Flight of Fantasy

By Jim Blickenstaff and Heidi D. Legat

A young boy befriends the mythical bird of legion and lore the Phoenix. His life is about to change forever. For, soon he will embark on a journey to places and feelings he had never experienced before, or since. In a gentle but profound way, Flight of Fantasy reveals the inspiring story of discovery, friendship, pure love, courage, and humor all merging together to lift David beyond his earthly bounds.

Praise for Flight of Fantasy from an Elementary School Teacher, and former students:

This Book has been the #1 favorite of my 3rd and 5th Grade Students for many years!! From this story, my students discover that pure love and friendship are the best gifts of all!!

-- Teacher, Joyce Carr

What a fantastic story! Its a heartwarming story about the enduring power of friendship.

- Former Student, Beth Ballart

This book is one of the most powerful stories of lifelong love and friendship 20 years later, this is the only story I can remember being truly inspired by.

-- Former Student, Doug Lee

Your book is great! My whole class gave it an A+ Im going to buy two copies (if my mom lets me).

-- 3rd Grade Student, E. Cummins

This is the best book I have heard I could read it over and over, until I memorized it.

-- 3rd Grade Student, M. OToole

Out of all the books our teacher has read to us this year, this was the best. It was very exciting.

- 3rd Grade Student, J. Casey

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781480836433

Jim Blickenstaff

Jim Blickenstaff, born in Eugene Oregon, is a graduate of the University of California at Sacramento. He works for the Postal Service as a letter carrier. A position that allows him time to devote to writing and becoming a civic leader, as well as a leader in the environmental movement. He resides in the San Francisco / Bay Area.

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Copyright © 2016 James P. Blickenstaff.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3642-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3643-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016914916

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/21/2016

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Dedicated to Butch and Diane,

and the loving memories left in their wake

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

PROLOGUE You Can’t Go Home Again

CHAPTER 1 A Long Time Ago

CHAPTER 2 Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again

CHAPTER 3 Fear of Flying

CHAPTER 4 Islands in the Desert

CHAPTER 5 Penguin Society

CHAPTER 6 The Loch Shiel Monster

CHAPTER 7 A Grand Tour

CHAPTER 8 Fantasy Land

CHAPTER 9 Good-bye, Dear Friend.

EPILOGUE Reflections

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I would first like to express a debt of gratitude to Edward Ormondroyd, who authored the original inspiration for this story some fifty eight years ago.

I’ve attempted with this tale of childhood fantasy and adventure to expound upon the essential attributes of a pure and loving friendship: devotion, courage, humor, honesty, respect, and selflessness. Taking what is best from other childhood relationships, like those between two boyhood best friends, a boy and his grandfather, a boy and his dog, and a son and his father, I’ve mixed with this the sense of wonder associated with a fantasy character profoundly unique and magical.

In this endeavor, I hope I’ve been able to both entice and fascinate the young mind, while at the same time instilling the importance of strong values to lasting relationships—and to life itself.

PROLOGUE

You Can’t Go Home Again

DAVID WAS SURPRISED by how quickly he had arrived at his destination. Of course, having the use of a Land Rover this time around certainly made a difference. Still, the last mile and a half to the ledge had required a strenuous climb on foot, and it had left him thoroughly exhausted.

After a couple of minutes, David went back to the edge. What a view! All the stark and primitive beauty of the Egyptian landscape, including a good part of the Red Sea, stretched out before him. So little had changed—and yet he could not shake the sense of being a stranger in a foreign land. The emotions that began to engulf him were so confusing. The sadness he had expected was so subdued and melancholy, but the feelings of emptiness, and loneliness—how overpowering they were! A phrase he’d once heard, You can’t go home again, passed through his mind, and for the first time he understood its meaning.

Wandering back from the edge, David began a careful search of the ground. Perhaps if he could just find something tangible, some little remnant that might reassure him about his past, maybe even connect him with it … And then, surprisingly, there it was! Ashes scattered among some dirt and rocks. But more than that—half-buried in the debris, a single broken and faded burgundy feather.

So very carefully, almost fearfully, he picked it up and slowly stroked off the ash and dust. As he did so, he found himself transfixed by the feather. Its hypnotic effect was stronger than he was prepared for—calling him back, deep into distant childhood memories. It was yesterday again …

CHAPTER 1

A Long Time Ago

DAVID OFTEN WONDERED, What’s the big deal, about being able to travel all over the world? He had not found it to be such a fun thing. Of course, his point of view was hardly ideal.

Life was so different, so much more difficult, since his father had died, back when he was just six years old. There was such sadness and confusion, and it felt as if it would last forever. But, it didn’t last forever, and the feelings did finally begin to ease. Then one day David saw his mom smile! The first time he could recall she’d done that since Dad died. He couldn’t have known it then, but his mom had fallen in love again. It was around this same time that David met Vince, his soon-to-be-stepfather.

Vince (Vincent J. Orowitts) was a nice enough guy. And David was in his own way relieved a void had been filled—at least as far as his mom was concerned. But the new family wasn’t the same as the old one. In fact, with all the moving to different parts of the world, because of Vince’s job as a wildcatter in oil exploration, life, for David, had become a series of upsetting disruptions.

Naturally, this wasn’t at all the case for his little sister, Melissa. She had such an absurdly happy face attitude about almost everything. It made David wonder if she ever checked in with the real world at all. "Wow … way out … isn’t that neat …! Really, it was enough to make a guy want to puke, sometimes. But since she was only seven years old, David tried his best to give her some slack. After all, with little else to compare it to, everything could actually be normal for her.

In spite of the dusty road and barren landscape, David was really keeping his hopes up that this trip would be kind of special. Vince had promised an oasis-like ridge of mountains near their final destination; Little Quseir, a collection of trailers and temporary buildings a short distance south from the Egyptian city of Quseir. And to top it off, there was the Red Sea (which was actually dark blue). It was supposed to have a number of nice little enclaves just right for fishing and swimming.

But for some reason, the mountains fascinated David the most. Vince had told him how the area was often referred to in mythical Egyptian history, which added an air of mystery, and made David even more impatient to start exploring. The mountains seemed like just the place to burn off lots of (youthful) nervous energy and to get away from it all.

The family pulled into Little Quseir just before dusk. The size of the place surprised David, as did the Americanized feel to it. From what he could tell, there was a grocery store (trailer)—with a post office, a gas station, and even, it appeared, a movie house, which would have been nice except for the fact that it was right next to the school! David had forgotten about that, which was understandable since he had only two