Blizzard Spirit

2- The Day I was on the Air

Packing. Packing. Packing was all I did the next day. No school, not even a dust devil in sight from my window. Mom pleaded me to add all the long sleeves I had, which was not a lot to say the least. Travelling from one of the hottest places to the coldest, not a good idea. Not just because I honestly hate the idea of taking a trip to Alaska, but because of the psychological issues due to the dramatic change. I'm no scientist, but that must have some influence on a person's mind. Especially mine.

After I loaded all the bags I owned with clothes (you never know what you're going to need) I tugged them with my weak arms to the truck. Hollywood wasn't anything like this. If only Benjie would of chosen the Bahamas! Swimsuits do weigh less than parkas, that's my argument.

We drove all the way to Ontario, which took about 2 hours of meaningless driving. From there we boarded a small plane, and flew all the way to about Seattle. I would of liked to stay a bit longer there, I've heard the best shopping was downtown. But of course, Benjie didn't like it one bit and we boarded the first plane to Anchorage. The flight again was life-long. Staring into a white blotch of a cloud wasn't that exciting usually, but today a slight break of the milky mass was the headline news in my mind.

I thought of what Katie and my other friends would be doing now. I turned on my phone and checked to see if I had any messages. None. Benjie and mom were bothering the stewardess as I leaned back and tried to clear my mind. Nothing was better than a cat-nap is what Benjie would say after a long work day at the warehouse. I was swimming with dolphins. A cute guy smiled to me from the beach. Their serene clicks made it feel as if I were somewhere far, far away from here. A place off the shore of a palm tree-infested island. That's were I was. Maui.

The plane flew all through the night, and I  was awoken to the sunrise. The first sign was the brilliant orange hue to the clouds, then as the time went on, the sun came shining brighter than I could remember. The clouds and sky were so red and breathtaking, I stared at it more than I should of and when I looked over to the stewardess a large black blob held in my vision. She mentioned that we were scheduled to land at noon to Anchorage.  The place of snow storms and cold, like all of Alaska. At least I slept through most of the flight.

The farthest place I have ever flown, other than here to Alaska, would of been to Idaho. I went to see my relatives there, and I got to go to Silverwood. I was only ten, and it was one of my happiest memories. To say in short, I haven't been to anywhere far in my life. The west coast was my home that I liked to cling to, I had no drive to explore the sights of the world.  Benjie was the opposite. He'd always talk about this interesting new country he had found out about in one of his documentaries. Somewhere like Zambia or Nepal. I would answer, 'too bad you can't' and snicker to myself. That was me, mean ol' Charlotte.

The pilot commented, "Anchorage is only a few hours ahead of us, passengers. Feel free to ask the stewardess' if there is anything you need." I called one out of the cabin and requested a orange juice and pancake breakfast. I hadn't eaten anything for five hours after all. Benjie was in a good mood and allowed me to get a doughnut too. There goes my two-day diet. We're probably going to eat tons of junk food anyway at the cabin. The food came out, and my senses went crazy. As I devoured the meal, a teenage girl about the same age as me looked back and laughed to herself. "You like pancakes I can see." Her hair was all up in a pony-tail, and to add to the look she wore glasses, she looked like a model geek. "Yes, I do. And may I add that anyone who doesn't I don't want to talk to." She put a grim look on her face, but sprung back up in an unnatural way. " I never said I don't like pancakes. Everyone does. My name is Angelina." She's trying to make friends. I didn't like that. I'd rather be a loner sometimes. "My father owns a wolf habitat up here outside of Point Hope. I'm going to see him. Wolves are my favorite animal in the world." I made a 'that's nice' tilt of my head and with my mouth stuffed with pancake I bet I looked ridiculous. Apparently Benjie overheard Angelina talking and he replied, "Oh, I love wolves too. Did you know that they can adopt a human into their pack? I read about it in this book, they are very intelligent creatures." I was done with this conversation.

I checked my phone and it was eleven. A message popped up on the screen. I was Katie. Her message was, 'Charlotte, I don't know what I did wrong, and I'm sorry. I just want to wish you a good time in Alaska. Plz text back.' Ugh, Katie was apologizing. I rolled my eyes and my mom peeped her eyes onto the screen. "Charlotte, forgive her. If she's apologizing, take it. You might not feel as depressed over the trip." She was very caring, and motherly-like, but what I liked about her is that she understood what it's like to be a teen, drama, boys, trips to Alaska. She did I guess until now. I thought about accepting it, and becoming friends. I wasn't ready to make a decision then.

We finally landed at 12:15 and I picked out every last bag of mine from the luggage. Anchorage was cold. Even if it was spring, snow was covering outside of the airport. Benjie's face showed utter excitement. It was his dream to go to Alaska since the day he was born. Why did he have to go with me, I wondered. Our next flight to the destination of our cabin was supposed to take off in the morning of the next day. I was stuck here, in Anchorage for a whole day. The skies were crystal blue, it was like looking into the ocean in Malibu, which only made my stomach ache more. We went to an Inuit trading shop right next to the airport to buy some arctic equipment. Benjie bought three parkas, three fluffy sleeping bags, which I hoped weren't real animal fur, and a bucket load of other items I couldn't name myself. To be honest I was actually a bit scared for the trip. When Angelina and Benjie were talking about wolves, I overheard what sort of animals lived up here. I knew that wolves never really came near humans, but bears and wolverines can kill someone like me. I knew Benjie wouldn't ever let that happen though, I hoped.

Mom and Benjie found a good room to spend the night, one with extra-warm blankets and a very efficient heating system. There I looked at Katie's message once more, I thought again but didn't act on it.