DREAM AIRLINES

*

I am in a jet hurtling through space at 400 mph, 15000 feet above the earth, and climbing. The plane belongs to Dream Airlines, which until a few days ago, I'd never heard of.

I’d seen the advertisement and for some ungodly reason was drawn to it. It promised the vacation of your wildest dreams FOR FREE. The pictures of mountains, oceans, and sunsets appealed and the price was right. The first 50 people to make reservations travelled free. Seven days and seven nights at a paradise location as a promotional introduction to the new Dream Airlines.

The airline backstory was a billionaire had purchased a small airline, rebranded it, improved the systems and was marketing the daylights out of it.

I’d even checked the reviews and once I’d found the correct website the customer satisfaction ratings were off of the charts, extremely high. All 37 of them.

Too good to be true? You bet. Well, I’ve always been a sucker, made lots of bad choices in my 25 years old life. But I was one of the first 50 responders and so, theoretically, I receive a freebee flight to somewhere, presumably paradise. It looks like there are about 25 total passengers seated and ready to go and so I’d say the new promotion for Dream Airlines, is a bust.

“Fasten your seatbelt please,” said the stewardess casting me her friendliest smile as she passed.

Her name tag read, Darla.

Very attractive. Great smile, I thought, genuinely seems to like me but let’s face it, she has to be nice. It’s her job.

I fasten the belt as she passes and watch her sashay up the aisle. The plane is only about a quarter full of passengers which means that there are about 75 empty seats and two of them are in my row. Go figure. That doesn't surprise me, kind of the story of my life. I am normally alone anyway.

I sit in my favorite seat. It is situated two or three rows up from the rear of the plane, on the aisle, either side. I always reserve it if I can and if not I request a special boarding pass. I definitely have anxiety issues with flying and crowds, and this seating arrangement helps me cope.

I have a phobia about being late for a plane because I’d missed one once, and almost missed two others. The inconvenience and stress was just too much. That was when I started arriving early. Once, I arrived as the airport was just turning its lights on at about 430 a.m. No kidding. Other times I arrived at the departure gate two or three hours before boarding. The customer service agent wasn’t even there yet.

Pretty funny, I thought, to have such an extreme response to my phobia.

I just graduated from a second-rate college and my major is, you guessed it, liberal arts. It qualifies me for nothing specific, but I am considered to be trainable for something, that is, if an employer wants to take a chance on someone who has no clue what he wants.

I wound up in that particular curriculum because I couldn’t make a decision. I mean, how is someone with no life experience supposed to select the field where they are to spend the rest of their life, and all this at the age of say, twenty.

Seemed to me, like a lot of wasted time, effort and money to go down the wrong road. So, my strategy was rather than make the wrong decision I made no decision, which they said was in effect, a decision. I couldn’t help that I had no foresight, no vision. I didn’t know what I wanted, so I didn’t put forth the effort to get it. Makes sense to me.

I kind of liked my writing classes, Language Arts or something. Of all the available options, that is the field I stumbled into. Even then I hadn’t liked it until I had a phenomenal professor, and this lady really made the writing process come to life. Maybe, I just liked the instructor, so I drifted into that field. So, I am a liberal arts major, with an emphasis in the creative writing field because I liked a professor.

What was I going to write? No idea. I just wrote what they assigned me, and kind of liked the process.

The way I see it, I was lucky I had selected a field at all, and surprisingly, turns out, it remotely fits my interests. Not necessarily my talents.

The only time I had a problem was when the assignment was to pick my own topic. I found this difficult as I had to make a decision. I hate decisions and the weighty decisions just keep piling on.

Overall, I’d say my performance was satisfactory. Certainly not brilliant, but over time, I’d improved from horrible writing to crappy, to decent and sometimes even good. At least I was improving and was now up to a consistent mediocre.

I believe I have potential which is more than I can say for my professors.

I was able to work my way through college by working in a grocery meat department. I punched in, got a 4 or 5 hour work out in a chilly environment with minimal human contact and went home. I liked it.

So, I can keep working in the meat department, maybe go full time, and maybe do some writing on the side.

And they say I can't make a plan. Ha.

