What a long day (part 11)

Delta was settled at the back of the plane, leaning against the wall with her legs stretched out in front of her, one foot over the other so as to be decent.

“Come and sit down.” She patted the spot next to her. “If you're not sitting here before take-off, you'll regret it,” she added.

Oscar was still kneeling near the door. As the plane sped a long the runway, he was thrown towards the back of the plane. Delta was right: he regretted not having already sat down. The regret didn't last long as, to his surprise, he didn't hurt himself at all but tumbled over on the cushions, landing sitting up facing Delta.

Delta giggled and patted the space beside her again. Oscar manoeuvred himself into position next to her, clumsily because the plane was still moving at an alarming speed for its condition.

Soon they were pushed back against the wall as the plane began to lift off from the runway and climb into the sky. Oscar was utterly terrified. He couldn't believe he was actually here doing this. He was a frequent flier, but this had nothing to do with being afraid of flying. He was afraid of dying. He was afraid of falling out of the sky because he was sitting in a glorified tin can with Sellotape on the door and a World War I RAF wannabe in the cockpit. Scenes from his life started to flash before his eyes. Actually they were mainly scenes from war films in which plane were shot down or crash landed and burst into flames. He chanced a look in Delta's direction. She was nonchalantly picking her nails and peering out of the window.

They seemed to climb and twist and turn for ages before levelling out. When they finally did, Oscar had a bit of a headache. Nothing else ached because, although they had been thrown around a bit in the back, the cushions and beanbags had served their purpose and kept them relatively comfortable. He sat up groggily and leant back against the wall again. I'm too old for this, he thought grumpily. Delta, he noticed, seemed perfectly at ease. She was now lying on her front, propped up on her elbows, playing a game on her phone. He almost told her she should turn off her phone whilst on a plane, but he didn't have the energy and was sure she'd say that wasn't true on Frog's plane.

Oscar risked a glance into the cockpit. To his relief, Frog looked like a very competent pilot who was concentrating well on the task at hand. He started to relax a little. In fact, he relaxed so much and was so comfortable that he drifted off.