2nd place in Derby #119: Flight, with 1250 votes!

They floated there in silence for a long while, looking up.

No tears. No goodbyes. No pleadings to stay, to turn back and return to their humble life beneath the surface of the water. Only liftoff remained.

She checked the knots to make sure they were secure. She placed the helmet over her head and around her gills. Then, after she had pulled the cord that released the balloon that would carry her up out of the water and into the Sky she so longed to explore, she took his fins in hers.

Slowly, she began to rise. Up, up, up, she went, their fins sliding apart, both resisting the urge to grab hold and never let go.

Higher and higher into the Sky, she climbed. She grew smaller and smaller in his sight with every passing second until, eventually, she was nothing more than a pale orange dot among a sea of stars.

Then, she was gone.

Wear this shirt: if you’ve ever dreamed of flying far above the familiar plastic castles and bubbling treasure chests of your existence.

Don’t wear this shirt: if you are content with the fish flakes you are given by your provincial life.

This shirt tells the world: Go. Follow your heart. Explore.

We call this color: Never Forget Me Navy

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