hey there walter--don't be discouraged by the critical response. everyone here is really helpful and good-natured (although it may take time to understand certain folks..)

as to your question, flying is like any other dream ability. your proficiency is based entirely on how proficient you KNOW you are. my guess would be that when you saw your girlfriend disappear, you immediately had a thought similar to "(i wonder if) she can fly higher than i can"--a lot of times just considering the possibility of something makes it very difficult to accomplish. ive been able to shoot fireballs out of my hands, and then thirty seconds later, fail completely. it seems also that failure breeds failure, because with failure comes renewed doubts about your ability to do whatever it is you have been trying to do.