It's Our Time to Shine
Ready For Takeoff.
“Good morning, Sir”, a stewardess greeted smiling as me and the guys stood outside the plane, ready to get onboard. “May I see your boarding card, please?”
“Yeah, here.”
“First class is right down there to the left”, she said, handing Jepha his boarding back.
“Thank you.”
I showed the stewardess mine too, followed by the rest of the guys before we all headed towards the first class area.
“First class?”, I asked, looking at Bert with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah. We hardly ever travel first class, but since this is gonna be a pretty long flight, we do it for our own good.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What, have you never flown first class before?”
“No”, I answered awkwardly.
“Well, to put it this way – it’s pretty fuckin´ rad”, he grinned.
“Hey, Quinn, what’s your seat number?”, Jepha asked.
“I don’t know. Check your boarding card, I think it’s mentioned there.”
“Yeah, I see it. Mine’s A115. What about you guys?”
“A117.”
“A118”, Dan responded.
“And you, Bert?”
“A116. Lina?”
“A114”, I said.
“Hey, Jeph – is it okay if we switch places? I promised Lina I’d sit next to her during the flight.”
“Yeah, sure thing, dude”, he responded.
“Our seats are over here”, Quinn added, making us all head down the plane’s and narrow yet spacious hallway.
“You got the window spot”, Bert smiled, looking at me as I spotted that the seat was marked ‘A114.’
“Yeah, I guess I did”, I replied, sitting down in the seat before he sat down next to me along with Jepha on his right side.
Quinn and Dan sat down in the seats in front of us as we all tucked our backpacks under our separate seats.
The first class was now starting to get full and everyone were talking to each other, making it impossible make any sense out of it all.
“What’re you guys doin´?”, Bert asked, leaning forward to where Quinn and Dan were sitting.
“Takin´ pictures”, Quinn responded.
“You have a camera?”
“Yeah…?”
“Dude, you could’ve told me that when we were at the airport and waitin´ in line.”
“Why?”
“So we could’ve taken some pictures when I asked for it”, Bert said while rolling his eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t know I had it in my backpack. I only thought of the video camera back then.”
“Whatever. Be sure to take some pictures now, okay?”
“Yeah, totally”, Quinn grinned as he turned around again.
Suddenly, a voice over the radio could be heard;
”Good morning, ladies and gentlemen – this is the captain speaking. Welcome onboard on the flight that will take us to Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. Before we prepare for takeoff, I will ask you to please pay attention to the safety routines that now is being shown at each emergency exit.”
I could see a woman demonstrating what we should do if something happened in the air and we needed to perform an emergency landing.
She was wearing a yellow safety vest, now showing us how to pull the string to blow up the flotation balloon on the sides.
I’d seen this been done thousands of times before, but I always made sure to pay attention each and every time.
You never knew when you might need to remember these safety routines.
My eyes were now fixated on something else; the outside.
I looked through the window that was to my left, noticing that the plane was moving.
It was backing slowly up, gliding away from its gate and to the right runway.
”Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen. I will now ask you to please fasten your seatbelts as we now are ready to soon take off.”
I took a deep breath while listening to the captain’s message on the radio as I fastened my seatbelt tightly around my waist and stomach.
“Are you okay?”, Bert asked, looking at me with curious eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I lied. I couldn’t by any chance feel more uncomfortable and petrified as I now did.
“Want some water?”
“Yes, please. That would be nice.”
“Hey, Quinn – do you have water? Lina needs some”, he said, leaning forward to him and Dan.
“Yeah, sure. Here”, Quinn responded, handing him a bottle of mineral water before giving me a smile.
“Thanks, dude. Here, Lina.”
“Thank you”, I replied while receiving the bottle from Bert.
I opened the bottle and drank some. Not too much, not too little – but just enough to calm myself down and maybe avoid letting my nerves take their toll on me.
My attempt of preventing that failed.
“Feeling better now?”, Bert asked
“Yeah, a little.”
I lied again. Water wasn’t helping me at all.
I just couldn’t stand the thought of letting the guys know that.
Just the thought of knowing that they would feel sorry for me was tearing me apart.
I hated being pitied.
”Cabin, please”, I heard the captain saying over the radio.
I had been on one or two flights too many to know that this was the code for the cabin crew to return to the cockpit and sit down.
Takeoff was just around the corner.
“Excuse me, Sir – but would you be so kind to place your luggage just a little further under your seat?”, a polite stewardess asked kindly, smiling as she stopped next to Jepha.
“Yeah, sure”, he responded, greeting her smile as he placed his backpack under his seat.
“Thank you, Sir”, she said, heading down the airplane’s hallway and into the cabin.
Again, I looked out of the window.
We were on the right runway now, getting ready for takeoff.
