The First Time I Boarded an Airplane

Yemenat

Ahmed Saif Hashed

It was the first time I saw an airplane up close, boarding it via a ladder I wasn’t sure was independent or part of the aircraft itself. I settled into my designated seat, and by good fortune, it was next to the window. The plane moved slowly across the airport tarmac, and the instructions to fasten our seatbelts were issued. The flight attendant passed by to ensure that the passengers adhered to these instructions, while I had already managed to overcome my clumsiness in fastening the belt. The plane began to accelerate on the ground, gaining speed more and more, as I, like a child, watched the details of my surroundings through the window. Then, the aircraft took off from Aden International Airport.

As the plane ascended, I felt a surge of anxiety. A vast void seemed to fill my chest, larger than my own body, as expansive as the sky the plane was piercing through in its ascent. My heart felt as if it might leap from its place, engulfed by a profound tension.

Nothing holds you now as you ascend into the heavens in an airplane. You feel as though your spirit is grasped solely by fate. The fate of the seventy diplomats and crew members who perished in a plane crash in the early seventies in Aden crossed my mind, or perhaps the one that was blown up by a malicious hand… a heinous crime by any measure. I imagined their terrifying end, scattering through the air like shrapnel from a bomb. What dreadful and horrifying luck.

Despite the fear that coursed through my veins and seized my being, I tried to muster my courage, while my curiosity proved stronger than both my anxiety and fear. I began to talk to myself: I