The Sky is the Limit: Part One

     Immediately, Harry lost his breath as he began to plummet with incredible speed towards the ground. Searching frantically for the parachute ripcord, he found it and pulled it, releasing the giant parachute. He let out a sigh of relief as he floated calmly through the remaining 5 feet. Steering for the ear of a Doglefox, he finished his landing, right on target.

     The Mootix let out another sigh, and smiled widely. "First mission, a big success," he muttered aloud. "That wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe I should take up skydiving as a hobby," he thought.

     Onlookers, who had gathered at the sight of a skydiver, began to cheer and whistle, and Harry made his way proudly off the itching Doglefox's back to greet them.

     "Hey! Hey you, skydiver!" called out the voice of a Moach.

     Harry turned around, searching for the voice that had spoken. "Yes?"

     "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen... the way you jumped, the way you steered to the Doglefox, the way you landed... you must be a pro!" the Moach said excitedly.

     "Well actually, I..." the Mootix started.

     "Yes, I'm sure you do," the Moach interrupted. "Would you be interested in teaching a skydiving class? My old instructor just retired last week and I have nobody to teach the students for this next six week course. You, my boy, would be an excellent teacher. Did I mention I pay well?"

     Harry choked. "But that was my first..."

     "Wonderful! You'll start in one week then, aye? See you then!" the Moach said, handing the bewildered Harry a card and walking off waving.

     The Mootix made his way through the rest of the crowd and sat down on a piece of gravel off the edge of the sidewalk. He sighed, and this time it was no sigh of relief.

     He took out the card the Moach had given him and read it to himself. "Professor Anthony Sky Jr.," he read, rolling his eyes. "What a big name for a small petpetpet. How am I supposed to teach his dumb skydiving class anyway, if I've only ever done it once myself? It's not like he asked if I WANTED to in the first place."

     "Hey Harry, what's up?" came a small squeaky voice. It was Tila, a Cooty, Harry's friend who had flown the plane for him.

     "Oh... hey Tila. Apparently, I'm teaching a skydiving class next Monday," he replied unhappily.

     Tila burst out laughing. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard! You're such a joker Harry!" she giggled out, trying to retain even more laughter.

     Frowning and glaring at Tila, he responded angrily, "For your information, I'm not joking. It's the absolute truth."

     Immediately, she stopped laughing and looked at him, searching his face for any sign that he might possibly be kidding. Finding none, she sighed. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to take you on a few more flights before then. After all, we can't be letting you make a fool of yourself," she said.

     "Right. Thanks Tila," Harry smiled.

     "You're welcome. What are friends for," the Cooty winked.

***

The next day, Harry was awakened by a loud rap on his door. He stumbled out of bed, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and made his way to the door. He opened it and groaned.

     "Harry, you ready?" greeted the happy voice of Tila.

     Without a word, the Mootix rudely shut the door and crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over his head. "It's just a nightmare. All of it," he muttered, blocking out the screaming of his frenzied friend.

     Outside, Tila furiously pounded on the locked door, her small Cooty face turning a violently bright shade of red. "Harry, you let me in there right now! You WILL practice skydiving today if I have to come in and DRAG you out of bed!" She got no response.

     "Ooooh Harry, you asked for it," she fumed, loud enough for him to hear her. Walking around to the window, she struggled to open it, and finally, with much effort, succeeded in doing so. She climbed in the small window and tripped over the cluttered floor. "Hmph. You really don't know how to keep your floor clean, do you?" she grumbled to nobody in particular.

     Standing over the Mootix's bed, she smirked. "Harry, don't make me drag you out of this house, do you hear me?"

     A moan came from under the covers. "I don't want to come out. Ever. Let's just forget any of this every happened. Good night."

     Tila sighed and rolled her eyes. "OK, you made me do this..." she said, grabbing Harry by his feet and pulling him out of bed.

     He fell with a clump to the floor. "Ouch! Alright already, I'm up," he said, glaring and standing up, brushing himself off.

     The Cooty giggled. "Come on, let's go! We've got a big day ahead of us!"

     "Yeah... and it involves running away from Tila so I don't have to practice skydiving," he murmured under his breath. He took off sprinting out the door, leaving her staring after him.

     "I heard that," she laughed, chasing outside after Harry as fast as her Cooty legs could carry her.

***

Inside the small toy airplane, Harry sat nervously as Tila took off. After a few minutes, they were flying high in the sky, and it was time for the poor Mootix to jump once again.

     This time, he was determined to keep his eyes open. He took a big breath and winced as he looked out of the plane. Finally, he sat down on the edge of the plane, and scooted forward a bit, and was once again in the air. He fell fast, but this time he wasn't as frightened as he had been before.

     His parachute opened, and he carefully glided to the ground, aiming for no particular target. He landed a little hard, but got up and smiled to himself. "I CAN do it," he said. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Just need to work on these landings... and possibly learn a few tricks."

     Tila skilfully landed her airplane next to him and hopped out. "See? That was great. You'll definitely be ready to teach by Monday. I don't know why you're so worried about it."

     The Mootix smiled. "I'm not worried anymore. But I still should practice. Would you be willing to help me every day until Monday?"

     "Of course! See you tomorrow then!" Tila said, hopping back in her plane and taking off.

***

Tila frowned and looked at her watch as she stood in a small field by her plane. "He should be here by now," she muttered. She glanced up, and saw her friend running towards her, and she plastered a weary smile on her face.

     "Sorry I'm late," he panted when he reached her.

     "Hehe, I thought I'd have to drag you out of your bed again," she scoffed.

     Ignoring her comment, Harry climbed into the plane, Tila right after him, and they took off.

***

On Sunday, the Mootix stood in the plane once again, waiting until they were high enough for him to jump. After a few minutes, Harry took a deep breath and jumped. He was quite used to this by now, and gladly let the air whip past him. He even attempted a few simple tricks in the air, and managed to perform them quite well.

     When it was time to release the parachute, however, the ripcord would not pull loose. Panicking, Harry searched desperately for a way to release the parachute, and realized that a few ropes were tangled. He was nearing a pond, and when he was only a foot or two away from hitting it, he finally pulled it loose, and the parachute came out just in time to break his fall.

     When he hit the water, Harry spluttered and struggled to swim to the pond bank, getting tangled in the ropes of the parachute. Quickly, he used his sharp teeth to gnaw through the ropes, freeing himself of the parachute.

     Finally, after what seemed like hours, he made it to the shore and collapsed, inhaling hard. He looked at the pond behind him and saw the parachute beginning to sink.

     Tila ran up to him. "Harry, are you all right?" she said, hoping her friend's fall had not been too serious.

     He replied, coughing, "Yeah... Tila, I'm never doing that again. I..."

     "Shhh, it's okay. You don't have to. Let's get you home to rest," she said softly. "You can go tomorrow and inform Professor whoever-he-is that you're not going to teach his class for him."

     Harry struggled to stand up as Tila helped support him. Together, they walked to Tila's plane, and she flew him home, where she tended to his few cuts and bruises and made him some hot soup, advising him to sleep extra that night, so that he would be ready to talk to the Moach the next day.

To be continued...