The entire plane had shut off the electricity in the flight, this due to the fact that the system needed to save the power for takeoff when the time was ready.
Also, the cold air-condition, which was preventing me from turning into a puddle of nervous sweat, had now been turned off, making it even more unbearable to be onboard the plane.
And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I noticed that Quinn had drunken up all the water in his bottle.
Now, I felt like I was about to experience a panic attack, feeling my hand becoming numb and clammy, and my vision was about to get blurry.
“Lina, are you okay?”, Bert asked from my right side.
I didn’t know how many times he’s asked me that question.
All I knew was that I was about to tell him the same lie I’d been using every time;
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Oh, good. We’re about to take off now, so don’t worry.”
I gave him a nervous smile, sugar-coated to the max, while not letting him know the anxiety that was hiding underneath.
“Hey, Quinn – take some pictures while we’re still on the ground”, I could hear Jepha say to Quinn as he was constantly cracking jokes to Dan.
“Can we do it after we’ve taken off?”, he asked with. “’Cause everything’s settled down then.”
“Yeah, dude. No problem.”
The airplane was now getting ready in position, just waiting for the green light from the tower.
I took a deep breath, swallowing saliva after saliva that was watering my mouth as I fumbled with my thumbs where the nails had been bitten down earlier today.
A loud noise was now coming from the outside and the motors were about to get ready, and charging up to the fullest.
As the airplane suddenly started moving forward, increasing in speed as it was taking off, I felt myself getting sucked into the seat.
I wasn’t ready for this, I needed more time to prepare myself fort he flight, I couldn’t catch my breath while feeling the plane’s speed increasing more and more by each and every second.
Suddenly, I quickly placed my hand on Bert’s left thigh in total desperation, trying to find a way to calm myself down.
I could see he was looking at me from the corner of my eye as he was smiling, now feeling his own hand being placed over mine while he squeezed it gently.
I closed my eyes in total desperation, just wanting this whole flight to be over already.
Then all of a sudden, I felt light as a feather, sinking yet again into my seat and still having my hand on Bert’s thigh which was being held by his own hand as I noticed the plane now was going up while chasing the bright sleepy sun that had just awoken.
I was still having my eyes closed, not saying a word, while hearing a sound indicating that we now could take off our seatbelts if pleased.
I let go of Bert’s thigh, sliding my hand away and making his hand rest alone there as I gave him an awkward smile…
“Yeah, here.”
“First class is right down there to the left”, she said, handing Jepha his boarding back.
“Thank you.”
I showed the stewardess mine too, followed by the rest of the guys before we all headed towards the first class area.
“First class?”, I asked, looking at Bert with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah. We hardly ever travel first class, but since this is gonna be a pretty long flight, we do it for our own good.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What, have you never flown first class before?”
“No”, I answered awkwardly.
“Well, to put it this way – it’s pretty fuckin´ rad”, he grinned.
“Hey, Quinn, what’s your seat number?”, Jepha asked.
“I don’t know. Check your boarding card, I think it’s mentioned there.”
“Yeah, I see it. Mine’s A115. What about you guys?”
“A117.”
“A118”, Dan responded.
“And you, Bert?”
“A116. Lina?”
“A114”, I said.
“Hey, Jeph – is it okay if we switch places? I promised Lina I’d sit next to her during the flight.”
“Yeah, sure thing, dude”, he responded.
“Our seats are over here”, Quinn added, making us all head down the plane’s and narrow yet spacious hallway.
“You got the window spot”, Bert smiled, looking at me as I spotted that the seat was marked ‘A114.’
“Yeah, I guess I did”, I replied, sitting down in the seat before he sat down next to me along with Jepha on his right side.
Quinn and Dan sat down in the seats in front of us as we all tucked our backpacks under our separate seats.
The first class was now starting to get full and everyone were talking to each other, making it impossible make any sense out of it all.
“What’re you guys doin´?”, Bert asked, leaning forward to where Quinn and Dan were sitting.
“Takin´ pictures”, Quinn responded.
“You have a camera?”
“Yeah…?”
“Dude, you could’ve told me that when we were at the airport and waitin´ in line.”
“Why?”
“So we could’ve taken some pictures when I asked for it”, Bert said while rolling his eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t know I had it in my backpack. I only thought of the video camera back then.”
“Whatever. Be sure to take some pictures now, okay?”
“Yeah, totally”, Quinn grinned as he turned around again.
Suddenly, a voice over the radio could be heard;
”Good morning, ladies and gentlemen – this is the captain speaking. Welcome onboard on the flight that will take us to Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. Before we prepare for takeoff, I will ask you to please pay attention to the safety routines that now is being shown at each emergency exit.”
