7 THE DARK SIDE OF HIGH

SENSATION-SEEKING

Daedalus, a brilliant Athenian architect, was commissioned

by King Minos of Crete to design an elaborate and complicated

labyrinth. The resulting maze was so tricky and confusing that

once you were inside, it was nearly impossible to navigate without

assistance from the gods themselves. Then, to punish Daedalus for

providing a secret clue to escape the labyrinth, the King had both

him and his son Icarus imprisoned. But it’s hard to keep a good man

down. Daedalus and his son escaped and hid on the shore near the

rocky cliffs of Crete overlooking the sea. While hiding, Daedalus

looked longingly at the seagulls that circled the beaches. Too bad he

and Icarus couldn’t just fly off like the birds – unless...Daedalus

decided to build two pairs of massive seagull wings so he and his

son could escape.

While Daedalus designed the wings, Icarus was to gather

supplies. Little by little, Icarus collected thousands of seagull feath-

ers, branches, twine, and pounds of beeswax for the project.

Daedalus fashioned the wings, bound them together with the

thread and molded them with the beeswax.

Before their escape, Daedalus went over the plan. “Now this

is important,” he warned. “Follow my EXACT path. If you fly too low

the sea spray will weigh you down. If you fly too high the sun will

liquefy the wax and your wings will fall apart. In either case, you’ll

crash into the sea.”

They strapped on their wings. Daedalus charged toward the

sea and extended his arms in the enormous cape of feathers. Icarus

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