The one thing I do enjoy is exercise. The endorphin rush is incredible, a very serious high. These are the times when I feel my best, both physically and mentally. The stress and anxiety are gone. I have energy. Dammit. I feel alive.

If only I felt this way all the time.

I consider myself a terminal introvert and to compensate I abuse alcohol and some light drugs. These “medications” allow me to be more uninhibited, like I wish I was in real life.

Despite what the self-help books and the positive thinking speakers say, you can't really change. Not quickly anyway. Maybe in years.

Between the exercise and the self-medicating, I got through this part of my life without killing myself. At least, not yet.

I must admit suicide seemed and seems like a good choice, the logical answer.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that in reality I have a lot to be thankful for. Lots of people have really tough lives. They have chronic, painful illnesses, which severely limits their life experiences. Or purely by chance, people are born in the wrong part of the world where they starve, suffer and have no opportunity, no chance.

All I have is crippling depression.

At times I feel like I am drowning. Oh well.

I’d done some reading and learned that inability to make decisions is often due to low self-esteem and is a symptom of depression. This defect, an integral part of my being, contributes not just to my social ineptness, but I can honestly say that it is stealing my life.

The books say, it’s important to possess a healthy self-esteem! Brilliant deduction Watson! What the books don’t tell you is how to get it. My experience is either you have it, or you don’t. No amount of positive thinking makes it happen. They should be recommending therapy.

Most of the time, I feel listless, disinterested, lifeless. I feel as if I am drifting through life as an observer on the opposite side of a glass partition, watching people pass by, living life to the maximum, as I float listlessly past.

It isn’t my fault I was born with this affliction. Truthfully, I consider it to be a curse. For as long as I can remember depression and its symptoms have been part of my life. I know now that for me, it is locked in my genes and I was doomed from the beginning.

I can honestly say I always did my best, gave everything a maximum effort and kept a positive attitude. I never quit trying to break through. I just never could.

Frankly, it was an exhausting struggle.

People say I am happy and funny. I don’t know where they get that idea. It probably comes across because I am always tirelessly trying to be positive, but you know, you just can’t fake it, self-esteem has to be part of you, has to be in your heart.

I know it isn’t my fault. God knows I gave my ultimate effort to try and fix it.

So, here I sit in a Dream Airlines plane bound for god knows where. For some reason I decided that I needed to make a major effort and try something different, something exciting. It took every ounce of energy I had to go through the travel rigamarole and get to this point in time. Frankly, I wish I hadn't wasted the time. I could care less.

I know now that I need help.

*

Darla, the attendant, smiled and thought, this Kyle guy has no idea what he is in for. Looks like he could use a shot of adrenaline or a heavy dose of happy pills. I don’t know what it is going to happen exactly, but this trip is going to rock his world.

*

One of the staff was about halfway down the aisle, holding a microphone. When the crowd quieted and the attention fell in her direction, she clicked on the microphone and began to speak with a big smile, “testing. Testing. Anybody out there?”

At that moment a young woman from somewhere in the front of the plane, came walking up behind the speaker.

The hostess allowed her to pass with a stream of comments; ‘welcome’, ‘your just in time’, and ‘please find a seat there are plenty’.

The passenger was coming in my direction, looking across the sea of empty seats. I felt a burst of testosterone when she looked directly at me, and then she sped straight down the aisle until she was standing beside my row.

“Do you mind if I sit down,” she said, wiggling her finger up and down at the seat next to me. “That one is mine.” She smiled playfully.

What? I thought. There were seventy five vacant seats in the plane and you want the one right next to me?

The voice was sweet and pleasant, happy.

I looked up into the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen. They glistened like jewels, and the color was unique, a soft greenish blue. They were gentle and radiated warmth and goodness and for a moment, I was caught in their glow.

Amazing I thought, gleaning that much detail from a look that lasted a few seconds. I guess that since I had never seen eyes that beautiful, up close, and pouring their warmth and happiness into mine, they really made an impression.

Hell yes you can sit down, I thought.

“Certainly,” I say trying to sound like I am together, and at the same time, trying to stop myself from melting into my seat.

I stood and moved into the aisle so she could get to her seat without sitting in my lap.