I could see a woman demonstrating what we should do if something happened in the air and we needed to perform an emergency landing.
She was wearing a yellow safety vest, now showing us how to pull the string to blow up the flotation balloon on the sides.
I’d seen this been done thousands of times before, but I always made sure to pay attention each and every time.
You never knew when you might need to remember these safety routines.
My eyes were now fixated on something else; the outside.
I looked through the window that was to my left, noticing that the plane was moving.
It was backing slowly up, gliding away from its gate and to the right runway.
”Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen. I will now ask you to please fasten your seatbelts as we now are ready to soon take off.”
I took a deep breath while listening to the captain’s message on the radio as I fastened my seatbelt tightly around my waist and stomach.
“Are you okay?”, Bert asked, looking at me with curious eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
I lied. I couldn’t by any chance feel more uncomfortable and petrified as I now did.
“Want some water?”
“Yes, please. That would be nice.”
“Hey, Quinn – do you have water? Lina needs some”, he said, leaning forward to him and Dan.
“Yeah, sure. Here”, Quinn responded, handing him a bottle of mineral water before giving me a smile.
“Thanks, dude. Here, Lina.”
“Thank you”, I replied while receiving the bottle from Bert.
I opened the bottle and drank some. Not too much, not too little – but just enough to calm myself down and maybe avoid letting my nerves take their toll on me.
My attempt of preventing that failed.
“Feeling better now?”, Bert asked
“Yeah, a little.”
I lied again. Water wasn’t helping me at all.
I just couldn’t stand the thought of letting the guys know that.
Just the thought of knowing that they would feel sorry for me was tearing me apart.
I hated being pitied.
”Cabin, please”, I heard the captain saying over the radio.
I had been on one or two flights too many to know that this was the code for the cabin crew to return to the cockpit and sit down.
Takeoff was just around the corner.
“Excuse me, Sir – but would you be so kind to place your luggage just a little further under your seat?”, a polite stewardess asked kindly, smiling as she stopped next to Jepha.
“Yeah, sure”, he responded, greeting her smile as he placed his backpack under his seat.
“Thank you, Sir”, she said, heading down the airplane’s hallway and into the cabin.
Again, I looked out of the window.
We were on the right runway now, getting ready for takeoff.
The entire plane had shut off the electricity in the flight, this due to the fact that the system needed to save the power for takeoff when the time was ready.
Also, the cold air-condition, which was preventing me from turning into a puddle of nervous sweat, had now been turned off, making it even more unbearable to be onboard the plane.
And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I noticed that Quinn had drunken up all the water in his bottle.
Now, I felt like I was about to experience a panic attack, feeling my hand becoming numb and clammy, and my vision was about to get blurry.
“Lina, are you okay?”, Bert asked from my right side.
I didn’t know how many times he’s asked me that question.
All I knew was that I was about to tell him the same lie I’d been using every time;
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Oh, good. We’re about to take off now, so don’t worry.”
I gave him a nervous smile, sugar-coated to the max, while not letting him know the anxiety that was hiding underneath.
“Hey, Quinn – take some pictures while we’re still on the ground”, I could hear Jepha say to Quinn as he was constantly cracking jokes to Dan.
“Can we do it after we’ve taken off?”, he asked with. “’Cause everything’s settled down then.”
“Yeah, dude. No problem.”
The airplane was now getting ready in position, just waiting for the green light from the tower.
I took a deep breath, swallowing saliva after saliva that was watering my mouth as I fumbled with my thumbs where the nails had been bitten down earlier today.
A loud noise was now coming from the outside and the motors were about to get ready, and charging up to the fullest.
As the airplane suddenly started moving forward, increasing in speed as it was taking off, I felt myself getting sucked into the seat.
I wasn’t ready for this, I needed more time to prepare myself fort he flight, I couldn’t catch my breath while feeling the plane’s speed increasing more and more by each and every second.
Suddenly, I quickly placed my hand on Bert’s left thigh in total desperation, trying to find a way to calm myself down.
I could see he was looking at me from the corner of my eye as he was smiling, now feeling his own hand being placed over mine while he squeezed it gently.
I closed my eyes in total desperation, just wanting this whole flight to be over already.
Then all of a sudden, I felt light as a feather, sinking yet again into my seat and still having my hand on Bert’s thigh which was being held by his own hand as I noticed the plane now was going up while chasing the bright sleepy sun that had just awoken.
I was still having my eyes closed, not saying a word, while hearing a sound indicating that we now could take off our seatbelts if pleased.
I let go of Bert’s thigh, sliding my hand away and making his hand rest alone there as I gave him an awkward smile…
♠ ♠ ♠
no, i'm not that petrified of flying.but it's close enough. D:
and i miss my readers.
where've you all gone? :/
xo,
lina.