UP IN THE AIR

Flying, flying, flying!

Of course, I knew how this flight began. It started a day ago. Eight-year-old Carrie with strawberry-blonde hair was my friend and companion. She was sent to visit her grandmother in Panama City, Florida for a week. When traveling, Carrie always placed me in her backpack. Naturally, we did a lot of traveling together.

Early Saturday morning, Carrie jumped up and down. Carrie hadn't seen her grandmother in a year. She was excited about visiting her granny. Carrie's parents drove us to the airport. Taking us to the gate fifty minutes before the plane was to take off. An airline escort was scheduled with the airlines to meet us in Panama City, Florida.

That morning, the reddish sun was coming up through the blue-pink sky. The steep climb was normal; however, I noticed the flight was different from previous travels. The plane was violently shaking as we headed straight up 31,000 feet; however, within seconds, we were above the clouds the plane leveled off. We reached cruising altitude and the plane softly hummed through the sky.

While Carrie's suitcase was in the overhead compartment, her backpack was pushed under the seat. I was resting comfortably in the front pocket of the pink backpack.

But, halfway through the flight, the plane hit turbulence. On board, the airplane, handbags, plastic cups, magazines, papers, shoes, cell phones, and backpacks went sliding, flipping, flying, and flopping around the cabin. Then, the overhead compartments opened which caused uncontrollable chaos and commotion with people crying and screaming.

All the while, I was frightened and scared.

During the commotion, I was hurled out of the bag. In fact, I was hidden under the passenger seats. The movement was sickening. My body moved back and forth on the airplane floor. After, what seemed like forever, sliding and moving about, things came to an abrupt stop. Recalling, there were large athletic shoes next to me. That's when an unknown passenger spotted me. He picked me up and threw me into an overhead compartment.

Of course, this was on the opposite side of the airplane from Carrie's location and where she was seated.

Instinctively, I knew that wasn't good. I decided to remain calm. My only hope was Carrie. For a while, I sang to myself and the music helped. Waiting for Carrie to discover that I was missing, she wouldn't leave me behind. I assured myself.

However, things did not go as I planned. When we landed in Panama City, Florida. The friendly flight attendant informed Carrie that it was time to leave the plane. As the attendant helped Carrie disembark the plane, I could hear Carrie's sweet voice. Sadly, there wasn't any way to signal her. There wasn't any way to make Carrie aware that I was trapped in the overhead compartment.

Within minutes of the passengers disembarking, I could hear the attendants welcoming their passengers for a continuing flight to Houston, Texas.

On takeoff, I was slammed into a suitcase. When the pilot leveled off, I scooted into a corner and cried myself to sleep.

Awakened by the pilot's announcement, "The weather conditions weren't good in Houston. We were diverted to New Orleans, Louisana."

Before I knew it, we were landing in New Orleans. The passengers were informed that they needed to go to the airline's Customer Service Desk. The airplane had to be repaired before continuing on to Houston.

During the stop, the cleaning crew discovered me in the corner of the overhead compartment. The crew thought that it would be a harmless prank to place me in the cockpit. On the left side of the cockpit, I was gently put down on the pilot's seat.

When the mature medium-height pilot entered the cockpit, the first officer immediately grabbed me. Giving me to the flight attendant, she grasped me in her right hand and walked towards the galley. Moreover, she noticed that my name was Scout. Before we departed from Memphis, Carrie wrote my name on the tag.

"Well, Scout, you could watch over the galley on the shelf above the coffee maker!" exclaimed the attendant.

Having a comfortable warm spot with a view of all the in-flight activity, I hadn't forgotten about Carrie. She missed me as much as I missed her. Yet, the freshly brewed coffee wafted through the galley. I loved the aroma. The aroma temporarily calmed me.

Then, I heard the pilot announce, "Fasten your seatbelts! There was a hurricane headed to Houston. Thank you for flying with us today, and we would be arriving in San Diego in three hours and twenty-five minutes."

One more time, the plane engined roared. Climbing straight up, we reached 38,000 feet in the sky. Again, I was up in the air.

EPILOGUE:

Flying around the country for a week, Scout traveled approximately 28,000 miles. Because Granny informed the airlines that Carrie's toy was missing, the airlines found Scout. When Carrie returned to the airport for her flight home to Memphis, Tennessee, Carrie and Scout were reunited.