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As a pilot, I spend much of my time in a world between the heavens and the earth, constantly aware of the dangers of nature but at the same time in awe of its wonders. It is very useful, when in the air, to be able to think like a child as well as like a grown-up. Thinking like a grown-up is not useful because children are in any way unaware of nature's dangers. It is useful because the people that own the planes have ideas about where they would like the planes to go, and if the pilot allows himself to fly wherever his heart takes him, he will not arrive at his destination at all near the time expected, and the people will not let him fly their planes any more. So it is good to think enough like a grown-up that one can continue to fly planes, but not so much that flying itself becomes a grown-up job.
So recently, when I found myself making a crash landing in the Mediterranean Sea, as a child I thought, "how disappointing to be ending my flight so soon," and as a grown-up thought, "I will not be returning to my squadron at the expected time." But I had to put those thoughts aside and bring the plane down safely. Once I had done that, I had to get out of the plane. What's more, upon getting out of the plane, I had to paddle to land, which was made more difficult by the fact that my legs were no longer working. So I got myself to the shore and passed out.
When I woke up, I had briefly forgotten the events of the previous night, and I had a moment of confusion. Once I remembered, I looked around to see if I could get my bearings. There was a stone shore, which rose quickly behind me. Across the water in the distance, I could see a stone hill or mountain, and there were some small stone islands closer by, hardly big enough to stand on. With stone and sea in all directions, I knew I had to go somewhere else to find food, water, or rescue. So I sat up as well as I could, and moved myself up the shore.
It took me an hour to move the short distance up the shore to a small spring. As I was drinking, I took in the view and considered my situation. From here it was obvious that I was on one of the small islands of the Mediterranean Sea, not far from the French coast. Normally, I could swim the distance easily, but I was in no shape for it. It was possible that I could make a fire, but I didn't know whether someone who saw it would be friendly. In any event, it was a relief to wash somewhat in the fresh water, and after I had done so and eaten a bit of soggy food from my pocket, I was tired enough to sleep again.
I dreamed then of the little prince, who I met some years ago after a crash landing in the desert. In my dream he asked me, "why are you down there and not here with me? I have a chair you can sit in. You can help me watch the sheep..." I woke up to a crowd of little eyes watching me hungrily. The eyes belonged to a group of rats. Before I could react, they had scattered.
Sitting up, I began to formulate plans to myself. If I could get off the island, I could perhaps get back to my squadron. If I could get back to my squadron, I could perhaps be healed of my injuries. I was looking around to see if any of the low trees were suitable for a raft when I heard a noise in the distance. A plane! From the sound, it was just like the one I had just left in the sea, which meant it was someone friendly to me, or even from my squadron. I grabbed a nearby bush and pulled myself upright to wave and yell at the plane.
It was just as the plane was getting close that I heard a yip from below. Glancing down, I saw a fox looking up at me from below the bush. I was so startled that I lost my grasp on it and fell painfully to the rocky ground. I could watch the plane fly over and continue on its path without seeing me.
I got very angry then. I turned on my side and screamed at the fox, "why did you distract me? That was important!" The fox ran off to a nearby tree and gave me a disapproving sniff.
I lay on the ground and wept as I thought about my situation. I wasn't going to flag down a plane. I wasn't going to get back to my squadron. I wasn't going to get my injuries healed. I wasn't going to walk again.
I wept for a long time.
When I was done weeping, I sat up and found the fox still sitting under the buckthorn tree. I waited for a minute, to see if it would run away, but it just stared at me. I had had my fill of all of the grown-up thoughts about returning to my squadron and worrying about survival on an empty island. So I stopped thinking about the grown-up things. There was a fox. Perhaps it would play with me. "Good day," I said to the fox.
"Good day," the fox replied.
(If you are a grown-up, you may be surprised that the fox spoke to me. But children pay more attention, and are not surprised at all by things like that.)
"Are you a hunter?" asked the fox. "You make loud noises like a hunter. I didn't think there were any hunters on this island."
"I'm not a hunter," I said. "I'm just a person sitting on a rock. I'm sorry for making a loud noise and scaring you. I can't promise that I won't do it again. Are you a tame fox?"
"I used to be a tame fox," said the fox. "A boy came to me and gave me food, and then we spent afternoons playing in the fields. I was his and he was mine, but then he left and I was sad. I no longer enjoyed chasing chickens and strolling through the countryside when the people were busy. So I wandered from place to place and finally swam out to this island. There are no hunters, and no chickens, and the rats are slow enough that I can fill my belly. But I still miss the little boy."
"I knew a boy much like that," I said. "He had a snake send him back home."
"None of the snakes on this island can do that for you!" The fox laughed. "They can barely keep up with the rats."
"I don't want to leave that way, either." I shook my head. "But I can no longer swim from this island back to the shore."
"I can't swim back to my old home, either." The fox rested its head on its paws. "I am very old for a fox..."
"Well, if we can't go back, what is to become of us?"
The fox crept a little closer. "I will tell you a secret, because you remind me of the boy I knew so long ago. It is not the secret I told him, but it is a secret that every animal knows, even if people have mostly forgotten it."
"What is the secret?"
"Here it is: when you can't go back, you must go on."
I thought about that as the sun set over the sea. That night, I dreamed again of the prince. He was watching a sunset, and once the sun had set, he moved his chair so he could watch it again. I wanted to comfort him, but I was far away. I woke with an ache in my heart, but as day broke over the island, I came to a decision. I would not find some method to take the snake's way to go back home. I would go on to somewhere new.
"Good morning!" I said to the fox.
"Good morning," the fox replied. "What shall we do today?"
"The wind is very favorable today," I said. "Shall we see if we can go and see our little prince? We'll have some birds take us up and go from planet to planet until we find him."
"I can sniff for him, but I don't know how to find my way from place to place in the air."
"I can find our way. Let us fly!"
And we flew.