And Icarus Looked Straight Into The Sun As He Burned(Rewritten)

22 - Ashes To Ashes

"Can't sleep again? Is that monster still giving you trouble? I can have a talk with it again if you want." The brunette man said, sitting down on the edge of his daughter's bed.

The eight year old girl shook her head.

"No. It's been really quiet since you talked with it. I just wanted you to come here so you can tell me another story. I wanna hear the bird man story again." She said, hugging the blanket close to her body.

The man continued to stare at his daughter until he let out an amused chuckle. She was clever. He always came in here to check if she was sleeping or not and would tell her a story in order to lull her to sleep if she wasn't. She must've intentionally kept herself awake so that he could tell her another story. He loved that about her.

"The bird man? You mean Icarus? You know those stories with bad ending aren't good for your mental development. How about a happier story? Like the ones kids like you are actually supposed to listen to?" He offered.

"No. I wanna hear the bird man. You tell the best stories and I don't wanna hear the dumb ones." She said stubbornly.

He sighed. She really was like her mother in that aspect. Stubborn. Incredibly stubborn. But in her case, it was a good thing. He reached forward and gently ruffled the girls hair, earning a giggle from her.

"Alright, Jordan. You win. But you gotta go to bed right after, okay?" He said.

The girl gave an excited nodded and began to adjust herself in the bed so that she was fully laying down. He smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright. Let's see...the story begins with a man named Daedalus. He was a creative genius with the ability to make masterpieces so lifelike that they would come to life. He had many sculptures come to life so they had to keep them chained down. He used to live in a place called Athens, but circumstances forced him to move to Crete. He became part of the King's royal court, and went on to create many things. But over time, he grew to hate Crete, and didn't wish to stay. But the king, Minos, threw Daedalus and his son, Icarus in the very labyrinth that he created when they tried to leave." The man said, recounting as much of the story as he could.

"Why did the king not want him to leave again?" The girl asked, tilting her head.

"Many reasons. Some say it's because he used his knowledge of the labyrinth to help Theseus escape and slay the Minotaur. Another is because he didn't want to let such a powerful man leave his court. And others aren't for kids." He said, chuckling.

His daughter looked confused, and truly he was glad that she didn't understand. Then she motioned for him to continue the story.

"So now, Daedalus was trapped in the labyrinth with his son. But he was still the same genius as always and spent a long time watching the birds flying overhead. He gathered many of their dropped feathers over time and managed to craft makeshift bird wings for him and his son using the feathers and holding it together with beeswax. He and his son put on these wings and they flew out of the labyrinth, away from Minos and away from Crete. But Icarus grew cocky. He flew far too close to the sun, trying to show off, and the sun began to melt the beeswax on his wings...." The man said, trailing off.

He glanced over at his daughter, who was listening intensely to the story with a sparkle in her eyes.

"....and Icarus looked straight into the sun as he burned. The beeswax from his wings melted, and he could no longer stay up in the air as he wings fell apart and the hot beeswax burned his skin. His father didn't know anything was wrong until he heard his son cry out for him. But Icarus plunged into the ocean below, and he drowned. His father fished his body out of the ocean and buried it on a nearby island that would later be named after him. Icaria. And that's where the story ends." He said, turning back to his daughter. "I still think you should listen to better stories. These bad endings aren't good for you."