It's Our Time to Shine
Terrified of What's Inside.
Bert was looking at me with a sweet smile upon his face and before he could say anything else, we could now hear the captain speaking.
“I am sorry to interrupt you yet again, ladies and gentlemen, but it looks like we will be experiencing some turbulence on our way down to the runway. This is caused by the many side winds that occur around this season here in Osaka. It will probably seem to be quite uncomfortable for some of our passengers, but do not worry, this will last for only a couple of minutes on our way down.”
The captain’s announcement made my heart drop.
“Oh, fuck – turbulence. Now that will shake up my stomach”, Quinn complained as he sighed.
I felt my eyes bulging out and the cold sweat starting to drip from my forehead.
My heartbeat raised and my breath became short, making my mouth dry and my tongue numb.
“Hey, turbulence – huh? Ever experienced that before?”, Bert asked with a gentle smile.
“Yeah, several times. And it gets worse every time.”
“But we’re almost there, though, right? We only got the landing left and then we’re gonna get the hell off this plane, okay?”
“Yeah”, I answered, looking at him with a grateful look, but still feeling petrified.
And then it began; the turbulence.
It felt like as if the entire aircraft crashed into a meteor shower, constantly getting hit by meteor rocks at the size of buses that smashed into each side.
The plane was shaking uncontrollably, almost as if the whole thing was a snow globe, being shaken all around.
“Here – take my hand”, Bert said, reaching his hand out for me to grab. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”
His smile and the sparkling look in his eyes indicated that he meant what he said as I took his hand and held it.
I looked out of the window to my left, seeing that we were only about 100 feet above the ground.
The strong side winds were now pulling the plane, almost ripping it apart from one side to another.
I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed Bert’s hand while trying to think of something else than the frightening thought of the plane being ripped apart.
I felt his hand squeezing mine back as he gently brushed his thumb over it and gently stroking.
The aircraft suddenly landed with a loud thump, making me sink down in my seat as the plane’s wheels hit the ground.
I could hear the captain hitting the brakes so that the entire plane squeaked as we were going down the runway at a high speed.
After only a couple of seconds, which felt like minutes, the aircraft finally slowed down and I could once again breathe properly.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now arrived Kansai International Airport. On behalf of the crew and myself I would like to thank you all for flying with us and we wish you a pleasant stay here in Osaka. I hope to see you all again soon, thank you.
After the captain’s announcement, I opened my eyes and thanked God or whoever for making sure that I managed to survive this flight too.
The ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign was still on, indicating what you still needed to be seated until the plane had stopped.
I gazed out of the window, seeing nothing but a pitch black sky covered with shining bright stars with a couple of blinking flashlights coming from airplanes that had just taken off.
Bert was still holding my hand, gently stroking it as an attempt of comforting me.
He didn’t fail at all.
“Are you feeling better now?”, he smiled, looking at me with his crystal blue eyes.
“Yeah, I am. Thank you.”
He squeezed my hand and let his hand brush my cheek with a soft touch before he once again gazed out of the window.
The plane had finally stopped now, making the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign turn off, while everyone got up from their seats and started to grab their luggage.
“We gotta stick together, okay? This is a big fuckin´ airport and I’d hate to lose you”, Bert said before grabbing his black backpack from the floor.
“Yeah, sure. I won’t get lost”, I replied smiling as we all began moving slowly down the hall and towards the exit at the front of the plane.
The queue to the exit as long, but eventually we got to the main gate and found our way into the giant airport.
Nowhere had I ever seen anything this huge before.
The aircrafts that were parked outside in their gates were enormous, there were thousands of workers working out on the runway and everything was just so different from the main airport that I was used to back home in Norway.
The airport there was miniature in comparison to this one.
“Which baggage belt will our luggage be at?”, Dan asked, looking at all of us with a question mark on his face.
“I don’t know. Let’s check that board over there”, Quinn replied, walking towards a giant digital board that was hanging on the wall and showing all domestic and abroad arrivals.
“Okay, lemme see…”, he continued. “Salt Lake City, departure time 9 am, arriving Kansai at 11:20 pm. Here! Found it. It’s gate 159. We’ll get our luggage by the baggage belt there.”
“Awesome”, Jepha said before we all began walking down the hall that supposedly would lead us to the right gate.
There were people everywhere and almost every nationality was represented according to the way the people looked and dressed.
There was, of course, a majority of Asians due to the fact that we after all were in Japan.
“Hey, Quinn. The digital camera you have in your backpack – it’s got video function, right?”, Bert asked as we were walking down the terminal.
“Yeah, sure. How come?”
“I was just wonderin´ if we should record some while we’re walkin´ here.”
“Sure, good idea ”, Quinn responded, stopping to get the camera out of his brown backpack. “Here.”
“Dan, could you do the recording?”
