No Shame

Valeria was alone. No one was here to see if she turned back. She flipped the switch on her sky skiff. The sail extended with a whoosh as the base lit up.  The familiar hum told her everything was working fine. She had done a good job rebuilding it.

She could power it off now. She could loan it to another rider so they could make the flight down the mountain and scavenge food or old tech from the cloud covered valleys below. Plenty of potential riders recently passed the qualifying tests, just as Valeria once did.

“There’s no shame in being a shaper,” Marco had said in a tone designed to needle her. But he had a point. Without shapers, there’d be no sky craft, and no way of getting the things they desperately needed. The other shapers also had been nothing but kind to her. It helped that Valeria had become quite skilled at building and fixing skiffs.

“There’s no shame in falling,” the head shaper had said. And that was true too. Better and more experienced riders had fallen during the sudden storms that popped out over the valley. A better one had the last time Valeria had gone wind-riding.

At that thought, the tears came again, just as Valeria knew they would. There’s no shame in tears, Marisol would have said.  

Valeria looked out at the sky around her, clothed in the purples and pinks of dawn. There was no pride in keeping from doing something you loved either. Marisol never let anything or anyone keep her away from the thrill of the sky.  

She could continue with the shapers. Valeria had made a place among them. But there was nothing to say a shaper couldn’t be a rider too.

Valeria wiped her eyes to get a clear look at the sky she adored. She felt the anticipation of being in the air eat the last bit of her fear and most of her sadness. In one quick move, Valeria got on the skiff and pushed off from the mountain. And then she flew.

Photo by Cody Board on Unsplash

Song Choice: Back from the Dead by Halestorm

Liner Notes for This Groove: This piece of flash fiction was created for the Weekly Scribblings prompt at Poets and Storytellers United, The Last Time.

35 comments:

  1. Oh, how wonderful to have a sky skiff! To shape it and then ride it!

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  2. Nice one, there is the smell of adventure here

    (✿◠‿◠)

    much love...

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  3. Great story. There's no shame in flying either.

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  4. There's no shame in always trying and striving!

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  5. Great piece of flash fiction. Wouldn't we all like to have a sky skiff!

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    1. I imagine the breeze would feel good up there.

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  6. No Shame

    Valeria was alone. No one was here to see if she turned back. She flipped the switch on her sky skiff. The sail extended with a whoosh as the base lit up.  The familiar hum told her everything was working fine. She had done a good job rebuilding it.

    She could power it off now. She could loan it to another rider so they could make the flight down the mountain and scavenge food or old tech from the cloud covered valleys below. Plenty of potential riders recently passed the qualifying tests, just as Valeria once did.

    “There’s no shame in being a shaper,” Marco had said in a tone designed to needle her. But he had a point. Without shapers, there’d be no sky craft, and no way of getting the things they desperately needed. The other shapers also had been nothing but kind to her. It helped that Valeria had become quite skilled at building and fixing skiffs.

    “There’s no shame in falling” were words I first heard from my dad. He added, :everyone falls now and then. Don't they."

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    1. Glad that it brought back good memories for you.

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  7. I couldn't agree more. Being one thing doesn't mean that we can't be another. On the contrary, having accomplished the first means that a second, a third... is very possible.

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  8. I find your story so multilayered. I’m reading it for the second time, and I’m left with or take something of a deeper meaning. There’s no shame indeed in falling, crying and to keep it on striving.

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    1. Squee! Then I did my job well when I wrote it.

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  9. very well written. i know this is flash fiction, but it feels like it could belong to something bigger... enjoyed the read!

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    1. LOL, I have that same feeling. It happens sometimes with my flash fictions pieces. But I need to get the rough draft of my novel polished up a bit more before I start a new long project.

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  10. Great story! i like the sci-fi feel to it. i can imagine it been the start of a novel. :)

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    1. I definitely wanted a sci-fi feel (post apocalypse where some kind of magic re-enters the world)

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  11. You had me at 'she flipped the switch on her sky skiff.'

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  12. The word "shaper" in any connotation is a magical word, I believe! Great writing!!!

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    1. I really think I may want to try to expand this story bit out and see where that word takes me.

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