Travelling

Chapter 1- In the Skies

 At last, Chloe Kohler boarded the plane. She had spent over two hours waiting for a free spot in a small Cessna Caravan. She would now enjoy a trip to the skies and be able to see how small everything looked from above and how captivating were the Swiss Alps.

Chloe was Austrian and had spent most of her childhood in the beautiful city of Salzburg without ever visiting the tall mountains. The truth is, she preferred warmer places instead of cold, high mountains. Now she could relax inside this plane that was warm, look outside and enjoy the view without going into the cold.

The plane, however, sat on the taxiway for another ten minutes.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and asked the flight attendant:

"What are we waiting for? Why doesn't the plane take off?'

"We are waiting for another passenger".

Another passenger! She had not paid five hundred euros to share the plane with other passengers. She had been told nothing about this by anyone and would not keep quiet about this. 

She momentarily thought that by insulting the flight attendants, they would rush and shorten the duration of the travel. On second thoughts, however, she had to voice her concerns and, that way, there was a chance they would leave without the other passenger.

She rushed to the pilot, tapped him on the shoulder and almost screamed at him:

"Let me tell you something. I have paid five hundred euros to go on a tour to the mountains and I will not be waiting for some other person to board. Get this plane off the ground immediately!"

The pilot did not bother to answer. Her blood began to boil.

She moved to the door and started going down the stairs to go back to the rental office and protest about this rudeness. 

An airport employee stopped her.

"I'm sorry but walking near the runaway is very dangerous. Please go back to your aeroplane"

She ignored him and continued walking. 

She was stopped by airport officials and was dragged back to the plane. 

" I have the right to do whatever I want. I paid for this journey!" She shouted 

Then, the passenger boarded. He was not really what she expected. Not beautiful but also not ugly. 30, 35 years old. Well, that didn't matter. It was about time he got there!

"Excusez-moi Madame mais j'ai ete ebloui par le paysage. Je n'ai jamais vu quelque chose de pareil"

She quickly shook his hand and moved back to her seat to avoid any further delay. She had barely understood anything he said. She tried to tell him she doesn't speak French in German but he seemed confused. 

It didn't matter, however. Why talk with a stranger, especially when he just can't stop talking gibberish. The only thing she had understood was his name. Jean-Baptiste Brassard, he said. She mumbled in French that she couldn't understand and looked outside.

The Alps were beautiful, she thought, what a marvellous...

"Quel merveilleux paysage" said her neighbour

He then went on to say a lot of things she couldn't understand. There was something in his voice that made her incredibly annoyed.

She would find no peace and quiet with him on board.

She tried to ask him to keep quiet in French, but she messed up and he started talking again. He then asked her again:

"Parlez-vous espagnol? Portugais, peut-etre? Italien?"

She nodded at "italien".

"Certamente che parlo italiano! Lo imparato a Salzburg..."

Before she had even finished her sentence, he interrupted:

"Aren't the mountains really beautiful? My daughter really is in love with these mountains, but she wasn't allowed to board the plane. Safety precautions, they say, and my little darling has to stay down on the ground. And why? I ask you. Just because she coughed and sneezed a bit. It is not like she has some virus, they just didn't want her to board. And she is only five. What can a five-year-old do?"

Chloe now felt relieved that she did not have some five-year-old sick child shouting, screaming and coughing. Gott sei Dank.

"What about your children, Madame? Were they also denied boarding?"

She rolled her eyes. Hasn't this man learnt to be polite and not ask personal questions?

"It is not the time to talk about such things. I won't be paying money anytime soon to watch this again so why don't we just look outside at this beautiful landscape. Don't you agree, Mr Brassard?"

"Well, as Heraclitus says, You cannot step into the same river twice because everything changes. Look at the trees at the mountaintops. They may not be there next year. And these animals. Some of them might die until the next time when I am up here. Even the snow will not be the same."

She thought of an idea of how to get the man to keep quiet.

"It is true that the Swiss Alps are so beautiful. Better than the French, German or Austrian ones. In France, I have heard that they are being exploited for economic gain and the French government does nothing about it. Isn't it a pity?"

He opened his mouth but said nothing.

"Natural beauty exploited for some money. Isn't it a pity, Monsieur?"

He mumbled that it was and did not speak again.

When the plane landed, she immediately got off and queued in order to get a ticket for the beautiful journey over the Swiss Alps she had always wanted to do... alone.