The Parachute

The parachute loved his job. How could he not love it? He'd get to see the sky, he'd get to travel and he saved people's lives. A lot of people prayed that he would do his job well and the parachute couldn't simply just let them down. He was looking eagerly to perform at his best. Sometimes the machine which set him free jammed but he would kick and push and break free in the joy of the person who was flying with him.

But one day in one check up the usually smiling handyman got up from him with a nervous face. He told to his colleague that the parachute was getting old and they should throw him out before he rips.

The parachute was outraged: "Too old?!". He felt he was still strong and could prove it to the man. Suddenly a huge blast of wind swooped through the window. It made the parachute get up from the table. He looked like a flying expression of anger and disappointment. So much time serving these people and they were ready to throw him out like a piece of trash? Outrage!

The handyman tried to stop the parachute, but it was too late. The blast of wind made him fly. The parachute figured if he's not appreciated here, he will fly away and find someone who does. He got through the window into his freedom. He flew over the lands he knew so well - so many times he landed there.

He looked up to the sky and sighed - no more he could see those heights. He had to be close to the ground now. He kept flying, but the wind was not so giving. After a few hours it stopped blowing and the parachute got stuck under a tree. As if that wasn't enough, after a few minutes it started raining as well. Well, at least he was under the tree, so he wasn't getting that wet as he could have been.

Just as those thoughts passed his mind, a blast of wind pushed him from under the tree and into the cold rain. The thing that the parachute was most afraid, happened: as he was pulled away, he tore himself with a branch. The wind twirled him in the rain and the parachute didn't even resist. Why bother? He was old and worthless like the handyman said.

A fence appeared in his path and that's where the wind left him. The parachute stayed there until the night and the until the morning. When the sun dried him off he heard voices next to him. There were two boys examining him with magnifying glasses. He saw them see his tear and figured they will throw him away as they started taking him off the fence.

But the boys ran with him to their mother who after a close examination smiled and sew the parachute up. When she returned it to the boys they were smiling so wide and the parachute was puzzled. Did he find his new purpose? Is he still able to make people happy despite his old age and tears?

The boys ran outside again and the parachute saw an unfinished tree house - it was lacking a roof. The boys stretched the parachute diagonally, so that it would cover them from rain and wind, but also that water wouldn't tear it.

The parachute couldn't believe it. He was making people happy again. The boys trusted him and he could see their most secret project happening and being planned under him. But the thing he was most happy about, he could still see the sky he loved so much.