Empire Of The Clouds
"Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time, we need wages" - T. Pratchett
Way up here, no one should fly. If you took flight…well…
But he flew.
God for the first time he flew! The rush of the wind tousled his greasy hair, uncombed since the flu took his mother after they could not afford a doctor. Afraid he would tumble to the ground so very far down, he gripped the cool metallic scales of his dragon. He had named the dragon John–it seemed a good enough name for a dragon. His mother told him once it was his grandad’s name, the one who lived in the old country far across the sea.
He had never been there. All he knew of the place came from the stories he overheard.
And did they have stories.
Stories of castles, and knights, and snakes, and of course dragons. Those had been his favorite ones. They still were, even when none of the other boys his age had time for them.
There were plenty of sad stories too–they were all here for a reason after all, in this place so very far from a home that was never really his.
But here, amongst the clouds, he gripped John’s scales and darted between towers as knights fought below for the honor of some fair maiden. The sun gleamed off their armor as they crossed swords in a symphony so familiar yet beautiful. It wasn’t so different from the hammering he heard day after day, but against such a glorious backdrop, it was more beautiful than any performance down on Broadway.
They twisted up into the clouds, watching as the warriors below shrank and shrank until they were little more than ants.
PFWWWWWW
PFWWWWWW
And just like that, the ant-sized knights formed back into the denizens of Fifth Avenue.
“Right now. Back to work! Back to work!”
It was so clear and they were so high, he could see all the way out to the Atlantic. They said it was going to be the tallest building in the world when they were done–the mark of a new empire or something.
As he stole a few more minutes of break time looking out over New York, he wondered if the new empire would end up any different than the one his parents left.
“I said back to work everyone! You want to go hungry?”
He sighed. Gripping the cool metallic frame, he scampered back to his gang already attaching another of the behemoth's steel ribs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N:
For L.C. Schäfer's One Dollar Challenge (details below). I was promised that any author's note would be read, and while, like a joke, I think it's bad form to explain a story, I'm taking the opportunity to dive into the inspiration. I'm fascinated by the Empire State Building. To me, it sits exactly at this interesting historical crossroads where the new and old worlds intersected in the liminal space between the World Wars. It was supposed to be a dock for airships for cryin' out loud! There was an image of a very different future cast into its concrete that was dashed away by the coming apocalypse. I thought that setting deepened the conflict within the prompt nicely! Final WC: 406
If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. Want to read more? Below are the best of the very best of my works:
A complete library can be found below:
About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
Keep reading
More stories from Matthew J. Fromm and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Boons and Curses
Before him lay his doom. Exasperated, Imperator Valatious collapsed into his chair. Beyond the hide walls of his tent, the evening air hung disquietingly still. He ran his weathered hands through a grease-stained mane of brown hair, uncut since the campaign began.
By Matthew J. FrommExclusive • about a year ago
How to Check the Oil
Oil, in no small measure, is what makes the world go around. It’s the truth of a modern society. It keeps the parts humming, moving smoothly against each other in a rhythm you can catch just before the sound waves leave the bounds of human range.
By Natalie Wilkinson3 days ago in Fiction
Bruce Lee and The God of War: Kuan Ti
It starts with love.. The Power to the God Of War and Wealth Walk into a Chinese restaurant (even in Oklahoma, USA), a Chinese police station, a kung fu martial arts studio or even a Chinese temple and you often see a red faced warrior holding a heavy quan-do (spear like weapon).
By WILD WAYNE : The Dragon King5 days ago in Chapters
Comments (6)
Wow, Matthew, this is fantastic! As a fantasy fan once you said “dragon” my imagination ran a little wild, so had to rein it in and reread to appreciate the wonderful work you’ve done in this piece!
I like the turn it took, steel dragons and imagination. Clever.
That was pretty cool. Liked it.
The way this started I was confused with dragons and not being able to afford a doctor but as I continued to read, it all made sense. Well done!
That photo always makes me feel a little but sick and a swoop of vertigo! Excellent take 😁
I really enjoyed how you created this idea and took it on a different level. A nice twist to your tale. and that picture is still one of the best taken.