Petrichor to his Heart

9.5

650 Days Later.

"Dear Guests! This is your captain Pallavi Deshmukh. Welcome onboard Flight I5 1965 from Kolkata to Bengaluru. We are expected to be in the air in approximately five minutes' time. We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time. Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones. Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the flight. Enjoy your flight and a very Happy Holi." after the announcement Pallavi switched off the mic and checked through the final moments before the takeoff.

There was a time she loved being with her family and then with him on festivals especially Holi as it used to be his festival as he claimed, the way he and his teammates played dirty on Holi were her favorite tales he would often tell her but after him just like everything lost its color this festival of colors too was brazen with blank ness for her.

It was her who had ended it for them but when they met after years she could understand his reasons, the secrecy he had to maintain for the sake of himself and for his family, it would not be a lie that she wanted to reconcile with him but just before turning his back to her he had ended every possibility for them. Two years was a long time to think about it and at times she felt he knew he would not make it that is why he kept telling her to forget everything... what kind of a thrill this life gave him where death was just like breathing the air, you didn't know which breath would mean the last one.

She was afraid to ask his family, unable to press their still hurting wound but a few weeks after she came back from Poland she mustered up all her courage and called his sister who gave her the answer she had often heard about military men MISSING IN ACTION. And after that, she had no courage left to call her again, and slowly when no one noticed she started secluding herself from everyone.

If it was anything that kept her sane in the last two years' time then it was her work; she worked, ate, and slept as if nothing else mattered. of course, she tried to be with her family and her friends but something was lost forever she started believing eventually they will all leave her, and the more she kept herself busy she was not reminded of that fateful day when he left her and didn't turn back to her. Even that day she was nothing more than his country, nothing more than his duty, nothing more than a human he was given the responsibility to bring back to her home safely.

"Captain, we ready?" the first officer, a young boy barely in his early 20s enquired after he was done with the checklist. This was her problem she kept zoning out whenever there was nothing to do.

"Yeah..." and just like that the Work mode was ON leaving his memories somewhere behind the noise the big rotors of the engines made. The next few minutes went smoothly as they reached the requisite altitude and only after her companion for this flight turned off the seat belt button which would mean passengers were free to make small movements Pallavi dialed to the cabin crew for a strong coffee.

"has there been a tough journey, I mean a rough landing or an emergency?" The guy named Naman asked her, it was their first time flying together. Being a senior she was used to flying along with young trainees and they often asked such questions when the flight was set on autopilot and both of them had nothing good to do.

"Domestic flights are good so far other than a foggy or stormy day for general flying. as far landing is concerned, you must already be aware of tabletop runways... that's something we pilots want to give our undivided attention no matter how many times we have used that one." she could recall one of the airports of Kerala where she had to make a landing during the rainy season and just half an hour before her ETA she was asked for a detour as one of the international flight has crashed after skidding the runway.