Evergreen

Chapter 25

Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase - Martin Luther King Jr.

*

In the RAF cadets centre, a certain boy with ash-brown hair sat sleepily sipping on a mug of tea. A kiss planted on his cheek took him by surprise.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," teased Amelia, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend like a monkey.

"It's so early," said Everett with a yawn, placing his mug of tea on the table and reciprocating the hug.

"It's never too early to fly!"

Everett grinned. "That's true."

That day's training talk covered topics that the pair already knew about – like safe landings and dealing with emergencies – but it was reassuring to have a reminder.

Half an hour later, all the cadets were up in the air in their planes, cruising around while they awaited instruction.

"I want you all to practise safe landings," said Sally on the radio. "I will call you one by one. First up, Jade Castillo."

Everett rolled his eyes. Sally always called on Jade to go first as she was such a shining example of a young pilot. As predicted, she performed a perfect landing.

Cadet after cadet followed until it was Everett's turn. Having done safe landings for years now, he was accustomed to the procedure. Descending slowly, decreasing speed, getting just the right angle... It was a little trickier than usual owing to the relatively strong winds, but Sally was pleased with his landing.

It was only upon re-ascending into the sky that Everett began to feel uneasy. The clouds, so white when he'd flown up earlier, had darkened to a deep shade of grey. A few drops of rain fell onto his windscreen, triggering the windscreen wipers. A few drops multiplied into an army that aggressively pelted against the planes. And then came a ravenous rumble of thunder.

"Cadets retreat. It is no longer safe to fly. Land as quickly and safely as possible."

Everett's heartbeat hammered as he saw a flash of lightning. Never had he known a storm to come on so swiftly and unexpectedly – it certainly hadn't been on the weather forecast. What if it struck a plane? Were planes lightning-proof? He couldn't remember, he couldn't remember – his hands were shaking violently, and his head was spinning, and he needed to calm down to keep his plane securely in the air, so he took a deep breath and counted down from ten. Once, and then again. Feeling a bit better, Everett looked around to see if it was safe for him to land. All seemed well, so he set off. 

There was a flash of lightning.

A tremendous jolt shook his plane.

The plane spun scarily, making Everett flip upside down and fall back into his seat again several times over. He noted a sizeable dent behind the cockpit – a wing-shaped dent – and frantically checked his control board to assess the damage. The situation was dire. Not only had another plane dented his own, it had also damaged his left propeller.

The plane was free-falling through the sky no matter how much Everett tried to control it. Panic pulsed in every part of his body; he jammed his fist into his mouth to stop himself screaming. Despite the anxiety, however, he knew just what to do.

'Please don't make me face a fate like Goose's,' he prayed, hoping God might listen.

Pressing the ejection button, Everett was propelled into the air and out of the plane in his leather seat. A parachute materialised and filled with air, slowing his descent. Looking down, he saw the wreck of his plane and the terrified faces of the cadets and Sally. And floating just below him was... Amelia?