I thought boarding that plane would be the hardest part of my journey. I had no idea that a complete stranger would turn one of the worst days of my life into something I’d never forget.
The suitcase sat open on my bed, half-packed and mocking me. I’d decided long train rides were the only way I’d ever visit family before that day. At 37, I’d built a quiet life around avoiding the sky.
My hands wouldn’t stop trembling as I folded a sweater. I kept telling myself it was just one flight, just something I had to do, but my mind wouldn’t stop spinning with fear.
Then I looked at the framed photo on my dresser. My dad, Paul, holding me at my college graduation, both of us grinning as if we’d won something.
***
My phone had rung in the early hours of the morning. My sister Lyra’s voice cracked before she even said hello.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, gripping the phone.
“How bad?”
“He’s in critical condition, Bonnie. They don’t know if he’ll make it through the night. You need to come. Please, you need to come now.”
I closed my eyes.
The train would take almost two days. But Dad didn’t have two days.
“I’ll fly,” I whispered.
There was a pause on my sister’s end because Lyra knew what those two words cost me.
“Are you sure you can?”
“I don’t have a choice, Ly. I’m not letting him go without me there.”
But what I didn’t tell her was that even the thought of being trapped thousands of feet above the ground made my chest tighten.
I booked the flight ticket through blurred vision, my finger hovering over the confirm button for a full minute before I pressed it.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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