On a green meadow, soft as moss, lay Gusty the paper kite, gazing sadly at the sky. He was a kaleidoscope of color, pieced together from red, blue, and yellow diamonds, with a long tail of shimmering ribbons tied to his end. The children, Eliza and Philip, who had made him with their dad's help, had been playing with him all morning, but Gusty still lay motionless in the grass.
“Oh,” he sighed softly, so no one would hear. “What good are all these colors if I can’t see the world from above? I want to dance with the clouds and race against the birds.”
Philip picked him up and ran with him across the meadow, as fast as his legs could carry him. For a moment, Gusty felt his paper skin tighten. He rose about as high as Philip's head. “I’m flying! I’m flying!” he cheered. But as soon as the boy stopped to catch his breath, Gusty drifted helplessly back to the ground, landing with a soft rustle.
“It didn’t work,” said Philip, sitting down in the grass next to his sister. “I ran, but it wasn't enough.”
“Maybe he needs more power,” Eliza mused. She looked at the trees on the edge of the meadow. Not a single leaf on them stirred. The air was silent and still. “Why do you think kites fly, anyway?”
“I don’t know, exactly,” Philip admitted. “Dad said they need wind. But what is wind?”
Gusty strained his paper corners. He was curious, too. He could feel the air all around him, but it was lazy and wasn't helping him at all.
“Let’s try again,” Philip decided. He stood on a small hill to get Gusty higher. “Eliza, you hold him now, and when I say three, let him go!”
Eliza held Gusty by his wooden frame. “Get ready, Gusty. This time it will definitely work.”
“One… two… three!” Philip shouted and ran down the hill again.
For an instant, Gusty felt a rush of air. It was as if something invisible, yet solid, was pushing him from below. He rose a meter, two meters above the ground! He could see the whole meadow, the small figure of Eliza waving at him, and even a little beetle crawling up a blade of grass. It was a wonderful feeling! But once again, as soon as Philip slowed down, the force vanished, and Gusty floated down to the ground like a big, colorful leaf.
“Great! Now we know how not to do it!” Philip laughed, just as their dad had taught them. “Our running isn’t enough. We need real, actual wind.”
They sat down and waited. Gusty lay beside them, watching the sky. Suddenly, Eliza noticed something interesting. “Look, Philip! The top of that tall birch tree has started to move!”
And it was true. First, just a few leaves at the very top of the tree trembled gently. Then, more joined in. Gusty felt something softly stroking his ribbon tail. It rustled.
“Something is happening!” he whispered excitedly.
A moment later, a stronger gust of wind arose. The grass on the meadow rippled, as if an invisible creature had run across it. It ruffled Philip’s hair.
“Now! Quick!” Eliza called out.
They both jumped to their feet. Philip held the string tightly, and Eliza lifted Gusty high above her head. The kite felt an ever-stronger current of air pressing against him. This was no longer a gentle caress. This was a force. A real, invisible force that wanted to lift him up.
“Let go!” Philip shouted.
Eliza let go, and in that moment, it happened. The wind hit Gusty with its full weight. No slow ascent, no hesitation. Gusty was literally launched toward the sky!
“Woo-hoo!” Gusty cried, but his voice was lost in the whistling of the wind. He climbed higher and higher. The meadow below him was suddenly a small green rug, and the children two tiny dots. He felt the wind carrying him, playing with him, lifting him toward the white, fluffy clouds that had seemed so unreachable just moments before.
“So this is wind!” he realized with awe. “It’s not just ordinary air. It’s air that’s moving! And when it moves, it has enormous power! It’s like an invisible river flowing across the sky, and I’m floating in it!”
He leaned to the right, and the wind obediently carried him to the right. He leaned to the left, and he was already flying to the other side. He danced, he spun, and he did pirouettes in the air. It was a hundred times better than he had ever imagined. He looked down at Philip and Eliza. They were jumping for joy and waving at him.
He understood that without them, he would be just a piece of paper. And without the wind, too. But all of them together—the children who created him and gave him a chance, and the wind that gave him strength—had managed this little miracle.
When the wind weakened after a long time, the children slowly reeled him back to the ground. Gusty landed gently, as if on a cushion of grass. He wasn't sad anymore. He was pleasantly tired and full of new experiences.
“Thank you,” he whispered to the children as they folded him up.
“That was the wind thanking you,” Eliza smiled. “It showed us how strong it is.”
Philip looked at the trees, whose branches were still swaying gently in the wind. “It's just air, but when it gets going, it can even lift a kite.”
And you, children? The next time you're on a walk, notice how the wind moves the leaves on the trees or plays with your hair. It’s the same invisible force that helped Gusty fly. Try making your own paper friend with your parents' help, and see if you too can discover its secret.