In Continuum.

Long Flight Home

The flight home,i remember,was like a cocktail mix of anxiety and exhaustion.In the waiting hall where the guys sat and waited for the bus to pick us up to the plane itself on the runway,some of us dozed off on the seats while others enjoyed a little bite on Subway sandwiches and games over the PSP.

I sat on my luggage and stared out into the runway.Beyond the horizon there was nothing,just the lights of the planes slowing manoeuvering their way across the field.I could hardly wait to get home then,fingering my way through the gifts i bought for my loved ones back home.My loved ones...

It was a long weary flight through the night,and most of us couldnt take the odd timing and fell asleep.I tried to do so,but found myself listening to my iPod while having a bottle of red wine.It was a small bottle,and it tasted cheap.But i guess i needed the dosage,to help me forget things.It was intoxicating,and soon enough i found myself leaning forward,my chin sinking into my neck,falling soundly asleep with the rest of the plane.

I was woken up by a jerk of the plane,it was the landing gear.I looked out,and there it was,civilisation.Singapore,was below our feets as we decended from thirty-thousand feet.My head started to ache so bad,from the difference in pressure.It felt like it was cracking,splitting apart.I groaned softly,and with an eye closed i stared out of the plane window to try to distract myself.An endless sea of lights before us,like diamonds strewn across a dark ocean.It was a little over 6am at that time,with the world just upon the verge of waking.Small white dots minding their own businesses,crusing along roads lined with yellow dots.They were like shooting stars,amongst other stars,only inverted.

That reminded me of that day when i was staring up into the night sky with my friends.The skies in India is amazing,truly.I mean,it's not like Singapore has it's very own sky,and that we do not share the same atmosphere or whatever.It's just the lack of light pollution in India that makes it so beautiful to admire in the middle of the night.I described to my mother,as pepper over the surface of soup.The stars were plenty out there,like spilled paint or bullet holes on a target board.They were astounding,gorgeous.

I saw Orion,big and proud.His arms outstretched,long bow drawn and the tip of the arrow shining brightly.Then my friend pointed out Sag,as well as Scorpio in the sky.Scorpio,i chuckled.Why are you everywhere,even in the skies?

I thought if there was a giant hammer,like the one in Greek mythology which belonged to Thor,that can smash down on the city lights of Singapore,it might create an impact hard enough to make the streetlights jump up and get stuck in the sky,making it look a little more like the India sky somehow.I just wanted you to see the sky for yourself,something which im sure you have never laid eyes upon.

I wonder what you would say,when you witness it for yourself.I never took pictures,though i tried.Can you imagine two horizons,one on your left and the other on your right?The ends of the piece of land you are standing on,stretching on and on forever into the end of the sky?Then imagine stars from that furthest point on the left horizon,stretching all the way to the furthest point in the right horizon.That how magnificent the stars were that night,when i saw them with my own eyes.

What would you say,princess?What would you say?Or perhaps,nothing at all?

My head was spinning,and the pain got worse as the airport came into view.We landed,and my head jerked forward and back,making the headache even more unbearable.I fell asleep again,just briefly,with those thoughts lingering in my head.The desire for you to see things for yourself,the way i saw them,was even more unbearable than the pain above my left eye.

Simon woke me up about ten minutes later,and i woke up from my daze feeling giddy.I never spoke to anybody afterwards,just hurried off out of the terminal.The pain still linger in my head,but some pains knocked harder than others.I was glad to be home,to be on the ride down the familiar road.But was i truly happy though,i asked.More questions,fuck.