The summer sea breeze ruffled the kites that sat outside the shop. It sounded to Kendra like they were clapping for her. “That’s the one I want,” she said, pointing to a bright green model that was nearly half her height.
“It’s so plain and simple,” her mom said.
“It’s perfect,” Kendra said.
Her dad touched the chin of a fiery red dragon. “This one is amazing.”
“It is,” Kendra said. “But it’s not the one I want.”
Her mom walked over to a kite that looked like a giant goldfish splashed with a pattern of orange, yellow, white, and black. “This koi is beautiful.”
“It is,” Kendra said. “But I know what I want.”
So her parents bought her the simple, classic kite she wanted. It was made of thin paper attached to a diamond-shaped frame of wooden sticks. The label claimed, in big bold red letters, that it was a super kite, with more lift than any kite in the world.
They headed for the beach.
“That’s a strong wind,” her dad said as they walked close to the edge of the water.
“Perfect,” Kendra said.
Her dad held the kite while Kendra unspooled about twenty yards of line. “Ready?” he asked. He held the kite up and waited. Kendra nodded and started running.
Before she’d even run three steps, the kite took flight, shooting nearly straight up. Kendra played out more line. The kite soared higher.
“Definitely super,” Kendra said.
She kept feeding out the line, and working the kite higher. There was hardly any work to it. The kite really was super, and seemed to want to climb to the clouds.
Soon, the line was all spooled out. The kite, now barely more than a green dot in the sky, tugged harder.
Kendra held on. “No! You aren’t getting away!”
The kite tugged even harder.
Kendra stood on the tips of her toes, and tried to keep her arms down.
The kite was too strong. It pulled her arms up. And then, it pulled her off her feet.
“Yikes!” Kendra gasped.
By the time she realized she should have let go, it was too late. She’d been lifted high in the air above the beach.
“Hold on!” her parents shouted.
That seemed like a good idea.
Kendra held on.
But she kept rising.
This will not end well, she thought. She laughed, because that sounded like something her dad might say. She was scared, but she realized she was also excited. It was amazing to look down at the shore and the ocean, and at the looping roller coasters on the pier.
Kendra had never been in an airplane, but she didn’t think it could be anywhere near as amazing as this ride.
She tossed that thought aside as another one hit her. I have to save myself. She couldn’t wait for someone else to get her out of this situation. She had to be her own hero. And she had to act soon. The kite was still rising, and the air was getting chilly.
There was only one thing to do. Slowly, trying not to let her muscles get overtired, she reeled in the line, hauling herself up. Inch by inch, she moved closer to the kite. Finally, she reached it.
Kendra looked down. Then, she looked back up, because down was really far away. Everything seemed smaller than a model train layout.
The whole time she’d climbed the string, she’d thought about what she had to do. Now, it was time to do it. She didn’t like the idea, both because it would ruin her amazing super kite, and because if it didn’t work she’d be in big trouble.
“Here goes,” Kendra said.
She took her pinkie and poked a tiny hole in the kite.
It jerked hard, as if wounded. Then it settled back into its rise. But the rise felt just a tiny bit less steep.
Kendra poked another small hole in the paper, at a different spot.
The rise was barely noticeable now.
Carefully, Kendra added more holes, until the kite stopped climbing and started to drop. She added one final hole, to make sure she was going down, then held on and waited.
It was almost dark when she finally touched down, seven miles away from where she’d started. A police car, an ambulance, and a fire truck were there. Everyone had been following her trip. Later, she learned they’d talked about rescuing her with a helicopter, but someone had pointed out that the wind from the blade might have caused a huge problem.
After her parents had given her as many hugs as they needed, her mom took the kite away. “We’re getting rid of this one,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” her dad said. “We’ll get you another one if you still like kite flying.”
“I definitely like kite flying,” Kendra said. Especially when she was flown by the kite. She wondered what sort of adventure she could have, tomorrow, with that amazing dragon. Who knew where it might take her?