11

I hadn't really gotten much of a chance to notice the woman before she disappeared out of sight though, as suddenly there was a loud ding from the speakers above our heads that signalled the arrival of the plane. I felt my stomach drop as the announcement went off and I turned back to look towards the door where we were supposed to be sitting. 'How am I supposed to stand up and walk through those doors?!?!' I panicked as my heart started pounding nervously in my chest. Before I knew what I was doing, my leg started jiggling underneath me as I started bouncing nervously.

'Calm down, Kara… You don't need to worry about it. Just breathe.' I told myself sternly as I forced myself to stop rocking on my heels. It didn't work though and I started breathing faster and faster as anxiety began to build up inside of me.

Suddenly, my father grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to look away from the door and back at his face, making me let out an audible gasp of surprise. 'I'm sorry. Did I scare you?' he apologised softly.

'No… I'm fine.' I replied, shaking my head. 'Just… nerves. That's all.'

'Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure you're going to do great.' Dad said reassuringly, ruffling my hair slightly as he walked passed me towards the gate.

A couple of minutes later the flight attendant came by our seats to collect our boarding passes and ask us a bunch of questions about what our trip entailed so far.

'I hope we don't have any problems…' Mom said worriedly as she gave me my boarding pass.

'I'm sure we won't. If anything happens, you guys will hear it soon enough.' I reassured her.

Once all of our boarding passes had been collected and we were on the way to pick up our luggage and meet our family members, we all sat in silence, just listening to the soft noises of the airplane as it steadily moved through the air.

About 15 minutes later the flight attendant returned to tell us that the plane had landed and passengers were starting to file out of their seats. I got up from my seat as soon as I realized that everyone was exiting, making my way over to the exit of the plane with my suitcase, eager to finally get off the plane after spending so many hours sitting in it.