The View from on High: 04/12/09

In 1982 Larry Walters flew from San Pedro to the Long Beach airport and ascended at one point to 16,000 feet in a craft consisting of a lawn chair and 45 balloons. Although "The View from on High" (the current online reprint at Fantasy & Science Fiction's web site) doesn't mention Walters's flight, the events in the story are close enough to bring it immediately to mind.

Of course to be science fiction or fantasy "The View from High" can't just be a retelling of Larry Walters's flight. There has to be something unusual about the flight (beyond the crazy idea of flying a lawn chair). In Eldon Turner's case, he sees angels. When and how he sees them influences the decisions he makes in his flight.

The entire story is a stream of consciousness account from Eldon's point of view. There are a few interruptions from the radio and from other people he passes by but it's all filtered through him. If you've read Ulysses, Eldon's flight isn't much different in format than any of the Bloom's walking around town scenes.

There really isn't much else to say. The story is very short and very enjoyable. The online version doesn't give a page count but it couldn't have been more than a few pages.

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