“Totally.”
“Are we gonna record now?”, Jepha asked, clearly not knowing what was going on.
He was too wrapped up in the surroundings around him to pay attention to what we others were doing.
“Yeah”, Dan answered, now getting ready to record. “And we’re on.”
“So, we are in Japan right now, at the airport and about to get our shit from the baggage belt”, Jepha said into the camera, suddenly taking an interest.
He sure loved being in the spotlight.
“Yeah, we’re on tour and just spent the last 15 hours on a plane from Utah, with one stop in Tokyo that is, flyin´ first class. Gotta love that. But we’ll get back to you later. As for now, we gotta get our luggage and get to the hotel we’re stayin´ at, so well catch up later”, he grinned into the camera, before Dan stopped recording.
“Dude, there’s the gate we’re gettin´ our luggage”, Bert said as we all approached gate 159.
“The baggage belt hasn’t started working yet, so I guess we just have to wait”, I sighed, knowing that it could take a while before it actually did.
I’d spent a couple of hours too much at different airports waiting for my luggage to know that.
“Hey, instead of sittin´ here and wait, whaddaya say we go and get somethin´ to drink”, Bert suggested.
“Nah, I think I’ll wait here in case the luggage starts showin´ up”, Quinn answered.
“Yeah, me too”, Jepha added followed by Dan’s nod.
“Okay, sounds like a good idea. What about you, Lina – wanna come with me?”
“Sure”, I responded, following Bert down the terminal.
As he and I were walking while trying to find our way to some sort of bar where they sold beverages, the inevitable silence between us occurred again.
I’d gotten used to it and as much as I thought it would be, it wasn’t at all awkward.
“So…”, Bert began in an effort of breaking the silence. “How’re you holdin´ up?”
“What do you mean?”, I asked with a smile.
“You know, the traveling and stuff.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, it’s going great. The only thing I was worried about was the flight, but that’s over, at least for now, so everything’s great now. I mean, the traveling is tiring, but nothing to complain about.”
“Good”, he smiled while looking at me. “I really admire your patience.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Just that you’re being so cool about all of this. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d hold up.”
“I beg to differ. I haven’t done anything but to complain about how much I hate to fly. Now you’re just being nice, you liar.”
“No, I mean it!”, Bert giggled. “I really do. I guess you’re just full of surprises, aren’t ya?”
“I guess I am…”
At that point, I couldn’t do anything but smile…
“I am sorry to interrupt you yet again, ladies and gentlemen, but it looks like we will be experiencing some turbulence on our way down to the runway. This is caused by the many side winds that occur around this season here in Osaka. It will probably seem to be quite uncomfortable for some of our passengers, but do not worry, this will last for only a couple of minutes on our way down.”
The captain’s announcement made my heart drop.
“Oh, fuck – turbulence. Now that will shake up my stomach”, Quinn complained as he sighed.
I felt my eyes bulging out and the cold sweat starting to drip from my forehead.
My heartbeat raised and my breath became short, making my mouth dry and my tongue numb.
“Hey, turbulence – huh? Ever experienced that before?”, Bert asked with a gentle smile.
“Yeah, several times. And it gets worse every time.”
“But we’re almost there, though, right? We only got the landing left and then we’re gonna get the hell off this plane, okay?”
“Yeah”, I answered, looking at him with a grateful look, but still feeling petrified.
And then it began; the turbulence.
It felt like as if the entire aircraft crashed into a meteor shower, constantly getting hit by meteor rocks at the size of buses that smashed into each side.
The plane was shaking uncontrollably, almost as if the whole thing was a snow globe, being shaken all around.
“Here – take my hand”, Bert said, reaching his hand out for me to grab. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”
His smile and the sparkling look in his eyes indicated that he meant what he said as I took his hand and held it.
I looked out of the window to my left, seeing that we were only about 100 feet above the ground.
The strong side winds were now pulling the plane, almost ripping it apart from one side to another.
I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed Bert’s hand while trying to think of something else than the frightening thought of the plane being ripped apart.
I felt his hand squeezing mine back as he gently brushed his thumb over it and gently stroking.
The aircraft suddenly landed with a loud thump, making me sink down in my seat as the plane’s wheels hit the ground.
I could hear the captain hitting the brakes so that the entire plane squeaked as we were going down the runway at a high speed.
After only a couple of seconds, which felt like minutes, the aircraft finally slowed down and I could once again breathe properly.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now arrived Kansai International Airport. On behalf of the crew and myself I would like to thank you all for flying with us and we wish you a pleasant stay here in Osaka. I hope to see you all again soon, thank you.
After the captain’s announcement, I opened my eyes and thanked God or whoever for making sure that I managed to survive this flight too.
The ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign was still on, indicating what you still needed to be seated until the plane had stopped.
