Totem

Chapter One: First Flight

The sight of the airport itself was daunting, everything inside me told me to run away. The wild rush of people everywhere was horrible, and put me on edge. My mother knew my exact feelings, so she persisted in forcing me towards the plane. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me through customs and bag checks, everything that I had never experienced before. 

"Alright, can we go home now?" I hissed at my mother as we were all piled onto a small bus and driven across a runway. I tugged at my mothers necklace but she just stared ahead, smiling. 

"Child, do you not want to visit your father's research centre?" She asked me, raising her eyebrows. I could see her holding back a smile.

"Not like this." I snapped back, feeling nauseous in the strange movement of the bus. I felt a little light-headed as the bus came to a sudden stop, beside a huge metal monster. 

"Right this way, enjoy your flight!" The Air hostess chirped cheerfully at me as I reluctantly boarded the plane. "Lighten up honey, you look traumatised!" She giggled. 

"Yes, it's Ebony's first flight." My mother chipped in, smiling widely. "She's a bit scared."

"Mother" I hissed, elbowing her in the ribs. 

"What a lovely little necklace! I'm sure your little flying bird will give you faith in flying!" The air hostess giggled. I stared at her blankly for a short moment, before walking after my mother. She signalled for me to sit down beside her, and strapped me in.

"Goodness sake, I'm not a baby." I complained, swiping at my mother. She sunk down in her seat, getting ready to fall asleep, as she always would on long trips. I looked out of the window, the height already being too high for my liking, and we hadn't even started flying. Four men were grudgingly throwing in suitcases and other luggage into the airplane's storage, laughing at each other and not really paying attention to the outside world. I fiddled with my necklace for a bit, waiting for the plane to take off.

"We are shortly delayed as this airplane is being refuelled." A woman on the intercom announced in a relaxed tone. I sighed shortly as I looked out of the window, fear settling inside my heart. 

"I need the toilet." I whispered nervously as I pushed past my mother and strode down the aisle. I slammed the bathroom door behind me, making someone on the other side jump. I chuckled to myself, trying to listen to anything else on the other side of the door. There was a noisy murmer of chatting people in the carriage, but I realized I could almost perfectly hear conversation from inside the pit of the plane. 

"There's a problem." A voice crackled, most likely from a radio. There was nothing but static noises for a couple of seconds. "There is a problem with the refuelling system. We need to delay this flight until the error has been corrected."

"Is that compulsory?" A different voice answered, this one clearer. It was probably one of the crew, most likely the pilot. "We are already minus one on time."  

"It is possible to stop to refuel at the following locations. Spain, Egypt, and Rio. Allow me to work out the best flight path." A few seconds of silence went by.

"We shall stop shortly in Rio, please contact the airport for confirmation. Route set for South America." 

"Affirmative. Prepare for take-off." A couple of seconds later, a loud rapping on my door made me jump. 

"Lift-off in 2 minutes, please! Please return to your seats!" A loud peppy voice shouted from the other side of the door. I quickly opened the door, seeing a hundred eyes on me. I shuffled back to my seat, feeling the glares of everybody in my carriage on my back. 

"We're stopping in Rio." I told my mother, leaning slightly towards her. She turned her head slowly and stared at me with bored eyes. 

"No, we're not. It's a direct flight." She croaked, going back to reading her old magazine. I rolled my eyes. 

"Yes we are, we have to stop there to refuel." I informed her, slouching back into my chair. Suddenly, the carriage started to subtly shake and roar. I screwed up my eyes and lent against my mother, feeling panicked. 

"What." She snapped, sounding slightly irratated. "Look, just have this." She said. After waiting a few seconds, she nudged me. I looked up at her and she was holding come very brightly coloured sweets. "It'll make you feel better." She smiled. 

"Alright." I whispered, taking the sweets offered. They were sickly sweet, but filled me with a calm feeling. "Wow, what are they?" I asked, slightly dazed. 

"Sleeping pills made into sweets." My mother admitted. I forced my eyelids back open. 

"Wait, what? Mother!" I complained angrily, yawning hugely. 

"You'll thank me later, darling." She smiled at me. A feeling of extreme fatigure came over me, and I flopped back into my chair, and fell asleep. 

...

"Ebony!" My mother screamed, shaking me violently. I opened my eyes, hearing yells and screams around me. I was jerked around awfully, causing my head to hit the sides of the chair and the plane. The plane itself was shaking horribly, much worse than the beginning. 

"What's going on?" I gasped, gripping the sides of my chair. "Mother!" I screamed, hot tears running down my face. My stomach was full of butterflies and my jaw tensed so much I could barely talk. Orange lights flashed around on the roof of the airplane, and oxygen masks dropped down. 

"It's the crew's fault!" Someone screamed from behind me. 

"Get a hold of yourself!" Someone else yelled back. "It must be an attack!" It was utter chaos, babies and adults alike were screaming their heads off. 

"Everyone remain calm, repeat, everyone remain calm." A voice blasted over the intercom. A few people were running around in the aisle, but most people had their head between their legs. But then, the lights flashed back on and the plane stopped shaking. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. 

"No..." my mother whispered, looking straight ahead of her. I let out a scream as a blinding blue light filled my surroundings and forced me back into my seat. The plane seemed to sharply swerve to the right, and slightly downwards. Once again, the entire plane shook violently and the screams of fear returned. I gripped my mothers hand as hard as I could and curled myself up. All of the lights switched off, and showed no sign of coming back on. The electricity had failed, the plane had failed.

"We're going to die!" I cried, feeling my body getting ready to faint. 

"Hush child!" My mother snapped, staring right at me. Once again, a blinding blue light overcame me and I sank quickly into darkness. 

...

I woke up in a state of confusion. Alone, no plane, still strapped in my chair and looking at the Amazon Rainforest, from 30,000 feet in the air.