It's been a Year

Dylana

It's not my first flight, but it's definitely the most horrible one yet. My little sister, Helia, has fallen asleep and is probably dreaming about her first Chicago Hot Dog. Of course, I'm also looking forward to that, but I was starting to doubt that we would arrive safely in the first place. After a quick glance at my television I see that they stopped showing where we currently are. That probably means that the crew has no idea where we are. Great. That's what I fear most, to make an emergency landing in the middle of the ocean and die like Jack and Rose from Titanic. Just that I have no Jack. Not anymore. I bite my lip. 'Stop thinking about it, it's been over for more than a year now', I tell myself. After an unsuccessful search for my headphones I turn to look out of the small window. Our business class seats give us a perfect view over the Ocean. I squint to see if I can see land. Nothing. In the front there are a couple of flight attendants talking to each other nervously. The one turns around and spots me looking at them. Ashamed I turn to my television and decide to watch another movie. I look at the recommendations and the first movie that comes up is Titanic. Great. Is this a fortune teller? I keep scrolling through the suggestions. The Smurfs, Harry Potter, La La Land, Kissing booth. I click on the last one. As the movie starts and I see how the main character Elle is dancing around with her best friend Lee, I start to miss my best friends back in London. Logan is probably meeting Riley. Aria is probably walking through Oxford Street and looking for funny socks. My other friends are also away but I had forgotten where. But they have doubtlessly also forgotten where I was heading, so I don't feel bad. In the movie, Elle is now kissing Lee's big brother Noah. He's good-looking but definitely not my type. My thoughts drift back to him. I force my eyes to focus on the movie, but my brain can't focus on anything else. Our good-bye was a few days ago. Just a 'bye' when he got out of the Underground. Nothing spectacular for him, because he won't be the one missing me while I'm touring the USA. ,,Dylana, is everything okay?" I hear my mom's voice and turn around. I nod and ask her what's going on. Shrugging, she says: ,,I think we have to do a stopover somewhere. Make sure Helia sleeps through this." Again, I nod and turn to Helia. She's still curled up on her seat like a hedgehog. Her blonde hair is messy and hanging in her face. With a silent sigh I stroke the hair out of her face and watch her chest move while she breathes softly. I'm so glad she's asleep. She's terrified of flying and she only fell asleep because my dad had mixed a sleeping tablet into her nuts. I have no idea how she ate it without realizing, but she sure did, because after fifteen minutes she was knocked out. What a relief. ,,Hello, this is an announcement from the cockpit. We are going to make a stopover because we are very low on fuel." At these words many people start screaming. ,,No need to panic, ladies and gentlemen. We have enough fuel to land." Now people are shouting and asking where we're going to land. The flight attendants are literally running through the aisles and trying to calm the passengers, but they have no success. Many are now getting out of their seats and storming to the cockpit. Obviously they won't get in there, so I don't get the point of this frenzy. ,,EVERYONE PLEASE BE SEATED!" The pilot's shout makes everyone shut up and slowly all the mad passengers are heading back to their seats. Helia is still fast asleep. Wow, that sleeping tablet is really effective. Maybe I should take one myself. I turn around to my parents that are sitting behind us and see my dad asleep too. With a questioning look on my face I turn to my mom and she holds up the box with the sleeping tablets. Oh, so my dad took one too. If we weren' in the middle of nowhere, I'd probably laugh. A few people are still complaining and the flight attendants are trying to calm them down. ,,In the next hour we will land in Cape Town, South Africa." What? Cape Town isn't on our route at all! ,,We were avoiding a huge storm and took a detour. Please stay calm and remain on your seats while the crew will prepare for landing." My mom taps my shoulder and her face shows relief. We know where and that we're landing and that's enough to calm us down for now. ,,I've heard that Cape Town is beautiful, maybe we even get to stay there overnight." The excited tone in my mother's whisper makes me smile. I try to imagine Cape Town. Will it be green? Or like a desert? Will there be lions wandering around? With a glance I make sure that nobody's paying attention to me. Then I say something, that Colson Davis had said to me many times: ,,You'll have to wait and see."