Altitude

Tenzing Hillary Airport

Twenty-seven hours passed since Peter had informed about the storm and Mia's firm decision. A small twin otter fixed-wing airplane soared up in the sky, carrying fourteen passengers along with their luggage. Mia was one among them, traveling from Kathmandu towards Lukla - Tenzing Hillary Airport, the most dangerous air landing port in the World. At the elevation of more than 2800mts above ground level, the airport's runway was considered to be the shortest of all.

"The path is where you make friends..." her father used to insist but now his words got scattered in the uproar of the plane. She was in no mood to even consider talking to anyone, not even to the one she picked up, at the New Delhi airport on her way.

Mia sat away from others, burying her head in the little window - the glass forming a frame around her face like it was a measured product. The landscape laid before her eyes mesmerized her, with the misty mystics wrapped around the pine forest and green pasture, the distributed lakes and the accumulated waterfalls. A one-time opportunity was served on the silver platter to Mia thirteen years ago, by the courtesy of her brother Mithran.

It was in October of 2010, four years after her first expedition, and her third one at that, she had the aerial view of the terrain. Her startup was in 2007 when the fifteen-year-old had the best time of her life. For years, Mithra and her twin brother Mithran dreamt of the day when they could finally go on a trek with their mentor parent, watching the sceneries in real which they had seen only through their father's words for as long as they had remembered.

Trekking from Kathmandu to Lukla painted the first week of their inaugural year. The ups and downs through the little towns, the hanging bridges and the wild were hundreds of times better than what Dhruv had described all those years.

On the third year towards their favorite excursion, as Mithran directed they wanted to try the plane from Kathmandu to Lukla, skipping their trek to Lukla, saving the extra ten days of their trip. As per the usual procedure, all the three mountaineers reached the Tribhuvan International airport's domestic platform.

A corridor, a few stairs and a short turn later they stood along with ten other persons. Except for one or two, the others had mountaineering gear resembling theirs. Both the kids were excited and the father even more.

"This should be fun! Don't blame me after this..." Dhruv rubbed his hands together, smiling wide. Something was up, his mischievous face shouted, yet the kids wanted to savor all the adventures that were there to taste. Youngblood in the fire, knows no fear.

It could have been the thunder but there was no lightning and the rumble grew louder by the second. The ironic display of nature's rule happened, as the sound had reached first and the visual tumbled behind it. It appeared as small as a bee, grew large as it touched the ground, yet, it was small.

"Is that the plane from Pearl harbor?" Mia could only think of the fat airplanes from the famous movie that portrayed a part of World War II.

Staring at the peculiar miniature craft standing on the runway, Mia remembered contemplating her previous judgment. She stood grounded, mouth wide open, curiously examining the supposed to be an airplane.

"Come on, Mia," upon studying his little sister's expressive eyes, Mithran called and stretched his hand for her to take. She was like an open book, he used to say.

Sighing she did what Mithran wanted - hopped in and took a window seat just behind the cockpit, near her beloved guide.

"What's with the face?" Dhruv inquired.

"What?" Both stopped the questioning game. Dhruv went back to the pursuit of "making friends" while Mia fought to conceal the terrible feeling at the pit of her stomach.