As she shuffles past me, I catch some kind of gentle scent, faint but enticing.

She was short, wore pale jeans which displayed her toned, shapely physique, a white v neck sweater and white sandals. Her toes were painted, a glossy pink, my personal favorite. She sat, arranged her large canvas bag near her feet and when she was situated, I sat next to her.

I tried not to stare, as this woman was the most stunning I had ever seen. I mean, she was the kind of beauty that made the room stop and go silent when she entered. All of a sudden, heads started turning involuntarily, sensing the presence of something new and exciting, as if some great masterpiece created by the hand of God had just entered the room.

She was my idea of physical perfection.

A goddess.

“Eyes,” I said nodding to her.

“What,” she said with a questioning smile. Slight confusion showed in her shining eyes, as if she hadn’t quite understood.

I realized what I’d said made no sense, tried to cover it up, said, “I mean, your eyes have a very interesting color.”

“Oh yes,” she said, “I do hear that all the time. Thank you for the compliment? That was a compliment, I think, or were you just acknowledging that I have eyes?”

I had to defuse the situation quickly, so I smiled and pointed to the attendant speaking on the microphone.

“We, at Dream Airlines would like to thank you for choosing us for your vacation adventure. You will find this journey to be far more than you could possibly have expected or even hoped for. Please, if on this trip we surpass your expectations for life changing adventures and happiness, we ask that you tell a friend and write a review. We are already up to forty-five reviews as of this morning.” She paused for the few chuckles that comment always received.

“My name is Sandy and we have something special for you today. There is a registration form and a pen in the back pocket of the seat in front of you,” she said, her tone convincing. “You are really going to like this.”

There was a rustle of people fussing and chattering in the seats as they pulled the forms from the pockets.

“Please put your first name at the top,” Sandy said, “and your seat number.” She waited a few moments and then said, “now this is the fun part. Write down the one place of all the places in the world, where you would like us to take you. You need to understand that by registering, you could win a trip to this place so choose carefully. Please select your dream location and write it down.”

There was a steady low hum of voices, some laughter.

Some people raised their hands and asked the usual questions.

“Yes,” she said, “unconditionally, all expenses will be paid by Dream Airlines, anywhere in the world. You select the location only for yourself but, your spouse can select the same place as you. That is, if you want to be together.”

That brought a few chuckles and more laughter.

She answered more questions, then said, “please pass your forms to the center aisle. The assistants will be by to pick them up in a few moments.”

I put my name, Kyle, and seat number on the paper but could not decide on a place. Decisions, decisions. I hated decisions. I put my paper under the one turned in by the enchantress sitting next to me and handed them over to the attendant.

I wondered what place on the face of the earth the gorgeous lady sitting next to me selected for her adventure.

“What color are they,” I said blundering back into the eyes comment.

“My eyes?” She drifted back to my previous comment, said, “oh yes, back to them. I was once told by a jeweler that they are aquamarine, a color of the sea, a soft blend of greens and blues.” She paused, whispered with mock drama, “this color is said to keep sailors safe at sea.” Her tone became more casual when she said, “actually, I was interested in the man's jewelry and, dare I say, he was interested in something else.” She flipped her eyebrows at me playfully, “you know what I mean?”

"Of course he was," I said nodding and smiling.

My stewardess, Darla I think, passed by and flashed me a knowing smile.

She bent close to me as she passed and whispered, “enjoying the trip Kyle?”

“Very nice, thank you,” I said, thinking, was my overwhelming attraction to my stunning seat mate that obvious?

“Hi,” came the gentle, magical voice seated beside me, “I’m Julie.”

I turned to her and smiled my sexiest smile, my default look, which in reality was quite goofy. I know because I’d checked it out in the mirror one time, when I was practicing being normal.

“Hi Julie,” I said, summoning my inner Bruce Willis. “I’m,” who was I again, oh yes, “Kyle,” I said, happy I ‘d remembered and hoping she hadn’t noticed the slight pause as I sought the memory banks for my name. I tried to add some conviction to my tone, as if I always knew my own name. But it didn’t sound right, was too aggressive.

Make eye contact the books said, so I looked straight into those beauties and what I saw in them was a magnificent glow, clouded with a bit of confusion.

