"You Can Fly Now, Too?"

Maybe being unable to fly is a good thing.

Sounds stupid, I know. "Who is this guy? Maybe everyone doesn't wanna fly!" you might be saying to yourself. Come on, now. You know you want to. It's the most common superpower people say they could have if they could have but one. So, we are going to delve a little deeper into the matter and discuss more than what a lot of people think about.

So, now you can fly. Wait! No, you can't just yet. First, you have to pick a method: mysteriously flung through the air like Superman or with big, majestic wings. Those are the most common conceptions of how it would be done. So, now you can fly. But it ain't as easy as that, not quite yet. You can fly, yes, but now you have to ask yourself where you want to go first. You decide somewhere close, put some effort into it, and lift off the ground, just to fall back onto it shortly afterward. So, even though you can fly, you can't fly. Sad, huh?

Practicing would take a long time, maybe weeks or months for decent flight, but determination and a few bruises finally got you up in the air. "Hot Damn," you say. "Where to go, where to go?" Well, for the sake of the point being made, let's say... Fiji. Not a bad choice, right? So, off to the great island it is. OH! I almost forgot: this will be a long trip. And the thing about flying is that it would have to take up some energy, some amount of fuel. Now, before this long flight, you have to decide where the "layovers" will be. You just can't fly straight there. It's too long a trip. You would need massive amounts of carbohydrates and Calories just to make it to the layover spots. Then, you drop down, put up with the publicity, find your way to another massive meal, and go along your way again. So now, you're at the coast of California. A long, tiring trip so far, but Fiji awaits!
Cool it for a second, because this is where things get difficult. You're about to leave the country, something you've never done before. Then, you see the entire Pacific ahead of you. You have to ensure you have enough food to last the journey, but you can't really carry a lot because it defeats the point of energy conservation by traveling lightly. A big meal in you, now you're ready to go burn it off over the Pacific Ocean to get to your dream island.

Along the way, over the ocean, you notice all the water around you. Everywhere you look, no land. "What if I get too tired?" "What if I pass out from being exhausted or too weak to finish the flight?" There are a lot of things you'd be thinking as you began to get so, so sleepy due to the hours-long flight. You are not on a course that runs by Hawaii, so no pit-stops there, not today. Almost out of fuel, you quickly begin to crash and you realize that you may not make it. Suddenly, however, you see it! A Fijian flag flying in a port-town. You made it! So close to landing in the vast Pacific, yet you made it! But you pass out upon landing.

Since you've never been outside the US before, you wake up in handcuffs. You did not get a passport before leaving, and are there illegally. Not only that, as it turns out, you've violated the International AirSpace of numerous nations, all of which thought you to be a threat. Also, you've violated Commercial AirSpace, and upon your deportation back here, are summoned to a court of law, being sued by multiple airlines for the violation.

So, would flying be such a good thing if you were the only one capable of it? Bad, no. But it seems it would be worth the trouble it takes to book a flight than to do it yourself sometimes.

-rcw