would eat as many of these creatures as he could, chasing after them with glee. He would try hold them between his paws and then nibble at them, breaking them off limb by limb, torturing them as he went along.   The smaller creatures frustrated him because just couldn’t get a good grip on them.
At this time, my eldest Mary Jayne was seven-years-of-age.  She had long blond hair that always shined in the sunlight, creating a halo around her. She loved to dream and would often play ‘pretend’.  She pretended she was a princess and that her knight-in-shining-armor would rescue her; especially from her pesky five-year-old brother Andrew.  Because she hated the creatures and found them all ‘SO DISGUSTING’, Andrew would chase her around all day, small creature in hand. Daily life often consisted of Mary Jayne running for her life in front, Andrew close on her heels behind her dangling some poor creature, and Bully running behind them, licking his lips at the treat.
The fairy forest behind our house had many treasures and lots of unexpected events happened there.  Like I said before, it was not a very big forest, but it had a river running through it and an old rusted car just sitting there waiting to be played in.  It was said that that car magically appeared around the time we came to stay in that house, but of course we could never prove it, since it was there when we arrived.  The farm children however, all agreed that it was magical and would speak about it in awe and with amazement. They would sit in the car and play ‘feel the magic’.  This game entailed driving the car, pretending they were going down the ‘big road’ so fast they took off into the sky magically flying into the distance.  They could see all the world below them and the mountains.  It was a wonderful game and it lasted for many hours.
One day Mary Jayne,  Andrew and Bully were sitting in the car.  The big green school bus had not brought the farm children home yet and for once they were playing amicably with each other.  Andrew took the steering wheel while Mary Jayne pumped the accelerator harder and harder, faster and faster.  The trees passed by faster and faster.   Their little hearts were beating faster and faster.  The car started shaking. They both shrieked with delight and with a bit of fear.  Up and away they went.  Bully was howling with delight.  His ears pinned back from the wind.
They were flying!  It was so grand up there.  They could see their school, their granddad’s workshop, the vineyards and a huge storm brewing.  They decided to turn back and were just about to land again when they opened their eyes.  You see, the game only worked when you closed your eyes. Mary Jayne and Andrew had opened their eyes a fraction too soon.  The little rusted car came down with a huge bump.  The left hand wheel fell off and went rolling off into the bush.  Suddenly they realized, they had flown!  The parts of the car really had fallen off during the landing.
Of course, when they told me about it I just nodded.  I knew of the magic in the forest. I knew also that my two little children’s imagination could run away from them but it was when the dog started talking about it later, I got worried.  But that is for another chapter.