1) The story is about a young seagull who is afraid to take his first flight unlike his siblings. 2) Though his siblings manage to fly despite having shorter wings, he is too scared to try. 3) One day, when he is very hungry, his mother flies towards him with a fish to motivate him. Overcome with excitement and hunger, he dives without thinking and takes his first flight. 4) Once he overcomes his fear of flying, he celebrates with his family and gains independence and confidence in himself.

1. NAME : ANANYA
MISHRA
CLASS : 10TH C
ROLL NO : 14
CHAPTER 3 ( I ) HIS
FIRST FLIGHT

2. About the author
Liam O’ Flaherty was born
to a large but poor family
on Inishmore island. He
took inspirations from
experiences and wrote
beautiful proses.

3. The story is about a young seagull
who is at that stage of life where he
has to learn to fly. Unlike his
younger brothers and sisters, he is
too afraid to fly. When all of them
went for flying for the first time near
the edge of the sea, all of them
except him, succeeded. He could
not trust his wings. He got terrified
by the vast sea and got convinced
that he could never fly. As a result,
he was ashamed and disheartened
and thus, went inside the ledge
where usually he slept.
HIS FIRST FLIGHT

4. His younger siblings managed to take their first flight despite their
wings being shorter than his, but he could not summon the
courage though he tried so desperately. He was scolded by his
parents for not trying again but he was so afraid, that he could not
even move.
Now, he had been alone for a day after he tried because his
parents were busy focusing on his siblings. They helped his
siblings master the art of flying and diving for food (fish). His older
sibling even caught his first fish which he proudly ate at a rock
while his parents celebrated it. That morning, his parents taunted
him all the way for being a coward.

5. The sun had now risen and he was feeling the heat more than ever because he was
empty-stomach since the night before. He stepped out of his ledge and pretended to
sleep on one leg to gain the attention of his family. Still, no one noticed him.
His siblings were sleeping, his
father was cleaning his
feathers with his beak and his
mother was standing on
another plateau eating fish
while she noticed him. The
seagull got mad on seeing the
fish because he was very
hungry. He loved to tear away
fish and scrape his beak now
and then.

6. He cried in hunger to his mom while his mother screamed back angrily but he kept
crying which soon turned into a joyful scream at the sight of his mother flying
towards him with the piece of fish. He got excited as she came nearer and thus,
leaned forward. Suddenly, she stopped not too far from him. Out of excitement and
hunger, he dived at the fish without realizing for a moment, that he was afraid to fly.
He got so excited that he fell
as soon as he tried. For a
moment, he was in shock and
stood still out of terror. All this
lasted only for a moment and
soon, his feathers opened as
he flied. He could feel the wind
against his breast feathers,
stomach and his wings. He
could feel himself cutting
through the air. He was not
afraid anymore.
He was just a bit
nervous but then his
mother accompanied
him. The whole family
screamed out of
excitement, thus,
celebrating his victory
over fear.

7. Once he overcame his fear, he forgot that he was once afraid of it. He did all
those things he once feared. He flied straight over the sea and could see the
greenery and the mountains beneath him. He screamed out of joy as he
enjoyed the victory. When he landed, his family landed along with him as a
gesture that they were proud. They were screaming and shouting in
excitement in their high pitched voices. He then went into the sea where at
first, he got scared and thus, panicked. He tried escaping but got tired and
weak because of hunger. Thus, when he calmed down, he started floating in
the sea he was once afraid of. His family was celebrating in excitement and
offered him food as praise. Finally, he had overcome his fear and had made
his first flight.

8. MORAL OF THE STORY
'His first flight' story excellently explains the importance of
things like independence, self courage and confidence. Also, it
shows the need for motivation to reach our goals. Necessity is the
mother of invention, but it sometimes needs an initial spark from
outside.