I gazed out of the window, seeing nothing but a pitch black sky covered with shining bright stars with a couple of blinking flashlights coming from airplanes that had just taken off.
Bert was still holding my hand, gently stroking it as an attempt of comforting me.
He didn’t fail at all.
“Are you feeling better now?”, he smiled, looking at me with his crystal blue eyes.
“Yeah, I am. Thank you.”
He squeezed my hand and let his hand brush my cheek with a soft touch before he once again gazed out of the window.
The plane had finally stopped now, making the ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign turn off, while everyone got up from their seats and started to grab their luggage.
“We gotta stick together, okay? This is a big fuckin´ airport and I’d hate to lose you”, Bert said before grabbing his black backpack from the floor.
“Yeah, sure. I won’t get lost”, I replied smiling as we all began moving slowly down the hall and towards the exit at the front of the plane.
The queue to the exit as long, but eventually we got to the main gate and found our way into the giant airport.
Nowhere had I ever seen anything this huge before.
The aircrafts that were parked outside in their gates were enormous, there were thousands of workers working out on the runway and everything was just so different from the main airport that I was used to back home in Norway.
The airport there was miniature in comparison to this one.
“Which baggage belt will our luggage be at?”, Dan asked, looking at all of us with a question mark on his face.
“I don’t know. Let’s check that board over there”, Quinn replied, walking towards a giant digital board that was hanging on the wall and showing all domestic and abroad arrivals.
“Okay, lemme see…”, he continued. “Salt Lake City, departure time 9 am, arriving Kansai at 11:20 pm. Here! Found it. It’s gate 159. We’ll get our luggage by the baggage belt there.”
“Awesome”, Jepha said before we all began walking down the hall that supposedly would lead us to the right gate.
There were people everywhere and almost every nationality was represented according to the way the people looked and dressed.
There was, of course, a majority of Asians due to the fact that we after all were in Japan.
“Hey, Quinn. The digital camera you have in your backpack – it’s got video function, right?”, Bert asked as we were walking down the terminal.
“Yeah, sure. How come?”
“I was just wonderin´ if we should record some while we’re walkin´ here.”
“Sure, good idea ”, Quinn responded, stopping to get the camera out of his brown backpack. “Here.”
“Dan, could you do the recording?”
“Totally.”
“Are we gonna record now?”, Jepha asked, clearly not knowing what was going on.
He was too wrapped up in the surroundings around him to pay attention to what we others were doing.
“Yeah”, Dan answered, now getting ready to record. “And we’re on.”
“So, we are in Japan right now, at the airport and about to get our shit from the baggage belt”, Jepha said into the camera, suddenly taking an interest.
He sure loved being in the spotlight.
“Yeah, we’re on tour and just spent the last 15 hours on a plane from Utah, with one stop in Tokyo that is, flyin´ first class. Gotta love that. But we’ll get back to you later. As for now, we gotta get our luggage and get to the hotel we’re stayin´ at, so well catch up later”, he grinned into the camera, before Dan stopped recording.
“Dude, there’s the gate we’re gettin´ our luggage”, Bert said as we all approached gate 159.
“The baggage belt hasn’t started working yet, so I guess we just have to wait”, I sighed, knowing that it could take a while before it actually did.
I’d spent a couple of hours too much at different airports waiting for my luggage to know that.
“Hey, instead of sittin´ here and wait, whaddaya say we go and get somethin´ to drink”, Bert suggested.
“Nah, I think I’ll wait here in case the luggage starts showin´ up”, Quinn answered.
“Yeah, me too”, Jepha added followed by Dan’s nod.
“Okay, sounds like a good idea. What about you, Lina – wanna come with me?”
“Sure”, I responded, following Bert down the terminal.
As he and I were walking while trying to find our way to some sort of bar where they sold beverages, the inevitable silence between us occurred again.
I’d gotten used to it and as much as I thought it would be, it wasn’t at all awkward.
“So…”, Bert began in an effort of breaking the silence. “How’re you holdin´ up?”
“What do you mean?”, I asked with a smile.
“You know, the traveling and stuff.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, it’s going great. The only thing I was worried about was the flight, but that’s over, at least for now, so everything’s great now. I mean, the traveling is tiring, but nothing to complain about.”
“Good”, he smiled while looking at me. “I really admire your patience.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Just that you’re being so cool about all of this. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d hold up.”
“I beg to differ. I haven’t done anything but to complain about how much I hate to fly. Now you’re just being nice, you liar.”
“No, I mean it!”, Bert giggled. “I really do. I guess you’re just full of surprises, aren’t ya?”
“I guess I am…”
At that point, I couldn’t do anything but smile…
♠ ♠ ♠
i only have a couple of you guys who actually comment.where have you all gone?
i'm starting to think that this story's just a waste of time. :/
xo,
lina.