She says all the right words before I even know what the right words are

Ukuleles, game machines, music, photos, films, walking, jogging, the beach, trees, food, coke, milk, coconuts, cats, zoos, hearty laughter, shy smiles, trying, honesty, rain, the sun, lying down, silence, bowling, football, tennis, loyalty, headphones, running shoes, girls with long hair, girls with short hair, girls with ? hair, London, randomness, friendship, Paris, adventure, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Tokyo, Bruges, KUALA LUMPUR, home, train rides, bus rides, lakes, hills, mountains, chocomel, ayam penyet, caffe nero, blue, cool water, Smells from the past, star filled sky, the moon, an alley oop, nfl, faith, the internet, untalkative bunny, batman, cameras, minecraft,

Tbc

“Here we go again..”

Freeman looks out the window and sees the world outside unnaturally tilt 45 degrees. Everything rumbles and daunting, unfamiliar noises flood his ears.

The plane bulldozes through the clouds and everything rumbles harder. There’s a white tint to the view outside now. Every other minute, that little semi circle in his ears tells him that the plane has jolted up or down or sideways and his heart misses a beat. Under his held breath, he curses the scientists who are so slow to invent teleportation technology. 

Freeman isn’t afraid of flying. Why would he be ? He’s afraid of the plane crashing into the ground and bursting into flames. He’s even more afraid of the plane crashing into the middle of the South China Sea, damning all 200 people on board to a watery grave. He pictures oxygen masks drooping from the ceiling and he sees himself securing his own mask before helping others. He imagines the look of horror and regret in the loved ones around him. He hears the voices of prayer and cries of horror all around him in his mind. The world outside seen through the window is at an eerie angle. He thinks of finally meeting his Maker. The things he didn’t get to do in life. The goodbyes and thank yous he would have liked to say. He thinks about how much this sucks. 

Back in the real world. The seatbelt sign’s been turned off with an audible ding and Freeman can finally breathe again. The old lady in the opposite aisle seat, who was crying and reciting prayers in his mind a minute ago, is actually sleeping with a tired grin on her face. He looks to the front of the plane. The stewardesses are laughing at each other’s jokes as they prepare the in-flight meals. 

“How are these people so relaxed ?” he thinks to himself. 

It’s been a long time since he’s been able to sleep on one of these. Not since that flight with heavy turbulence that made him realise how bad and terrifying it can get. Now he never gets a moment’s rest on board. Once in a while, that song about how men aren’t meant to fly gets into his head. He remembers the Munich air disaster, that air crash scene from The Grey and many unlucky things that shouldnt be popping into his head at this moment. He shakes his head and it goes away.. at least for now. 

He knows he is being stupid. He knows that he is safer now in the air than in the taxi ride he took to the airport a few hours ago. On the tarmac, there are a hundred things that could go wrong. A careless driver, a badly maintained car, a deep pothole in the middle of the road. Any of these could cause him to smash through the windshield and break his skull on impact. Yet, in the swaying and rumbling taxi, he slept like a baby. 

Freeman’s usually reliable logic abandons him on airplanes. Possibly he’s checked it in together with his luggage and it’s waiting to rejoin him on arrival.