Pervade and Faint

Chapter 2

We reached the airport in time. If it wasn't for mom, there were chances that we would never make it. Mom packed all the bags, so I didn't even know what I was carrying on my own shoulder. It substantiated an encumbrance of necessities, according to me. There were only ten minutes left for the plane to take off and all of us were in our positions. I was sitting right next to the bathrooms. Not that I relish the repugnant smell of bathrooms, but there was something oddly pleasant in sitting parallel to the bathrooms. There were many sweepers and the detergent which they used to clean the sparkling floor had a tangy lemon scent to it.

It was just a matter of a few announcements, for we had embarked. The plane picked pace all of a sudden and we were in the air in no time. An inexperienced feeling settled in me. Like a heavy boulder on my chest. It was my first time flying in a plane and I have to confess that it was quite exhilarating. There was a perceptible proliferation of serenity among the passengers when the pilot announced that we could take our seatbelts off. I opened my bag after a while to check what mom had packed. The first thing I caught sight of was a book. I used to read that book quite recurrently, but that was a while ago. Mom had packed it because she knew that I always had my head buried in it. I looked over at mom. Her head was on dads shoulder and both of them were in their own sky and dreams. My parents were a perfect couple. I couldn't remember any acrimonious moment flanked by them.

The clock had never been so indolent. Time hardly passed and when I gave up on reading, I decided to watch a movie on the screen that was confronting my face. I found headphones right next to my seat and quickly attached them to the screen. I surreptitiously took a glance at mom and dad. They had been fast asleep. The first movie on the main screen was Titanic. Even though I watched that movie many times, I ended up watching it again and even this time, nothing attenuated it.

After all, the hallmark of good books and movies is to be greater and greater each time. I watched a few more movies but it actually got pretty tedious. I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and I quickly looked back (I was watching a horror movie then, and I really got petrified).I let out a sigh of relief when I saw a tall flight attendant standing right next to me. It fortunately was not a zombie, which I had only been half anticipating. There were only a few varieties of juice, but nothing attenuates orange juice. So I cherished a glass. Mom and dad were still asleep, so I decided not to wake them up. My eyes were smoldering, and when I tried to fall asleep, it just escalated the slightest amount of peace which my eyes contained. So I decided to watch another movie.
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I didn't remember anything after that. I heard mom saying something in my ear. And then I heard a bunch of people laughing and chanting, as if their favorite team just won the Super Bowl. I opened my eye lids and blinked a few times, trying to let my cornea adjust the rays of light in my retina. I removed the headphones from my ears.
"When did you fall asleep?" asked mom. I didn't even know the answer to that question myself.
"Pakistan has arrived", announced dad, gawking out of the tiny, oval shaped window.
"Actually, Pakistan was already here. It is us,
who actually arrived", I corrected, uncritically, and both of them laughed. Dad grimaced at me when he heard my stomach growl. I only drank a glass of juice and I was starving.

It took us 20 minutes to find our bags. Like everyone else, we also had black bags which camouflaged with each other, and it really exasperated dad. After an abstruse hide and seek with our bags, we finally found them. We were waiting for uncle Qurashi outside as soon as we found our bags. The hot and humid air was everywhere and it found its way in my clothes in just a minute. The arid air had the scent of timber and mud dissolved in it. My skin had been burning, probably because the blood underneath it was boiling because of the atmosphere and uncle Qurashi's absence at such a hot day. Dad was the only one with a phone, but it had been futile because he didn't even have uncle Qurashi's number. So we had to resist the burn for while. I was in desperate need of a cold glass of water, and probably some food as well. Something sweet wouldn't be bad at all, I wished.