Sun Rise by Zack Fox Loehle

Dedicated to Tortuguita*

What if it was not Icarus who flew too high? Perhaps, instead, it was Daedalus who arced ever-upward, broad wings beating, too entranced by his own creation to turn around. Higher he went, deaf to the cries of his son, delighted with the way his arms and legs swung and clenched, middle aged body seeming little aged now. He touched the heavens, and at first did not notice that the wax had begun to melt. But even when Daedalus saw the amber droplets dripping swift toward the water below, his eyes still shone with the glory of it, his own perfect invention, unassailable. 

When Icarus caught up to his father, the older man was teetering upon the edge of collapse. The son swept higher on his own wings, trying to catch him, to redirect him, pleading with Daedalus to change course the whole time. “Please,” he cried, his voice catching. “Please.” 

But Daedalus’ face hardened, because his son did not appreciate the glamor of the wings. He called Icarus names, ignoring the wax as it melted, faster and faster, flecks like heated bullets shooting downward.

They tussled, then, the one still trying to save the other, the older mocking the younger. And when Icarus went too high, trying too hard to save Daedalus from certain death, his wings collapsed, feathers raining down upon his father like macabre confetti. He was as the sun, brilliant in that moment suspended, and his father hated him. Then his body fell past and hit the water, far below, and Daedalus continued on. 

Later, when the coastal farmer had ignored the quiet splash, too busy turning hard-baked soil, and a passing ship covered the body in sludge-slick wake, it was Daedalus who told the story to anyone who would listen. 

Daedalus, who spoke of the foolishness of the young.

*Manuel Paez Terán (“Tortuguita”) was an environmental activist shot by police while protesting the development known as “Cop City” outside of Atlanta in January 2023. According to Outside Magazine, Terán’s death is the first known killing of an environmental activist by police in American history. 

Zack Fox Loehle received his MA in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University and is an alum of the Kenyon Review Online Writer’s Workshop. His work has appeared in Catamaran, Mental Floss, and elsewhere. He lives in Atlanta.

14 February 2025