Take-off

Aeroplanes seemed like the closest I could get to being a bird, that is why I have always loved them. Even if it was only an hour’s flight I would force my parents to take to the window seat so that I could look out at the sky. Being above the clouds gave me the most exciting feeling, nothing could compare. I never even turned on the entertainment system, while my brothers played video games I would look out of the window for hours. Sometimes when it was dark outside I would put my torch out of the window for me to see, but the cabin crew didn’t appreciate that since it could create problems for nearby planes.

One time when I went on a flight and my dad asked the pilot if I could see their cabin. They were a little hesitant but let me in for a peak. That’s when I fell in love. A billion switches, and the massive window right at the front of the plane it felt like I had gone into one of my dreams. I couldn’t believe it. From that moment on I knew that I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up. I did everything for it. I studied physics day and night. I would read the flyers digest. I would even go to the arcade every second day just to practice on the flight simulator game. I was determined. In the middle when I was about 14 I drifted towards wanting to be a singer but that got out of the way as soon as I began singing in front of people.

Then the moment came. I applied to flight school at the end of high school. The waiting game began. When will they reply? What will they say? Will they take me or not? Will I be able to get a good job afterwards? Do I wanna fly commercial? Should I become a fighter pilot? All these questions would continuously pop into my head, but I never really could think of an answer or solution to them. To be honest I was scared. I thought I would maybe make a mistake. My mistake could cost thousands of lives. It could cost people their livelihoods. All these variables dependent on me began to build pressure even though I hadn’t even been accepted yet.

An email came to my account at around five in the morning, it read “Congratulations! You have been accepted into our pilot programme and can join us for the next 3 years at our facility in England.” I could not believe it. I was there. I had reached where I had wanted to be my entire life. yet something felt off. I felt even more worried as to what would happen in the future. Maybe it was just nervousness. Yet something about my worry felt very real. Just a feeling, in my stomach. Twirling in and out.

It did not matter though. Because I was flying to London the next week. A flight ticket with my name on it was already ready. My bags managed to pack themselves and my feet continued to move yet I was stuck in the same thought. A dream would come to me each day. I am flying a plane; Everything is going great. We take off and I blink for one second. The next thing I know the plane is sinking and I am the only survivor in the middle of the ocean stranded. There was something odd about the runway though. It was right off of the water.

As I began my pilot training, it wasn’t as bells and whistles as I thought it would be. It was more straightforward. We sat in a class and pilots would teach us about flying. What the wind does, what does being above water mean, where to land, and why sometimes buildings can be problematic. All of these seemed pretty obvious but the complications that they explained took me by surprise. Here I was a kid trying to be a bird stuck in the complications of human life. Yet the dream stuck with me. I would always ask the instructors and teachers about water landings to the point they got frustrated.

They didn’t want to acknowledge me anymore and the next thing I knew I was graduating and had a pilot’s license in my hand. I got hired by an Australian airline mainly out of Sydney. My dreams got better, no more drowning, at least that changed. I had flown planes all over the world by now and knew my way around. The problem was as soon as I got to Sydney I saw that its runway ended right at the tip of the water. It reminded me of the dream, to the point I almost messed up my first landing in Australia.

With the shake of a hand, a hug and a welcome later, I was in my pilot's uniform ready to work. the only thing I could think about was water. I was directed to take off in the water’s direction. A drop of sweat fell down my forehead, A shakiness in my hands and a turn in my stomach put me off. I wasn’t ready. I wanted to stop. I couldn’t. I went through the runways, and I took off to the best of my ability. There it was. I was in the sky, with no water. The freedom I felt was bird-like. The fear stopping me had gone and before I knew it we landed with no problems. I had almost ruined my lifelong dream because of a teenage nightmare. I took control. I took- off with the mind of a bird.