Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in a orphanage. 

 The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult
 for him to understand why he could not fly. There were birds at the zoo that were
 much bigger than he, and they could fly. 

 "Why can't I?" he thought. "Is there something wrong with me?" he wondered. 

 There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that he
 could walk and run like other little boys and girls. 

 "Why can't I be like them?" he thought. 

 One day the little orphan boy who had wanted to fly like a bird ran away from the
 orphanage. He came upon a park where he saw the little boy who could not walk
 or run playing in the sandbox. 

 He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird. 

 "No," said the little boy who could not walk or run. "But I have wondered what it
 would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls." 

 "That is very sad." said the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could
 be friends?" he said to the little boy in the sandbox. 

 "Sure." said the little boy. 

 The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and made really
 funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real hard. Then
 the little boy's father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son. The little boy who
 had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's father and whispered something into
 his ear. 

 "That would be OK," said the man. 

 The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend
 and said, "You are my only friend and I wish that there was something that I could
 do to make you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. But there
 is something that I can do for you." 

 The little orphan boy turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his
 back. He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the
 little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder
 and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the wind just whistled across the two little
 boys' faces. 

 The little boy's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son
 flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his
 voice, 

 "I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M FLYING!" 

 Roger Dean Kiser, Sr., Florida
found at inspirationalstories.com