Time slowed down; the air coming out of the vent became moist and humid as passengers moved in around me. My heart thumped harder and harder as every drop of sweat trickled down my forehead. Fortunately, we picked the fifth row, making it easier to see every person that boarded. I made sure I sat by the window so that I didn’t feel so claustrophobic. It didn’t help. My average legs suddenly seemed as if they had grown ten feet in five minutes. I felt like Alice in Wonderland in that crammed row with no room to stretch my legs. I slowly closed my eyes, feeling every single top eyelash collide with my bottom ones. I took a deep breath, feeling every bit of air go through my lungs. Even though I have flown before, something about that plane made me feel nervous and questionable. As I began to hesitantly open my eyes, I saw the flight attendant standing in front of me with blonde, short hair, indefinable eyes, and her uniform that said Southwest Airlines.

“Are you okay, dear?” she asked curiously.

I responded with, “Yes, just nervous, that’s all.”

“Oh there’s nothing to be nervous about, I do this all the time, and these pilots really know what they’re doing. Can I get you some water while we’re waiting for the rest of the passengers to arrive?” she said in a very persuading tone.

“No, thank you, I’m fine,” I said as she nodded and turned away to cheerfully greet the rest of the plane.

I looked out the window to see the men working on the luggage, when I catch a glimpse of my bag getting thrown through the air. What if my suitcase doesn’t make it? What if I’m stuck in California with no clothes? Will I have to spend all of the money I brought on new clothes? Every single thought going through my head had to of been negative. The next thing I knew, the sound of the pilot’s voice over the intercom had been distracting me.

“Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome aboard flight 187 to Orange County, California. We will begin departure in about 5 minutes, so make sure you’re in your seat and buckled up as we get ready for take-off. Thank you for choosing Southwest Airlines,” and then hung up the microphone.

As we started reversing, my anxiety shot through the roof. I caught myself holding onto the armrests as The Goo Goo Dolls blared through my headphone speakers. Two turns later, we had finally arrived at our position for departure. I looked at my friend, and she gave me a look that said everything would be all right. The plane made a suspicious noise, and we began going faster and faster, almost as if I had been in a car with Jeff Gordon. My ears popped, and in the blink of an eye, we flew up in the air, and I felt pretty safe after all.