There was a knock at the door. It was my roommate from college. I was finally riding on an airplane for the first time in 11 years. I had finally saved up enough money to go to Hawaii this Winter. The shuttle had arrived and we loaded our bags onto the van. I looked back at my apartment building, trying to remember if I forgot anything. Nothing came to mind. “When was the last time you rode on a plane? ” I asked. “Sometime last year,” she answered, “how ’bout you? ” “It was awhile ago, I can barely remember it. ”
It was during our Winter Break, and my parents were taking us to Europe and it would be the first time my sister and I would be riding on an airplane. We would usually drive up to Lake Tahoe, but our parents thought that we should see our origins in Europe. Seeing the snow was the best part of every year, since it never snowed in Hayward. I was definitely going to miss skiing and snowboarding this year. I tried to convince my parents to let me go with my friends up to Lake Tahoe, but they told me that they Winter was a time to spend with family. Let’s go the shuttle is waiting for us,” my dad yelled. “Hold on, I need to grab my camera! ” | screamed from upstairs. “You know you should have packed that last night,” he said, “will you even have time to make any videos? ” “Calm down, I’ll make time. ” “Ryan James As we got into the shuttle, I went on my phone trying to think of something else besides the fact that I would be thousands of feet in the air within the next 3 hours. We crossed the San Mateo Bridge, luckily there wasn’t any traffic, it sometimes took a hour just to get across.
We approached the terminal door for our flight, and the exterior of the airport was decorated with Christmas lights. “Look at those lights it must have taken weeks for them to put those all up,” I said. “The airport has a lot of workers, I’m sure it didn’t take too long,” my mom replied. We checked in our bags and made our way to security. There was a big man in a blue shirt wearing plastic gloves checking everyone’s I. D. and passports. “Why do we have to wait in such a long line? ” I questioned. They want to make sure that our plane is safe,” my father replied. I had to put all of my things in the bins and they went through these scanners. One man had his bag pulled to the side, just because he had some water. I was amazed how strict they were here. We walked down to our gate, but the gate was so far we rode on a moving walkway, which I’ve never seen before. It took us about 10 minutes to get to our gate, and we still had 10 minutes until we started boarding.
The lady at the front desk announced when each group would board, “First class… Group A… Group B… Group C… Group D… Group E. ” It was finally our turn, and I handed the lady my boarding pass. I walked down the ramp toward the plane. There a small but scary gap between the ramp and plane, and my heart jumped as I went over it. I went to my seat while my dad loaded the bags into the overhead bin, and I sat down next to the window with my mom next to me and my sister next to her. I tried to be patient while everyone was slowly loading their bags, since I couldn’t use my phone.
My mom talked with the lady sitting behind us telling her how cute her baby was. As soon as the plane started to taxi, my heart started beating faster again and my stomach didn’t feel so good, so I held my mom’s hand. The flight attendants gave safety instructions before we took off. We reached the takeoff pad as the giant engines that deafened my ears from everything else. “Prepare for takeoff,” announced the intercom. The plane quickly shot from the pad, and my body stuck to the seat. I’ve never felt such force before.
The plane slowly leaned backward as we ascended from the ground. Everything shook and the whole time the baby behind us was crying, but she stopped when we finally stabilized in the air. “Mom my ears hurt,” I said. “Here have some gum,” as she handed me a pack of JuicyFruit. I looked out the window as we glided through the air, it was like I could just reach out and grab the clouds. The thought of a giant piece of metal suspending itself with just two engines made me question how much humans have progress through history.
I actually became comfortable and let go of my mom’s hand and realized that flying on an airplane isn’t all that scary. I heard loud noise came from the left side of the plane that ceased the silence. Passengers on the right side of the plane stood up to see what had happened. Immediately the captain spoke on the intercom, “Everybody please remain calm, we believe a malfunction has occurred, we will have to make an emergency landing in New York, please fasten your seatbelts as we will be descending in the for the next 30 minutes, thank you for your cooperation. People began to question what had happened, if they would be refunded, why they needed to stop at New York. One man stood up and said, “This is ridiculous I had very important plans for tomorrow! ” A flight attendant told him to take his seat as she didn’t want him to worry anyone else.
I tried to make a video to update my viewers on YouTube about what happened to our flight, but when I started to record, the flight attendant made me put it away because she said there could be turbulence. “What is turbulence mom? ” I asked. It’s when the plane shakes makes sudden movements and it could have made you drop your camera. The flight attendant is only looking out for your safety. ” So I put my camera away, but it only made me think more about what the captain said. My hands began to shake as the plane jerked around in a downward motion, so I held my mom’s hand, while she hugged my sister. “Everyone please make sure your seatbelts are fastened, and please hold the seat in front of you. We will need everyone’s cooperation in order for a safe landing,” announced the flight attendant over the intercom.
The baby behind me was crying louder than she had the whole flight. The flight attendants ran past my row, quickly checking everyone’s seat belts. The intercom spoke again, “Prepare for landing. ” My stomach dropped as I felt the plane slowly jerk downward. I held my mom’s hand tightly, while I anticipated when we would finally hit the ground. The sound of my mom’s voice comforted me, “Don’t worry we’re all going to be just fine now. ” We hit the ground with a thud. I kept my eyes closed scared of what to expect with the rough impact of the the plane.
The floor of the plane shook as I heard the wheels screeching against the asphalt. The sound was so piercing, it felt as though I wouldn’t be able to hear anymore. I could feel the plane swerving side to side attempting to slow down the momentum, until everything came to a stop. I was finally able to open my eyes, so I went to open the window, and my eyes were shot with a burst of brightness. As my eyes finally settled, I saw red flashing lights surrounding the aircraft. The seatbelt chime sounded, letting the passengers know it was safe. *** “Prepare for takeoff. “
