Chapters (48)
- 1. One
- 2. Two
- 3. Three
- 4. Four
- 5. Five
- 6. Six
- 7. Seven
- 8. Eight
- 9. Nine
- 10. Ten
- 11. Eleven
- 12. Twelve
- 13. Thirteen
- 14. Fourteen
- 15. Fifteen
- 16. Sixteen
- 17. Seventeen
- 18. Eighteen
- 19. Nineteen
- 20. Twenty
- 21. Twenty-One
- 22. Twenty-Two
- 23. Twenty-Three
- 24. Twenty-Four
- 25. Twenty-Five
- 26. Twenty-Six
- 27. Twenty-Seven
- 28. Twenty-Eight
- 29. Twenty-Nine
- 30. Thirty
- 31. Thirty-One
- 32. Thirty-Two
- 33. Thirty-three
- 34. Thirty-Four
- 35. Thirty-Five
- 36. Thirty-Six
- 37. Thirty-Seven
- 38. Thirty-Eight
- 39. Thirty-Nine
- 40. Forty
- 41. Forty-One
- 42. Forty-Two
- 43. Forty-three
- 44. Epilogue
- Afterword
- Also by
- Acknowledgments
- About Author
I had not taken this specific flight before, but I had flown quite often, and I was used to the familiar movement of takeoff. Flying to see my parents for the holidays extra early this year had not been ideal. Taking off work this close to Christmas was a menace, but they decided to go on a two-week cruise during the holidays, so it was either see them early or don’t see them at all. I spent a week with them in West Palm at their short-term rental. We ate homemade pizza and charcuterie boards for “Christmas dinner,” but I didn’t mind. For the real holiday, I'd be back home in Aspen. Snowy mountains, steep slopes, and hot chocolate so good you would think Buddy the Elf made it.
The plane taxied out to the airstrip and sped up, the wheels lifting off the runway. The weightless sensation settled along my bones as the plane shot into the sky. Next to me, Olive had her head down, her straight hair covering her eyes. As we reached higher altitudes, my ears familiarly popped as they did on every flight, the chewing gum helping to alleviate the pain. With the way Olive's hands aggressively gripped the armrests, I could tell she didn't expect it.
I pointed my finger out the window where we were rising above the city lights in hopes of distracting her.
“It’s crazy how fast this plane can go.” Olive turned her head slightly to the window and then immediately back in front of her.
I continued, “It’s like a city full of ants now. Man, we’re getting up here pretty quick. I bet we’re already at ten thousand feet, huh?” When she didn’t respond, I kept talking. I pointed out big landmarks that now seemed like tiny pins on a map. “It’s like the city lights are stars. I didn’t expect a plane this size to take off so fast. I hope they’ve got some good engines for this thing. You know what they say about plane crash—“
“Please stop talking,” Olive interrupted me. Her anxiety toward flying was amusing, and I couldn’t help but push her buttons a little more. I didn’t bring any entertainment for the flight and watching her squirm next to me was kind of cute.
“Think about it this way, if we crash, there's that cool evacuation slide we could go down.”