Away

7. Up up and away

Brett took his headphones and phone out of his backpack and stored the bag in the overhead compartment.  He stowed the phone and headphones in the seat pocket and sat down at the window seat, immediately buckling his seat belt.  The little monitor in front of him was showing a loop of the flight ahead.  7 hours. Then they reach Dubai.  After an 8 hour stopover it's off to Nairobi, another change of planes and then the final flight to Cape Town.

He looked out the window. He was almost in the middle of the wing, so he could see nothing on the ground. The sky looked grey and it started to rain lightly. The plane was already full, yet more people shuffled down the isles and battled for overhead space before trampling over those already seated to take their places. The air hostesses started closing the overhead storage. He looked at the empty seat beside him. Maybe the person missed the flight. Maybe he would be lucky enough to have this piece of the plane all to himself. He leaned over to pull his phone and headphones from the seat pocket.

"Owwwch" he yelled as he is bumped hard from the side squishing him into the side of the plane. A body was leaning heavily on him. He could hear the person yell at someone "watch what your doing man!" The weight lifts off him. "I'm so sorry dude. Are you ok?" He looks up. Oh no. The guy from the coffee shop.

"Hey, you are Brettt, right?" Eddy said with a grin. "Our drinks got mixed up at the coffee shop, remember? I'm Eddy." Brett looked down at his phone. "Yes. I remember. Don't worry about it, wasn't your fault". He quickly put the headphones in his ears, leaning back and closing his eyes. Maybe if he just stays still like this the flight will be over in no time.

After a while Brett hears the roaring of the engines as they start the ascend. It always makes his stomach uncomfortable when a plane takes off. Only once they reach altitude and the engine roar quiets down he finally relaxes.  The plane will level out soon and all will be calm.  Or so he thought.  "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.  We will be entering some turbulence soon.  Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened."

Brett removes the headphones and let them fall on his lap.  With wide eyes he grips both armrests.  What he didn't notice was that Eddy's arm was resting on the armrest to his right.  Instead of gripping the armrest, he was digging his fingers into Eddy's arm.  "Hol'up there cowboy", Eddy says calmly.  With his free hand he firmly grips Brett's wrist to pull his hand off his arm.  "It will be fine", he says in a soothing voice.

Brett looks at Eddy.  "You don't know that.  People die in plane crashes all the time".  Eddy snorted.  "No they don't.  Did you know that around 1 in 2,500 people die from choking on food every year? Only 1 in 2 million die in a plane crash.  Aviophobia is common though.  Nothing to be ashamed of".

"What is aviophobia?" Brett asks.  "Oh, sorry.  The fear of flying".  Just then Eddy realized he was still holding on to Brett's wrist.  He lets go, and notices a slight blush on Brett's cheeks.  He smiles at Brett and continues.  "My brain is full of useless information.  Go ahead.  Ask me anything".