A Moment in Time

Zachary, Age 12

Cotswald Academy – Homeschool

 

   I was scared but excited.  Next to me, my Mom sat holding gum at the ready for me to chew while the plane took off so my ears wouldn’t hurt.  My Dad was telling me about the flights, sights and was showing me a diagram of the next airport.  I could hear the motors starting and could feel the vibrations in my seat.

 

  I looked at the line of people waiting to sit down.  There, at the front, was an elderly lady with beautiful gray hair, wonderful twinkling eyes and bright, colorful socks that were covered with huge rainbow polka dots.  She seemed so nice and friendly.  She also looked as if she’d never been on a plane ever in her life.  She looked more nervous than me.  She was fidgeting.  She kept adjusting her dress – pulling down one sleeve then the other – and fluffing her hair.  Her eyes were darting around the cabin searching for all the available exits as she helped her granddaughter buckle her seat belt.  Her granddaughter had red hair pulled into pigtails that stuck out and she wore a ruffled pink dress.  She looked just like Pippi Longstocking.  Unlike her grandmother, the girl didn’t seem bothered one bit.  I suppose that she had been on airplanes many times before.  I wondered if they were going to the same place we were and if the grandmother would be nervous there too.  Maybe it wasn’t just the flight that was making her twitchy.  Maybe it was just her.  Or a side effect of a medication.

 

   Behind them, was a tall man in a business suit.  He had jet black hair, a boring black tie and a serious expression.  His briefcase was also black and looked heavy.  He wasn’t very interesting to me.  Probably just some executive wishing he was going on  vacation instead of working.  Or maybe he liked to work a lot and was planning on how to spend the millions he was making.  Was he deciding whether his Porsche should be red or what color Italian marble to use in the bathroom?  He was followed by a woman in a flowing butterfly jumper with short brown hair and glasses.  I realized she looked just like a librarian I knew.  She was carrying a cute little brown dog with perky ears in a canvas bag.  Through the mesh of the bag, I could see the dog’s small pink tongue hanging out.  I wondered where they were going.  Maybe the dog was a rare breed and they were going to compete in a dog show.  Or maybe the dog was going to be on a TV commercial.  Wow, wouldn’t that be neat?  I could tell all my friends that I had sat near the dog that was on TV.  I wondered if I should ask for an autograph or would that be a pawgraph?!

 

   The last group of people I could see over the back of the seat in front of me were a woman, a man and a tiny girl who was carrying a Dora the Explorer shirt, pants, socks, sneakers, hat and even glasses.  The woman was carrying a large clear vinyl bag which contained crayons, boxes, a juice box holder, crackers, cheese, bagels, lollipops, jelly beans, cookies, popcorn, jello, custard, candied fruit, caramel apples, brownies, chocolates, rice crispy treats, gum drops, activity books, paper dolls, Madlibs, and crafts to make snowflakes, towel animals, and even a Dora character out of pompoms.  The woman reminded me of my mother – always planning ahead and ready for any emergency.  The man was hoisting all six of their huge suitcases into the cramped overnight compartment.  I wondered if he would be able to fit them all in.  I was also curious about the contents of the suitcases.  I wished I could see what was in them.  After noticing what was in the woman’s bag, I imagined the suitcases had everything but the kitchen sink!  This family wasn’t going on a vacation – they were moving there!

 

   I noticed the stewardess taking out cups from her large, silver beverage cart and I heard the pilot talking to the tower over the intercom in a deep voice.  I was thinking about counting the number of cups the stewardess was stacking next to the cans of soda or the number of seats I could see in front of me to take my mind off the airplane itself.  I was so nervous, I had a lump in my throat and I was sweating.  I wondered if looking out the little round window at the tiny people bustling around the wing way down below on the tarmac would be a better distraction but decided against it.  And to make matters worse, I noticed in the magazine holder attached to the seat in front of me, a crisp white bag sticking out.  I could feel myself beginning to really panic as a voice in my mind shouted, “why would the airplane have bags to throw up in?”