This story is part of the novel originally called "Finder's Keepers" but now the working title is "By Foot or by Feather." I'm not sure how many times I've rewritten this first scene, but here it is for your reading pleasure! 

 

Finder Fallen 
 
In the midst of a dream in which he was standing on an impossibly high cliff with no leaf in sight and swirling angry purple clouds that covered all creation for company, he crouched, overcome by vertigo and a fear that he would fall to his death, Teru sat up and wondered whether he was fit to fly that night. The office had been busy as usual, but he felt drained. Could this be flu? He had been in Hong Kong for three years and hadn't so much as sneezed. He was simply over-tired. He resettled in the sofa to sleep until he heard the knocking. More knocking. It was coming from the balcony. It was Cria knocking at the glass door. She slid it open, stepped off a battered leaf the size of a plate and came into the flat. The leaf had been plucked from an alocasia, and by the looks of it, she had borrowed it from his plants. Teru ran a hand through his short grey-black hair. 
 
"What's wrong, old man? You're usually up at this time." Cria flung herself onto the couch opposite him. "Don't tell me - the Hang Seng Stock Index plummeted. You'll have to recoup by charging more from your clients." 
 
Teru ignored her. "I distinctly heard someone say they would be back in half an hour as opposed to half past eleven." 
 
"No watch, sorry. Anyway, I'm going free-falling - are you down with that?" 
 
He shook his head. 
 
"Why not? It's dark out, plus there are dragonflies and plastic bags wafting around - we'll be covered." 
 
"I feel tired." 
 
"You took a nap! Come on, you're not that old..." 
 
He nodded at the leaf in the balcony. "Pick up after yourself." 
 
"Fine." She flounced over and hurled it over the railings. It flopped and tumbled down twenty-nine storeys. 
 
"Cria." 
 
"What? It'll blow away or biodegrade or whatever." 
 
"Try to be more careful. I'd expect more from a glider on the flight committee." 
 
"I know, I know." She waved a hand. "So, free-falling tonight? Will you come? If not, we'll wing it without you." 
 
"We?" 
 
"Where is he?" 
 
A second figure landed on the balcony and slowly walked into the apartment. "Seam's been checking out the neighbourhood. This is Teru - my brother. The finder." 
 
Seam strolled into the flat, bowed awkwardly and greeted Teru in a low and gentle voice. "Mr. Finder. Nice to meet you." 
 
Cria laughed. "You can call him Teru. Want a drink?" 
 
"No, thanks." 
 
Cria walked into the kitchen. Seam stood in the corner of the living room folding and unfolding two leaves from a Cuban Bast. They looked like they would make for choppy flying. He didn't look like a glider - there were no obvious scars on his hands or face. He wore black matte clothes and his scuffed sneakers were also made of dark non-reflective material. Cria had done a good job of informing him of the Hong Kong dress code. 
 
"Please take a seat, Seam. Tell me where you're from." 
 
Seam sat on the edge of the large sofa with his knees together and his hands rolled upon his knees. "The Red Forest." 
 
"When did you arrive in Hong Kong?" 
 
"A few days ago." 
 
"How do you find it so far?" 
 
"Good, sir, thank you. I'm still getting used to flying at night here. It's much brighter than the forest. It's a little disorienting, but Cria's been a great guide." Seam darted a glance towards the kitchen and looked at Teru again, who nodded. 
 
From the kitchen came the sound of glass clinking as the refrigerator door opened and closed. Cria walked into the living room sipping her ginger ale. She sat beside Seam on the sofa. 
 
Seam folded his leaves and held them in both hands as he glanced around the room. It was sparsely decorated: an L-shaped sofa and a high-backed padded chair separated by a coffee table lined by a stone-blue carpet. The rest of the room was an expanse of wall covered in a cool grey suede-like material. No pictures. The ceramic pots in the balcony outnumbered the pieces of living room furniture by far. The larger ones contained large leafy alocasia. A row of fleshy jade plants with leaves the size of hands and cacti with long soft prickles stood in rows around the larger pots for decoration. 
 
"So, uh, Teru, what kind of flats do you use?" 
 
