TRAVELLING BY AIR

I knew it was going to be a bad day when, on the way to the airport, the taxi-driver told me he was lost.

I had booked my flight over the telephone, so when we finally arrived, I had to rush to the reservation desk to pay for my ticket. The woman at the desk told me that my name wasn't on the passenger list. It took fifteen minutes for her to realize that she had spelled my name incorrectly. She gave me my ticket and told me I'd better check in my luggage quickly or I'd miss my flight. I was the last person to get on the plane. I found my seat and discovered that I was sitting next to a four-year-old boy who had a cold. I sat down and wondered if anything else could go wrong.

I hate flying, especially take-off, but the plane took off and everything seemed to be all right. Then, a few minutes later, there was a funny noise and everything started to shake. I looked out of the window and - oh, my God - there was smoke coming out of the wing. All I could think was

‘The engine is on fire. We're going to crash. I'm too young to die.'

Almost immediately, the captain spoke to us in a very calm voice, 'Ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. We are having a slight technical problem with one of our engines. There is absolutely no need to panic. We will have to return to the airport. Please remain seated and keep your seat belts fastened.'

Well you can imagine how frightened I was, but the crew were fantastic. The flight attendants were really calm and told us not to worry. One of them told me to relax and said that everything would be all right.

A few minutes later, we were coming in to land. The pilot made a perfect landing on the runway. It was over. We were safe.

That day I decided not to fly again. I caught another taxi and went home. But as I closed the front door, I looked down at my case. Somehow I had picked up the wrong suitcase.