(A Kids’ Science Adventure Story)
Gil Turner had never thought of himself as special. At Hunter College High School in New York City, where many of the kids seemed to be born geniuses or sports champions, he was… well, just Gil.
Not the tallest. Not the fastest. Not the smartest.
Just… average.
He didn’t mind it much—until the teasing began.
Ethan Ward, a boy in his class, made it his personal mission to remind Gil of his “average-ness” every chance he got.
“Careful, Turner,” Ethan would say during gym, “don’t trip over your own shoelaces. Oh wait, you already did.”
The laughter from others stung, but Gil never fought back. He just kept his head down and waited for the day to end.
The Dream That Changed Everything
One chilly October night, something strange happened.
Gil was in bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to his ceiling, when sleep took him somewhere… else.
In his dream, he was on Mars.
But not the dusty, barren Mars from science books. This was a Mars colony with shining glass domes, hovering vehicles, and crimson skies that glowed like a sunset that never ended.
The air felt light. Gil felt light.
Then—he jumped.
And kept going up.
His feet left the red ground, and suddenly, he was flying. Not flapping like a bird, not pushed by a machine—just soaring, arms outstretched, through thin, soft clouds.
He zipped between tall silver towers, looped in the air, and dove just to rise again.
The joy of it made his heart feel like it would burst.
Flying was easy here, as natural as walking.
He was about to land on a glass balcony when—
“Gil! Wake up! You’re going to be late for school!”
His mother’s voice cut through the dream, and the Mars sky vanished.
Gil sat up in bed, the morning sunlight spilling across his room. But something felt different. His body felt… lighter.
The First Flight
School was ordinary that morning—math, English, history—until lunch break. Gil wandered to the far side of the schoolyard, where fewer kids hung around.
Something inside him whispered, Try it.
He bent his knees, pushed off the ground—
—and didn’t come back down.
He hovered, heart pounding, his sneakers a foot above the concrete.
“Uh… Gil?”
He froze.
It was Marcus, a classmate, staring at him wide-eyed. “How are you… walking in the air?”
Gil’s mind raced. “It’s… a trick. Optical illusion,” he said quickly, dropping back to the ground.
Marcus narrowed his eyes but shrugged and walked away.
Inside, Gil was buzzing with excitement.
It wasn’t just a dream—he could really fly.
Into the Clouds
That evening, rain pattered against the windows.
Gil told his mom, “I’m going outside to play in the rain!”
She smiled. “Don’t catch a cold!”
The moment he stepped outside, he ran to the empty park near his street. The rain made the streets empty, the sky thick with gray clouds.
Perfect.
With a leap, he shot upward—past the tree line, past the rooftops—until he was inside the clouds.
The world below blurred into a watercolor painting. The cold mist stung his cheeks, but he laughed so hard he didn’t care.
From that day on, it became a secret routine.
Before dawn, after dark, whenever the sky was empty—Gil flew.
Sometimes high above Central Park. Sometimes just skimming the tops of buildings.
Nobody knew.
The Bully’s Lesson
But then… Ethan pushed too far.
One afternoon in the cafeteria, Ethan “accidentally” knocked Gil’s lunch tray to the floor.
“Oops. Guess the average boy can’t even hold a tray,” he smirked.
Gil’s fists clenched.
For the first time, he didn’t feel powerless.
He had a secret. A superpower.
That night, Gil hatched a plan—not to hurt Ethan, but to teach him a lesson.
The next morning, he waited until Ethan walked home alone after basketball practice.
Gil, hidden behind a building, took off silently into the air.
As Ethan walked past an alley, Gil swooped down and—
“Boo!”
Ethan screamed and stumbled back, looking around wildly.
Gil darted upward again, invisible in the dim sky.
Then, in a whisper from above, “Stop picking on people, Ethan. Or the Sky will be watching.”
Ethan’s eyes went wide, and he ran the rest of the way home.
A Bigger World Awaits
Over the next weeks, Ethan stopped teasing people.
Gil kept flying in secret, exploring more and more of the city from above.
But the Mars dream kept returning, clearer each time. Each night, he flew farther, until one night he saw a massive silver ship rising from the Mars colony.
And there—on the deck—someone waved at him.
“Gil,” the voice said, “you have more to do. Get ready.”
He woke with a start, the words echoing in his mind.
Was Mars calling him?
He didn’t know—but he was ready to find out.
Because Gil Turner, the “average” boy, had discovered that the sky was just the beginning.
