Two Stories About Flying

In part 1 - “His First Flight” written by Liam OH Hearty, the reader comes to know about a young seagull bird who is afraid of flying.
It feels that its wings are not strong enough to make it fly. How he overcomes this fear which all of us face while trying a new venture
and the story of his successful maiden flight has been beautifully narrated in the lesson.

In part 2- “Black Aeroplane” written by Frederick Forsryth, the student gets to know about a pilot who is on his flight back home to
England. The story narrates the incident that happens on the way and how he escapes death miraculously.

His First Flight – Introduction

The story by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is an account of a young bird that is afraid to fly for the first time. He believes that his wings would not
support him. Despite his younger siblings flying fearlessly with much shorter wings, he could not gather the courage to do the same.
He was punished to stay hungry if he did not try. Thus, it was his mother that compelled him to fly by using food as a trap. The lesson
reflects how one hesitates to take the first step and that fear is all in the mind. One should trust one’s abilities because “the fear of
suffering is worse than the suffering itself”.

His First Flight Summary

The story “His First Flight” by “Liam O’ Flaherty” is about a young seagull who is afraid to fly. All his younger siblings despite their
much shorter wings flew fearlessly while he could not gather the courage to trust his own wings. The young seagull became sad
when he saw his parents perfecting his younger siblings in the art of flying. His parents scold and taunt him for not even trying. They
even call him a “coward”. They tell him a lot to at least try and also threaten him to leave him alone and hungry if he does not. The
following day, he is left in isolation and upon feeling hungry; he tries to seek the attention of his family members. Only his mother,
who is withering a fish in an attempt to eat it, notices his son. The young seagull cries out of starvation hoping his mother would help.
On seeing his mother come to him with the fish, he gets excited. But on noticing that his mother stopped mid-way, he gets maddened
out of hunger and takes a dive at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he is afraid to fly. Finally, he took his first flight. All the family
members celebrate his victory by cheering and dancing around him. He also attempts at floating in the sea that he was once afraid
of. Thus, he overcomes his fear and realizes that it is all in the mind.

His First Flight Lesson Explanation:

The story is about a young seagull who is at that stage of life where he has to learn to fly. Unlike his younger brothers and sisters, he
is too afraid to fly. When all of them went for flying for the first time near the edge of the sea, all of them except him, succeeded. He
could not trust his wings. He got terrified by the vast sea and got convinced that he could never fly. As a result, he was ashamed and
disheartened and thus, went inside the ledge where usually he slept.

His younger siblings managed to take their first flight despite their wings being shorter than his, but he could not summon the
courage though he tried so desperately. He was scolded by his parents for not trying again but he was so afraid, that he could not
even move.

Now, he had been alone for a day after he tried because his parents were busy focussing on his siblings. They helped his siblings
master the art of flying and diving for food (fish). His older sibling even caught his first fish which he proudly ate at a rock while his
parents celebrated it. That morning, his parents taunted him all the way for being a coward.

The sun had now risen and he was feeling the heat more than ever because he was empty-stomach since the night before. He
stepped out of his ledge and pretended to sleep on one leg to gain the attention of his family. Still, no one noticed him. His siblings
were sleeping, his father was cleaning his feathers with his beak and his mother was standing on another plateau eating fish while
she noticed him. The seagull got mad on seeing the fish because he was very hungry. He loved to tear away fish and scrape his beak
now and then.

He cried in hunger to his mom while his mother screamed back angrily but he kept crying which soon turned into a joyful scream at
the sight of his mother flying towards him with the piece of fish. He got excited as she came nearer and thus, leaned forward.
Suddenly, she stopped not too far from him. Out of excitement and hunger, he dived at the fish without realising for a moment, that
he was afraid to fly.

He got so excited that he fell as soon as he tried. For a moment, he was in shock and stood still out of terror. All this lasted only for a
moment and soon, his feathers opened as he flied. He could feel the wind against his breast feathers, stomach and his wings. He
could feel himself cutting through the air. He was not afraid anymore. He was just a bit nervous but then his mother accompanied
him. The whole family screamed out of excitement, thus, celebrating his victory over fear.
Once he overcame his fear, he forgot that he was once afraid of it. He did all those things he once feared. He flied straight over the
sea and could see the greenery and the mountains beneath him. He screamed out of joy as he enjoyed the victory.

When he landed, his family landed along with him as a gesture that they were proud. They were screaming and shouting in
excitement in their high pitched voices. He then went into the sea where at first, he got scared and thus, panicked. He tried escaping
but got tired and weak because of hunger. Thus, when he calmed down, he started floating in the sea he was once afraid of. His
family was celebrating in excitement and offered him food as praise. Finally, he had overcome his fear and had made his first flight.

His First Flight Questions and Answers

Q1. Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds
more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first steps?
A. The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight. He doubted that his wings would not be able to support him. We are
well aware that “Journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step” and it is very difficult to take that first step. Thus, I think all birds
must be hesitating before taking their first flight, some more than others. Yes, just like young birds, human babies also hesitate while
taking their first step.

Q2. “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
A. On not being able to gather courage to fly and acting like a coward, the young seagull’s family left him alone. As a result, he was
starving since he could not fly to get his own food. When he saw his mother coming near him with fish, he got excited and dived straight
at the fish, forgetting for a moment that he was afraid of flying. Thus, he got so maddened by the sight of food because he was starving,
which compelled him to take his first flight.

Q3. “They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
A. Unlike his younger siblings, the poor seagull could not gather enough courage to take his first flight. Thus, his parents taunted him for being a
coward. They even threatened it to let it starve if he did not try. They thought hunger would make him fly looking for his food. They did all of this
because they wanted him to fly.

Word Meaning:

Seagull- a bird that lives near the sea and has short legs, long wings, and white and grey feathers
Ledge- a narrow horizontal shelf projecting from a wall (or here) a cliff
Brink- the extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water
Expanse- a wide continuous area of something
Flapped- (of a bird) move (its wings) up and down when flying or preparing to fly
Muster- gather
Plunge- jump or dive
Shrilly- with a high pitched and piercing voice or sound
Upbraiding- scold
Herring- a soft-finned sea fish
Devour- eat quickly
Cackle- laugh in a loud, harsh way
Cowardice- lack of bravery
Ascending the sky- the act of rising up through the air
Preening-to tidy and clean its feathers
Hump- a rounded raised mass of earth or land
Scrapped- discard
Derisively- in a manner expressing contempt or ridicule.
Plaintively- sad
Uttered- make a sound with one’s voice
Halted- stopped
Monstrous- horrible
Seized- grab
Headlong- with the head foremost
Soaring- flying or rising high in the air
Swooped- (especially of a bird) move rapidly downwards through the air
Curvetting- perform a series of jumps on the hind legs
Shrieking- making a high-pitched piercing cry or sound
Shrilly- loudly and forcefully
Ridges- a long, narrow hilltop, mountain range, or watershed
Cawed- utter a caw
Beckoning- gesture