“How old were we? Oh gosh, we were probably, like, 8 orso,” I say thoughtfully. The older lady on the plane next tome smiles.“Thats nice, dearie,” she says to me, “now, what’s her nameagain?”“Josephine,” I reply, “but I call her Josie.” I smile. Josie and Iare like sisters—that’s how close we are. I fidget my handsnervously…but why? Something feels…off.The lady next to me leans her head against her headrest.“Well, I’m going to take a nap during this flight, what aboutyou?”“Oh, I don’t sleep on flights,” I reply casually, though, forsome reason, my voice quivers, “I like watching the clouds.”With that, the lady beside me falls asleep instantly. I chuckleto myself. Old people.I look out the window, squinting slightly to try and make outJosie’s figure through the airport glass. I’m in the planealready, but my favorite pink jacket is with her. I don’t knowwhy I gave it to her…I never leave it anywhere. But just likehow I can’t explain the nervous feeling in the pit of mystomach, I can’t explain that.“Good morning, my fellow flight companions!” the much-too-cheery flight attendant says, “before we take off for NewYork, there’s a few things we need to go over.”The flight attendant talks for a few minutes, but I’m notlistening. I just can’t seem to focus.“Alright, well, I think that’s all I have to say,” she says,smiling with her stereotypical flight attendant hairstyle andred lipstick, “Im going to hand this over to our captain.” She hangs up the little phone thoughtfully, sitting down onone of those special flight attendant chairs.“Good morning, this is your captain speaking,” a deep malevoice says over the speakers, “thank you for flying withSarasota Airlines. We will be taking off in about five minutes,so hold tight and remember your safety precautions: wearyour seatbelts and do not smoke.”His voice clicks off, and the noise that remains is just thesimple chatter of the other airplane passengers. I sigh,looking back at the old lady next to me. What if, I think, theplane really did crash?
