Taking Flight to Madness

Submitted by Dawn:

Corey seemed like a really nice guy online. It was my second time meeting someone from the Internet. He was a part-time actor, part-time student, and a full-time retail worker. Seemed nice, secure, and most importantly, normal.

We met up at a nice restaurant for dinner, American fare. He was a pretty good conversationalist. The fact that he was unable to maintain eye contact for more than a second was a bit distracting, but maybe he was nervous. It was okay. I was, too.

After some pleasant small talk, he asked me the strangest thing: "Have you ever taken flight?"

I wasn't sure what he meant and replied, "Like in an airplane?"

He said, "No. I was almost sure that you were one of us. Take flight. You know?"

The next thing I thought of was drugs, which I'm not into. I asked him, "Like getting high?"

"No! Taking flight! Taking flight!"

I said, "I have no idea what you're talking about! What are you talking about, anyway?"

He smiled and said, "Nevermind."

The rest of dinner was a bit awkward. After dinner, we went on a walk around town, looking for a coffee shop or bakery.

He stopped walking at one point and stared straight ahead, like he was looking at something far in front of us.

"Holy shit," he said.

"What?" I asked.

He replied, "It's time to take flight," then turned to me and said, "Take flight."

He spread his arms and took off, at a run, across the street. He didn't come back. I tried calling him, but he let it go to voicemail.

My theory was that he wasn't having a good time on the date and acted like an idiot to end it.

This theory didn't hold, though, when he called me at two in the morning. "Hey, where'd you go? I've been looking for you..."