The day they were to leave, Daedalus lectured Icarus one last time, “Now son, remember, you must be cautious when we fly.  Fly too close to the ocean and your wings will become too heavy with the water that sprays off the waves.  Fly too close to the sun and the wax will melt and you will lose feathers.  Follow my path closely and you’ll be fine.”

Icarus nodded and excitedly slid his arms into the harness.  He listened absently as his father explained how to open the wings wide to catch the air currents and how to use the pulleys to steer.  With an eager hug good luck Daedalus and Icarus stepped into the entrance of the cave overlooking the sea, spread their wings as wide as they would go and leaped, one after the other, out over the ocean.

As if it had been waiting for him, the wind caught Icarus’ wings almost immediately and up he soared.

Oh, what freedom!  Icarus threw his head back and laughed as the startled seagulls dodged away from him and then swooped back squawking warnings when he steered too close to the nesting cliffs.

Daedalus shouted to his son to be careful, stop playing with the birds and follow him toward the shore of an island in the distance.  But Icarus was having too much fun – he was tired of always following his father, always listening to his endless lectures and Icarus was thrilled with his sudden freedom.

He watched the seagulls rise on the air currents high up over the sea and thought to himself, “Careful, bah.  The birds aren’t careful, they’re happy – they’re free! Oh, what a glorious adventure this is.  The sun is so warm and the breeze tugs at my wings as if even the wind is happy I’m finally loose.  I can’t believe I’ve been missing this for all these years trapped in that cold, damp cave.”  And with that he followed the seagulls up and up and UP into the sky.

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