Take Flight - Josie's journey #Wattys2017

Chapter 5: The bucket list

Carefully I fastened my seatbelts and oppressed the urge to check up again on my passport, boarding ticket and wallet. I knew exactly where it was, I'd only put it away in my backpack minutes ago, right before boarding the plane. The petite stewardess had handed me the ticket and passport with a beaming smile, wishing me a pleasant journey.

Still, I felt utterly nervous, desperately wanting to assure myself that my belongings were really where I'd put them. Forcefully I took a deep breath.

Calm down, Josie. If something was missing, you wouldn't have made it that far.

I leant back in my seat and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the air that filled my lungs and left it, repeating my pep talk like a mantra.

You can do this!

Slowly, I felt my grip loosening on the armrest. I extended my legs, relaxing my tensed muscles. Concentrating on my body, I noticed my gritted teeth, causing my jaw to hurt. With each breath I took, I concentrated on another strained muscle in my body and forcefully relaxed it, one by one.

Eventually, I calmed down and opened my eyes again. The plane was pretty packed by now, the two seats next to me, however, remained empty. In the row next to me sat an elderly couple. They had put their heads together and studied a book. Telling by the conversation I overheard, it was a tourist guide about Rome.

"It says here that Circus Maximus was built in a valley between the Palatine and Aventine. Emperor Augustus placed an Obelisk there in the year 10 b.c. which is situated at the Piazza del Popolo these days. The Circus Maximus was the biggest Circus of its time in Rome. Isn't that marvellous, Freddy?"

The sight of the couple put a smile on my face. The way he looked at her and nodded, not interrupting her even though he could read every word by himself, was so pure and sweet. Love affected by years of not only blissful times, yet stronger than ever. The kind of love I thought I'd found in Dom.

The moment his name entered my thoughts, my nerves were on alert, quickly searching for a way to distract me. My eyes rested on the khaki backpack that was tucked under the seat in front of me. Mechanically like a robot I grabbed it and started to rummage around in it. Not that I was looking for something in particular, it was just a desperate attempt to find something interesting.

And indeed, I got hold of a little package. Carefully wrapped in orange paper with a flamingo print, it was sitting on top of my belongings. Hannah, who'd given me a lift to the airport, had handed it to me at the check-in.

"A little something, so you won't forget me." She'd said with a smile on her face.

"As if I could ever forget you. You've been my rock the past few weeks, I don't think I can ever forget about that."

Saying goodbye to her had been bittersweet. There was this one side of me that couldn't wait for the plane to take off, couldn't wait to leave the country.

Once I had decided on going away, I was eager for the day of departure to arrive. Every waking minute I hadn't spent working, was filled with planning. I hadn't realised how difficult it was to plan a journey. I hadn't even managed to buy a ticket on my own. Was it cheaper to buy a ticket to Rome via easy jet or would it strategically be better to buy an Around The World ticket? Questions I couldn't answer myself but luckily I had Hannah. She'd proven to be my fairy godmother and was determined to make this journey happen.

"You need this and I won't let you chicken out of it."

Which made it very hard to leave her behind. There'd been a few nights that I dreamed about asking her to come with me. In my imagination we were having this amazing trip, just the two of us, living every teenage girl's dream. I even suggested it to her one evening. But she politely refused.