Wednesday, August 5, 2009

The Night of the Flight



The sunlight crept through the blinded windows. The house was still fast asleep. Outside the gentle summer window blew, making the leaves of the berry tree sway in a slow rhythm. The birds chirped and somewhere a baby cried.
I woke up from a deep slumber and immediatly sat up rubbing my eyes.

"Yes! The 18th of June, atlast!" I mentally screamed.

This was the day I was waiting for. Actually I was waiting for the night, when we will be at the airport to fly to India.
I jumped out of the bed and ran towards the bathroom, yelling at my sister to wake up as I went by.
It was too late for breakfast so we had a brunch of noodles and leftover pizza from the last night.
The dishes clinked into the basin and a pair of hands hurriedly scrubbed, dried and put them away.

"Kiddos, please make sure you packed everything," Mom called over the roar of the vacuum cleaner.

We checked and rechecked everything. By the evening Dad had taped and roped all the boxes. The bags were all locked. The fridge was emptied. The new black robes (burqa) hung in the closet.
Everyone fidgeted. The flight was at 11:59 pm and we were scheduled to leave the house at sharp 9 pm immediatly after "isha" prayer.
The prayer got over, the mat was folded and put away.

"Come on, ladies,"Dad yelled from the doorway."We will get late if you don't hurry."
"Wait, wait!" cried my sister, as my Dad took one of the bags to load it into the car.

I got the burqa over my head when the telephone rang shrilly.

"Damn it," I cussed, as I ran to the hall to get to the phone, nearly tripping over the burqa in the process.

"Hello?" I nearly yelled into the phone.

"Hello..um, Is this Ruby?" a timid voice squeaked over the other end.

I grinned. It was a friend.

" Yeah it is."

"Hey, I called to wish you a happy and safe journey. Take care..and ooh, you seem to be in a hurry. Bye...see you!" she spoke hurriedly as my mother's angry voice carried over the pandemonium, telling me to put down the phone and get ready.

" Yeah, thanks...Bye ..ciao!" I hastily answered and replaced the phone back on the set.
Finally after about 15 minutes of utter confusion, everyone was ready and everything was in order.
The lights were switched off, the gas turned off and house securely locked.
We stepped out of the gate into the hot summer night.
We got into the car ( one of Dad's friends had offered to drop us off at the airport) and set off.

After what seemed a long ride we arrived at the airport. Goodbyes were said and we trooped inside the cool airport. The air around us was electric with excitement. We passed through the customs and everything.
At the luggage check-in an unexpected disaster(?) nearly took place.
The man in charge told us that our luggage weight exceeded the limit and we might have to pay KD 100 fine.

Dad's face was unreadable.
Mom's eyes widened.
I and sis exchanged nervous glances.
The man did something on the computer.
My sister's fist clenched and unclenched.
I shuffled my feet, silently praying to God to help us.
God heard and answer came that we don't have to pay.
Dad looked relieved. Mom shook her head. Me and sis exchanged gleeful looks and silent high-fives.
The rest of the way to the boarding area we grinned and joked.
It was a bit windy. A strong gust of wind blew and my sister nearly fell from the stairs leading to the plane.
I caught her just in time and started giggling uncontrollably. Mom threw me a disapproving look and sis grinned sheepishly.

(Hey, It's not my fault! I was feeling very gleeful about the whole trip and I guess the wind tickled my funny bone!)
We boarded the plane. Yay! Finally! I scampered over to get the window seat while my sister glared. Hehe!
The Captain spoke. Safety instructions were issued. Seat belts clicked together and we all waited with bated breath.
Boy! I love take-off's. I love the way the plane starts moving slowly on the runway and bit by bit gains speed and finally with a deafening roar , launches into the air.
In a short time we were in the air.
Its a 3 hour flight to Bombay. We watched Om shanti Om. After that I dozed off. When my eyes finally opened the sunlight was pouring in through the shuttle windows. The Captain was announcing that we will be soon landed at the airport. I peered out of the window and saw the water covered areas and the green here and there. My heart lifted with joy.
Hip hip hooray!! We reached!!
I wanted to get up and dance!
We landed and went off to get the luggage.
The crows cawed and cool wind blew.
Aah..! *grins*
What happened next?

2 comments:

  1. Getting back home for the holidays! What can be more exciting? You have conveyed it v well.

    Of course the euphoria does wear off as I saw in your connected post

    ReplyDelete