Ataraxia

There was a boy who was infatuated with the idea of flight.

He would watch as the birds soar across the sky as if they had no worries at all. To him, it seemed like a dream and only in those dreams, did he ever know what it felt like to fly.

Eventually, the boy did grow up to be strong and full of ideas, in his mind there was nothing he couldn't accomplish or couldn't do.

His name was Icarus.

As Icarus grew up, it was impossible to not notice him. Everything he chose to do brought attention. Even if you tried, Icarus was not somebody that you could ignore.

What made the boy stand out was his intelligence. His ability to come up with ideas never heard of or thought of before.

His intelligence is why his father loved him so much even if the boy would constantly disobey his orders.

Daedalus was the father of Icarus, a famous craftsman who created the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth was situated underneath the court of King Minos of Crete.

There was a dark secret that was locked inside the Labyrinth. In order to make sure that it stayed a secret, King Minos captures the father and the son in a tower above his home.

Daedalus and Icarus never would have expected their King to imprison them because of a horrible secret that was accidentally exposed to them.

When Daedalus was creating the labyrinth, no where in his intentions was he intending to find what was hidden. However fate had other plans that led them into uncovering the secret of Minotaur; a half-man and half-bull creature that was lurking inside the maze.

Finding the discovery of the Minotaur was greatly disturbing. As they were creating the Labyrinth, they encountered the creature that towered over six feet tall.

Now don't be mistaken, Daedalus knew exactly what he was building the labyrinth for. But once he and his son actually met the creature eye-to-eye, the reaction on both sides was equally unpleasant.

The minotaur was the son of a white bull that was sent by Poseidon and Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos. The offspring was monstrous and for being ashamed of the way it looked, King Minos banished it into the Labyrinth once it was finished being created.

In order to make sure that the existence of the Minotaur stays hidden, King Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son in a tower above his palace.

After a short period of time, Icarus conjured up the perfect escape plan. Sure, in his mind he knew that it was kind of impossible to go through with it. But at this point, they needed to take any and every chance they could unless they wanted to stay in the tower for the rest of their lives.

Confronting his father who began to overcome himself with the anxious and paranoid thoughts, he revealed his plan of escape. In that moment, Icarus could see that his father recovered his hope. They finally had a chance at escaping the dark and gloomy tower.

For weeks, the father and son managed to collect bundles of fallen bird wings. Daedalus was constantly watching and waiting for the birds, he was determined to get the both of them out of the tower at any cost.

As days passed, Icarus watched as his father would gather the wings and bring them over to his makeshift station to work on. An the beginning of the plan Icarus was unsure if his father would be able to finish their plan, but now seeing his father run around the small enclosed area gathering materials, without a doubt he knew that they would be seeing the outside once again.

King Minos at times would come up to make sure they were still there, and that they knew there was no way for them to escape. When he would come, Icarus made sure that their plan of escaping was hidden. If King Minos were to ever find out, Icarus knew that instead of keeping them imprisoned, he would 'dispose' of them.

The visits of King Minos were never expected which is why they set the station up in a dark corner hidden away from prying eyes. Daedalus would distract the King and his guards, while Icarus snuck away to make sure that the station was cleaned up and hidden.

Every time this happened, it set them back of time that was necessary for them. It annoyed the duo greatly, but at the end of the day there was nothing they could do about it yet.

The creation of the wings was almost to be finished. All they needed was a few more wings and some wax and it would be completed. Icarus couldn't believe it, his dream of taking flight will escape the cages of being just a dream and instead make itself a reality.

His father constantly warned him. If he flew to high, the wax would burn and the wings would be useless. And if he flew to low and fell into the sea, the wings would once again be useless. The warnings of his father went through one ear and out the other. The boy was excited to just be able to fly.

Since he was a child, he admired the birds and how they could just fly away from anything and everything without a care in the world. Now that he finally has a chance for that to come true, he didn't want to let anything lower his spirits.

But maybe he should have listened to his father.

The long awaited time finally came and so with the wings that were fastened with candle wax and melted onto their backs, they took flight.

The dream that he had since he was a child, was finally fulfilled. And it was everything he ever dreamed it to be. Icarus was on ecstasy and because of that, it dared him to go higher.

And so he did.

His fathers protest no longer reached his ears and everything turned silent. But as the story of Icarus goes, he flew to high and without knowing it, the wax slowly burned off the wings.

The story doesn't depict what really happened.

As Icarus flew higher, he felt the wax burning and trailing down his back. But he didn't care in the slightest bit. And so he threw his head back and laughed maniacally as the sun shined on his face.

Soon, he was silenced. The boy was engulfed by the sea. And the sea was given a gift from the skies.

The gift of Icarus, The boy who flew too high.