“Nice to meet you Kyle,” she said extending her hand to shake.

I took her hand, marveled at the softness and acted as if I was used to drop dead gorgeous women touching me.

“How did you hear about this trip?” she said.

I thought a moment, said, “kind of funny. The ad popped up in my email. It was so good I followed up and hear I am. I had never heard of ‘Dream Airlines’ before that.” Good speech I thought. I wasn’t used to talking so much.

Her eyes opened wide, she spoke with excitement, “me too. That’s exactly what happened to me. About time. I am way overdue for something good to happen. Way overdue.”

Are you kidding me? Looks like nothing but good stuff happens to you, all the time.

I said, “The ad was kind of vague, FREE trip, seven FREE days in paradise. Pictures of mountains, and sunsets. Great advertising. For some odd reason, I trusted it. Probably because it said it was FREE."

“Me to,” Julie said laughing, “I just knew it was the right thing to do. So, here I am. My ad was a bit different from yours, it had oceans and islands in it.” She paused, said, “where do you think we are going?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” I said. “Should have called this Mystery Airline.”

“For sure,” she said, looking down at my book, “Mind if I ask what you’re reading?”

I was surprised that the seductress took the conversational initiative. “Sure,” I said, “and thanks for asking.”

“You're welcome?” she said with a teasing smile. “You know you don’t have to thank me for asking a question.”

"Of course not," I said, "thank you. I mean no thanks."

I shook my head and pressed forward. “Killer Angels. Pulitzer Prize winning civil war novel about Gettysburg, the turning point in the war. South never recovered. Fascinating if you like being in the minds of the top players of that era; Lee, Grant, Lincoln, Longstreet.”

“Who’s the author?” she asked.

Surprising, I thought, she seems so sincerely interested.

“Michael Shaara,” I said watching her, trying to gauge her actual level of interest. “Truly a masterpiece. I love this book. Read it several times and I get more out of it every time.”

I was surprised at my own rising enthusiasm as I spoke about it.

I figured I just wasn’t used to a gorgeous woman seeming to be so fascinated by what I had to say.

“You’ve motivated me to give that one a try,” she said.

My excitement was building and like a runaway train, I kept charging forward, as if I had to get it out fast, before I forgot what I was going to say. “His son, Jeff Shaara, wrote the before, and after books. Also, very excellent! And many other historical novels. My favorite is about the American Revolution.” I forced myself to stop, checked if she was still with me.

I asked, “are you a reader, Julie?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. Nothing like a Saturday night curled up with a good book," she paused a moment, “but I am an even bigger fan of movies.

“I agree, read myself to sleep every night.” I watched her, forced myself to focus on her. “Sorry,” I said, “you must have hit my reading hot button, really got me going.”

“That’s alright,” she said. “I am into thrillers, action, and suspense with a bit of sex tossed in.”

Holy crap, I thought, sex? tossed in?

Then Julie switched genres on me, said, “I like movies also, probably prefer them. Just saw Body Heat. Boy was that one hot and steamy. Great ending!” She fanned herself with her hand, “whew. Nice and steamy.”

“I haven’t seen that one,” I said, “but thanks to you, I will now. My most recent movie was Primal Fear which has one of the greatest twist endings I have ever seen.”

“Yes. I love that movie,” she said with rising enthusiasm. “Norton’s break out role. Gere was great. The director set us up big time. You are pulling for Norton’s character to snap, and bam, he does.”

“And then,” I said, “the twist after the twist. I was stunned. Incredible. Another masterpiece.”

What the hell is going on here? I thought. Is there a raging current of chemistry happening between us? I looked at that beautiful face, the excitement in them, the happiness. The woman was my idea of physical perfection, curly blond hair, bright, aquamarine eyes, a radiant smile and a tight figure with all the right curves. Damn, even her feet were gorgeous. She was so down to earth, as if she had no idea that she was beyond stunning, lighting up the world wherever she went. The big one, the real surprise, she seemed to be interested in me.

The stewardess was coming down the aisle. I barely noticed her because I was caught in the surging rapids of something wonderful happening between Julie and myself. Something I couldn’t remember experiencing in a long time, if ever.

