Please review the safety information in the seat back pocket in front of you

Something broke. The engine to my right whirred, but didn’t stop. We were close to the ground anyway. Less distance to fall if we fell, but there wasn’t a voice or anything to explain that perhaps we could crash. Could I have died last night? Could I have died the day before? Could you have died last night? Could you have died the day before?

I wonder how close we all come to near misses? How oblivious we are to it most times. A step in front of it or perhaps behind. And we aren’t hit until we die, until we actually intercept it.

The sky was turbulent all day. A rocky wind, choppy. I wonder if it was an aftershock of the aftershock of the earth that rocked only a few days ago. Energy has to go somewhere even if we can’t see it.

But I heard the man from Oklahoma sitting in the aisle across from me say, “Something is mad wrong with this plane.” And all day I kept falling and bumping through the air. A drunk plane, a hiccup plane and little rock skipping from the clouds. I wanted off the ride early until I saw a small baby boy. I was sweating under my clothes and he, wide-eyed, was smiling, thrilled with each fall, each attempt at flying.


Comments

2 responses to “Please review the safety information in the seat back pocket in front of you”

  1. Wow – that last sentence… the boy, riding with the turbulence. We are all part of the same sky. Thank you for your empathy. x

    1. He was so small. He didn’t know what it was. It was his first roller coaster ride. He was thrilled and terrified. sometimes knowing what causes things is more scary than feeling them.
      xo
      R

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