The fear

He hardly slept for a few hours. His mind was replaying the news item again and again, the disappearance of MH370. As a very frequent flyer, common logic says he must not  be frightened about a plane mishap, if only the common sense rules the world. He tried to close his eyes again, but there was something ominous lingering in his mind, a slow, quiet, but inescapable feeling of fear. "I cant be frightened by a random event like this. The probability of a car crash is higher than a plane tumbling into the ocean", he tried to comfort himself. He closed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm down his nerves. As a child he was extremely fond of flying. The admiration for the birds, the freedom they had in looking at things from the top always facinated him. But only during his first flight, as a child he was scarred for life. A 10 minute journey through a turbulence gave him a nasty fear of flying. His flight was still a few hours away. Every minute passing seemed like an eternity. He simply woke up from his bed and headed straight to the bathroom. He splashed a bout of cold water in his face and let it sting him. He filled the bathtub with cold water. The hotel room itself was not on the higher end, but the bathroom was spacious and very comfortable. Putting on his favorite blues number he slipped into the bathtub.

The flight started moving through a turbulence. It was not uncommon over the south china sea, but this was quite a bad one. The seat belt sign was switched on. There was a huge commotion with the air hostesses frantically trying to set things in order and get onto their seats. In no time the turbulence got even worse. There was an announcement on the speakers for the passengers to keep calm and there was nothing to be frightened about. As the announcement was going on, the flight suddenly started loosing altitude as a rate that could even frighten the best of best on air. In about 30 seconds the flight lost over 2000 feet altitude. The passengers and the crew alike started getting tensed and almost everyone started praying one way or the other. Just when it looked like everything was getting under control, the plane suddenly started free falling. Thats when he felt the cold water getting into his lungs and got out of the bathtub with a startle. Another nightmare and now only 2 hours left for the flight. Inspite of the sleep he was very tired for obvious reasons. 

He slowly got off the tub and dried himself with a towel. He looked at his reflection on the mirror and could sense fear in his eyes. The television was still on and the news channel was now running a program about the world air-mishaps and they were talking about the Boeing 330-200 mishap that had occurred a few years earlier. Frustrated, he slammed the power button of the TV to experience a moment's peace. As the departure was getting closer, he put on his crisply ironed attire and cleaned up his hotel room. He opened his wallet to look at his son's picture. He closed his eyes and thought about how his wife would be taking him to his classes early in the morning and how he would be making her life a living hell. He wanted to see them right now, but alas they were a few thousand kilometers away from him. He had very little packing to do, as he always preferred to travel light. He looked around to make sure that everything in the room was set in order and locked it before heading to the airport. 

He was walking slowly though the crowd. He had taken the same route several times and his motion was mechanical without any need to look for signs. The people around looked calm. That was reassuring for him till he by mistake looked at the direction of the televison. The reporter was once again blaring out about the missing Malaysian airlines plane.  There were a few people very much concerned about the disappearance of the flight flocking around the television.  They were showing the possible places where flight might have ended up. He froze there momentarily, before coming back to his senses. His upright posture and coolers brilliantly masked the fear that was building in his eyes. He craved for a shot of whiskey, but all he could lay hands was a shot of espresso. Though  he would have preferred the former,  the espresso was not bad either.  He continued his walk ahead. The security check was a mere formality for him as there was no one waiting in the line he had taken. So far so good. 

He could see the gigantic Airbus 380 waiting for him, its flawless design and gargantuan size was a sight to behold. This massive bird on air is one of the biggest marvels of the modern science and technology. If only the science of medicine had made the same kind of advancement and found a cure for the wavering frightened mind.  He sighed and slowly walked towards the giant bird. He boarded the flight and settled into his seat. He closed his eyes and went through his regular formalities. He slowly went on to make an announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome on board ....."