MY FIRST FLIGHT The airport, at least what I could make out of it through my box was a place of noise and confusion, a hubbub of people. I could see legs and more legs, scurrying and hurrying, from here to there, the groaning and squeaking wheels of trolleys piled high with bags and suitcases. We stopped at a counter. Mom had my box weighed and paid for the weight of myself and my carry box as extra baggage. There was no ticket as such for me. Talk about being treated as bundled up luggage! I was precious live cargo! But no one seemed to care about that. At one point the girl bent down to say ”Ok, Floyd, now there you go. Please stay okay and be good.” My carry box was put on the conveyor belt and I was carried off (again like luggage) to a huge hall filled with bags. There was another carry box there with a small curly haired puppy who yowled miserably for a while but then fell silent. Maybe it was gladdened and reassured by present company even though it was that of a cat. We waited for quite a while in the heat of the hall. From then onto a small carry van and an interminable wait under the sun in a huge open area, till finally me and the puppy were loaded into the belly of the plane. All that was fine till then and more or less tolerable I would say, but then there was a sudden banging of doors being shut and a loud noise as the plane began to taxi. I prayed that Mom had not forgotten to remind the pilot to adjust the air vents and temperatures in the hold where we were placed otherwise both puppy and myself were cooked. There was a sudden deafening roar as the plane took off. To make matters worse the plane began to rattle and shudder as if the very devil was after it. The infernal, interminable racket drove me nuts I can tell you. Talk about protracted torture! Now it was my turn to meow endlessly to be released from this torture but for naught. The little puppy too yapped almost constantly. We made an awful orchestra I can tell you but to no avail. There was not a soul to listen to our lamentations of agony, only the shuddering bags and paraphernalia that surrounded us like ghosts. The unending ordeal continued for what seemed like eons, but finally, there were a series of bumps and gradually the plane fell silent. We were again loaded onto a luggage van and then the ubiquitous conveyor belt. How can I express my joy in seeing the face of the girl at the window of my carry box. She too seemed overjoyed in being reunited with me and noting that I was okay. Mom also looked relieved. I stretched languorously inside my cage and shook off all the tension that had held me tight through all those miserable hours. “Yes, I am so relieved too” said the girl grinning “All right then, now let’s get you home.”
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 06:43:43 +0000
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