The Sky is the Limit: Part Two

Harry slept soundly until morning. He got up with a few aches and bruises, and got ready to give the news to the Moach.

     On the same field that he had landed on the Doglefox the first time, the professor and his class sat in a circle, waiting for Harry.

     The Moach stood up when he saw Harry approaching. "Hey there! I was afraid you wouldn't show up, as my follow-up is quite poor. My class is very excited to watch you perform your amazing stunts and learn from the best of the best."

     "Uhh, right... Anthony?" Harry said, scratching his neck.

     "Call me Tony. And you?" he laughed. "Forgive me, in all the excitement of last week, I didn't even catch your name."

     "Harry. I'm Harry."

     "Marvelous. Well, shall we get started then?" Anthony asked excitedly, turning to his students.

     "Well, actually... I, uh, can't teach... I'm, erm..." the Mootix said uncertainly.

     "What's that my boy? Nonsense! Well, what are we waiting for? You've got a class to teach! Get in that airplane and show them what you can do!"

     "Right. Of course," Harry said, defeated. It would be impossible to convince this headstrong Moach that he couldn't and wouldn't teach. He walked over to the airplane and climbed in, determined to successfully teach the class what little he knew.

     Harry faced his new students from Anthony's plane. Not really sure what to say, and not wanting to sound too strict or important, he just started to speak. "Today I'll show you how to skydive," he said, matter-of-factly.

     The students looked at him, with blank expressions on their faces. One small Vernax called out smartly, "We already KNEW you were going to teach us how to skydive. That's why we're here. Duh."

     "Erm, right. Well, I meant, I'm just going to show you the basics today. We're not actually going to SKYDIVE. I'm just going to teach you how to use the equipment today, and next lesson I'll show you more. We have to go in small, easy-to-learn steps. After all, you can't learn how to skydive in one week, can you?" The Mootix frowned at his last sentence.

     Harry started to show the students of different parts worked, and would quiz them every so often to see if they were understanding everything, although he himself didn't know fully what he was talking about.

     "Now, what does the ripcord do?" he asked, calling on a Lady Blurg that raised her hand.

     "It's what you pull to release the parachute. And if you can't pull it in time, you'll hit the ground and get hurt," she grinned.

     "Uhh, yeah. So you want to make sure, BEFORE you dive, that everything is in order and nothing is tangled... otherwise you could fall into a pond," he said.

     Again, the class stared blankly at him.

     "Never mind. Anyway, let's continue," he said quickly, continuing to get everyone familiar with everything.

     Anthony was impressed with his new instructor, although he could be a bit odd at times. He smiled fondly as the Mootix taught the class.

     "Now, I know that nobody likes homework, but I want everyone to make a graph of a parachute and how the parts work. I want you to learn it well, otherwise you won't be able to continue and do well in the class. And we all know that the number one priority in this class is safety," Harry instructed, handing the students a sheet with some information on it.

     When the class was over, and the students had left, Harry started packing up the equipment. When he had finished, he turned to leave.

     "Harry, that was incredible. I've never seen anyone teach so well before. How many years have you been teaching?" Anthony said, amazed.

     "Well, actually, this was my first time ever teaching..." replied the Mootix, shrugging.

     "Well you did wonderful nonetheless. I'll see you next Monday!"

     "Yeah. Next Monday. See you then," Harry said, smiling weakly.

     ***

"WHAT?!" Harry cried, shoving a thick book at Tila. "I'm NOT reading that thing! It's 1583 pages long, not counting all the indexes and--"

     "Harry, be QUIET!" Tila snapped, forcing him to take it back. "You're going to read this manual. I don't care how boring it is, or how long it takes, as long as you're done by next Monday. You NEED to know what you're teaching this class. The last thing you need is a repeat of the pond incident."

     Harry slumped down against the wall. "Do you seriously think that I'm going to relive that? Am I really stupid enough to jump again without checking and rechecking all the ropes, levers, buttons, and so forth? I don't think so! So you know what? Take your silly little book back, and let me teach my own class!"

     "Harry, you're impossible. Fine, crash into another pond, see if I care. All I know is that you can't teach other people what you don't know yourself," Tila said indignantly, tossing her head back and stomping out the door, taking great care to slam it as hard as she possibly could.

     "Ooooh, you're so impossible Harry. You can't teach a bunch of students how to skydive, even though you've done it thousands of times yourself. Oh Harry, you're so immature," the Mootix mimicked, rolling his eyes. "I'll show her AND her absurd little manual how it's done."

     He frowned, seeing that Tila had dropped the thick book before leaving. He angrily shoved it under his bookshelf.

     ***

All that week, Harry would think about various skydiving tricks he had learned. But thinking was as far as he got. He couldn't put them into practice without a plane, and without a Tila, there was no plane.

     When Monday finally rolled around, the Mootix was no better off knowledge or skill-wise than he was the week before, possibly worse, as he had not gotten a chance to practice for over a week.

     Again, Harry, Anthony, and the small class of students sat in the small park next to Anthony's plane.

     "Now, did everyone complete their graph of the parachute?" Harry questioned, walking from student to student, collecting their papers. He came upon a certain young Vernax, only to find out that he had not completed, or even started the chart yet.

     "Where is it, Darren?" the Mootix asked patiently.

     "I didn't do it," the mischievous petpetpet replied. "I just didn't feel like it."

     Harry sighed, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. "Listen, I need to see it by next class, or you won't be able to skydive with the rest of us. You should take this very seriously, as skydiving is a very dangerous sport. Understood?"

     "Yeah," smirked Darren. "I'll have it done."

     "Good," Harry said sternly, turning to the whole class. "Now, today we'll do a little bit of review, then I'll do a quick demonstration for you, so you can see exactly how it's done before next week."

     After a few moments of review, Anthony got the plane ready, and Harry began preparing for another jump. When ready, he hopped into the plane and they took off for a demonstration jump.

     Within a few minutes, they were flying high in the sky, and the Mootix adjusted his gear one last time. Just as he was about to jump out of the plane, Darren jumped up and hurdled himself at Harry with just enough force to knock him straight out of the door of the plane.

     Screaming frantically and trying to regain his composure in midair, Harry glared back up at the troublemaker, who was getting smaller and smaller. Finally, he managed to sustain a fair position until he was close enough to the ground to release the parachute and float to safety.

     When he landed, the class cheered. "That was great!" one student complimented.

     "Thanks," Harry smiled, glad to be safe on the ground.

     The plane landed, and Darren scurried out, trying not to be noticed. Unfortunately for him, Harry noticed his attempted escape and stopped him.

     "Do you know what you could've done?" he asked irately. "If I hadn't managed to recover within a few seconds, I could've plummeted to the ground. This is the only chance you get. I'm warning you, if anything like this happens EVER again, you will not have the honor of attending this class again."

     "Yeah, whatever. I was just playing around," he retorted.

     The Mootix could hardly harness his anger towards the rebellious Vernax as he dismissed the class.

     Anthony emerged from his plane just in time to see Darren stomping off, and the rest of the class leaving. "I couldn't help but notice the rivalry. What was going on?"

     "Oh, nothing. I just had a little talk with one of the more outgoing students," Harry replied.

     The Moach raised a skeptical eyebrow. "That's it? Very well then, I suppose I shall leave you to your own business, eh? See you next week then lad," Anthony said, turning to pack his supplies.

     As Harry walked home, a cascade of water unexpectedly started pouring from the quickly forming dark clouds, and he desperately wished for Tila's plane right about then. Pulling his jacket hood up, he hoped with all his heart that he would have no more trouble from Darren. But little did he know that the trouble had only begun.

To be continued...