"Most lotus and alocasia. I would have more alocasia on show but I'm afraid someone has borrowed the finer specimens." Cria pulled a face. Most of the oval dark green leaves in the ceramic pots that huddled together on the balcony were a handspan wide. Among them jutted stems that ended in ragged tears and one or two larger leaves. 
 
"Lotus, wow. What's the mileage on those?" Seam asked. 
 
"Well -" 
 
"See for yourself." Cria strode to the balcony. She tore off one of the darkest leaves the size of an open magazine and threw it to Seam. He dropped his leaves and scrambled to catch it. She took a second leaf and set it on the ground. "Make like a tree, people." Cria stepped onto it and immediately rose up over the balcony and shot off towards the Harbour, blending into the dark night. 
 
Seam gave Teru a puzzled look. 
 
"She means it is time to leave." He grinned. "See you at the Egg." 
 
"Thank you for having me over, Teru." Seam stepped on the lotus leaf and levitated out of the balcony. 
 
Teru picked up the phone. 
 
"Esmé. Would you get me the caller in the Red Forest? I've got a new arrival here. His name is Seam." 
 
 
Seam tested out the lotus leaf and found it to be very sensitive to movement. When he stood straight, it came to a smooth stop and hovered gently. When he leaned slightly forward, it drifted forward with him. When he crouched, it instantly plummeted. These leaves were far more responsive and powerful than the leaves he was used to flying and soon, he had crossed Victoria Harbour and reached the Kowloon peninsula. [write description of large geographic features from air] He spotted Cria waving to him and followed her to the Egg and Curve. 
 
The Science Museum and Cultural Centre were unusual buildings, immediately distinct. One was covered with square white plates that curved around the museum, making it spherical like the squat end of a gigantic egg; the Cultural Centre was a beige rectangle with its roof scooped out, giving it a curve that joined to points, like an 'M' with a smooth valley. 
 
"So, Teru's a finder, huh? What's it like - have you ever seen him in action?" 
 
"Yeah, but he can't say anything." 
 
"He ever find you anything?" 
 
"Confidential." Cria enunciated the syllables and hip-checked him out of her way. She made for the Cultural Centre and started to climb into the air above it. 
 
"Come on!" 
 
"Nosy!" 
 
Seam spotted Teru on The Egg and sat beside him. They watched Cria warm up, preparing to break her record for fourteen loop-the-loops. Gliders. They saw her pick up speed and altitude until she was hidden in the clouds. Seconds later, she was bombing towards the steepest point of the Curve and streaming along the curve to the second point which fed her whooping and wheeling back into the sky. 
 
"Has she always been so carefree?" 
 
"From the day she hatched." 
 
Cria was getting ready for another attempt. Teru and Seam watched her glide on the roof of the Cultural Centre, shooting into the colourful sky and spinning loop after loop. It was the kind of thing that snowboarders, skateboarders and surfers dreamed of, the kind of thing that pilots could achieve in their anti-gravity advantage, flying in tiny circle after circle in the air. She carved the tiles of the pink building and whirled into the air, making fourteen, fifteen, sixteen loops! She clasped her hands above her shoulders and shook them in victory as she floated from the sky onto the dome of the Science Museum, the Egg. She swept her leaf in a curtsey. "Props to my supporters. I couldn't have done it without them." She drew out a bottle of water and drank. 
 
"Good run," Seam said. 
 
Teru clapped. He stood up. "I will be leaving soon, Cria." 
 
"The night is still young, sir." 
 
"You stay. I have an early start tomorrow." 
 
"Aw, really? Then let's see you to the harbour." 
 
From the Egg, the three made a smooth ascent up and over the water. 
 
Cria was weaving up and down in the air. "I can't believe it, sixteen loops! Let's see if the others can - " 
 
Teru dropped. 
 
"Teru!" Cria screamed, suddenly suspended in the air. 
 
Seam shot down to the surface of the water. "Cria! Grab the leaves!" He dove into the choppy waters. 
 

 

 

That should be the opening chapter of the novel. The rest is being rejigged (official term) but you can read them here. Meanwhile, here are some Bag stories to entertain you. They are part of another series I'm working on instead of cracking on with the novel, "Finder's Keepers". Of course it's terrible, but I needed the break. Couldn't think of a thing and writing short stories really cheered me up writing-wise! A year or so on, I'm ready to write that novel again. Please email me your comments at feldspaar@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.