Darla stopped next to me. When I looked up at her she said, “you two are having way too much fun.”

I looked at Julie and we laughed. Yes, I thought, it was definitely magic time.

“Well Kyle,” said the stewardess, “you didn’t complete the registration form. You didn’t tell us your destination.” She whispered, “is it a secret? You know, it's really a lot easier if you tell us where you'd like to go.”

“Can we have a couple minutes,” I asked smiling.

“Sure,” she said, casting me a knowing wink and wandered off.

I looked to Julie and said, “I didn’t fill out my destination.”

She said quickly, “I’m going to an island. Why don’t you come along?”

I nodded, and wrote on my form, “my destination is the same island as Julie’s”. I held it out to Julie so she could read it. I hadn't hesitated for a moment as this is the one choice in my life, I was one hundred percent confident of.

Bending closer so she could see, she said, “yep, that ought to do it.” Her hand touched my thigh, giving me another pleasant jolt of testosterone. She let it rest there.

I pushed the button for the attendant. Darla was there in a few moments and took the form, once again flashing me a knowing wink.

I turned to Julie and said, “Julie, do you think our server has something in her eye?”

“I don’t know,” Julie said, with a playful wink, “she sure has been winking at you a lot.”

The stewardess came down the aisle again.

I raised my hand as she neared.

“Darla, I am a bit confused. How long does our flight last?”

“Well Kyle, that depends on where you want to go.”

“I want to go with Julie to her island.”

“No surprise there. I mean, of course you do,” she said smiling. “Then, that is where you will go. We will be there in about an hour and a half.”

I looked at Julie, she wasn’t getting it either.

“How about the other people?” Julie said.

“It depends on what they put on the registration form.”

“Whoa,” I said. “So, everybody is going to the place they requested on the form?”

“Yes sir. All they had to do was make a decision, take a chance on life.”

“Kind of hard to believe,” I said, looking again at Julie who looked more radiant than ever.

“This is Dream Airlines Kyle. The owner selected the name for a reason. You, for example, need someone like Julie to help free you, open your heart. Right?”

I could barely talk. How could she know this about me?

“Julie needs someone like you and, you will enrich each other,” she paused and cast him another wink, “in every way possible.”

“I sure like that idea,” I said with enthusiasm. Julie placed her hand on my arm. “Is she really this beautiful,” I said looking at Julie, feeling the joy and happiness radiating from her. “I mean, look at her.”

“Yes Kyle, she is that beautiful. To you.”

“To me?”

“That is another item about our trip. You see the people for what is in their heart, and how well suited to you they are. You look the same way to her.”

Julie said, “I believe it. I chose to sit next to you because, you stood out of the crowd to me instantly. You, Kyle, are the most handsome man on the plane and I was drawn to you." she released a tiny growl and said, "you have a fierce magnetism.”

“So, I may not really look this good in real life?” I asked smiling.

Darla laughed, said, “the two of you will always be absolutely gorgeous to each other. After all, it doesn’t matter what other people see does it? What matters is how you look to each other, and that is based on what is in your heart. So, in your eyes, you are both seeing the most alluring and desirable partner in the world.” She paused a moment for dramatic impact, said, “and that’s what makes us Dream Airlines. Yaaay.” She bowed and said, "ta daaa."

“Holy crap,” was all I could say.

“I knew it the moment I saw you Mr. magnetism,” Julie said laughing.

“So,” Darla said, “if you have more fun on the island than you can stand, please right us a review. We are almost up to fifty, total.”

In that moment I felt a complete and total release, as if the dismal years of loneliness and pain had never happened.

I was finally free, saved. My heart was no longer blocked. I felt it opening to the joy and happiness of a future with Julie, the most captivating woman in the world.

Over the speaker system came a voice, “please fasten your seatbelts. Shortly, we will be landing on Paradise Island.”

There was a large movie screen towards the front of the passenger area which was filled with an attractive female head shot. As the camera slowly zoomed in, I recognized the face as belonging to Darla, our hostess. She watched us intently, and in a few moments, she flashed us a warm smile, and a knowing wink.

“Thank you for flying Dream Airlines.”