Traveling with Deni

The hours passed by like a turtle walking through honey – slowly. Your lower body is numb and you have a cramp in your neck, but there is nowhere to move. You are stuck, no, trapped in a hollow tube that is sucking the life out of you with each passing turtle-minute. You try to look for help, but there is no one there to put you out of your misery. You just want to get to the Holy land.

All of this is going through your dramatic mind as you sit in an airplane on a nine hour flight to London. Your passport may say you’re from the United States, but you know it is a facade. In your heart of hearts you know you were meant to be born a Brit.

It is your first time going to London, and the flight crew is doing everything in its power to delay your inevitable meeting. Looking out the window, you see nothing but clouds, the big cotton ball kind you wish you could cuddle up on and take a nap. They look so comfortable, unlike the stiff, fabric covered chair you’ve been sitting in for the past five (has it only been five?!) hours.

Turning your attention back inside the vacuum, you gaze at all of your fellow passengers. Some are sleeping peacefully; others are contently watching the in-flight movie. An ugly feeling you’re fairly certain is jealously pricks you in your stomach. If only you could be that relaxed.

Hours six and seven consist of a combination of you attempting to rest your eyes and watching the movie on the tiny screen on the ceiling. However, the movie is one you’ve seen, so you lose interest, and result to brooding.
They decide to feed you in hour eight, which is a relief because it means you’re getting close. Your stomach flips at the thought.

It’s finally the home stretch and you start to bounce a little in your seat. You turn towards your window and there is a break in the clouds and - oh my goodness – you see it! You really see it! The excitement feels like electricity in your veins, and you know that at any moment, you will wake up. You always do at this part of the dream. You close your eyes and count to three.

One…two…three.

You open your eyes and it hits you – this is real. It’s all real. It’s not you, it’s ME. I’m living this dream and it’s happening and it’s wonderful. The first time I saw London, I thought it was a dream, but there it was, right below me. The realization almost knocked the wind out of me. The lights of the city twinkled in a special hello, and I waved back with a smile. I was here. I was really here.