Early morning run

In the distance, I can see the straight and curve of the road. The street lights are beaming on a clear night, making shadows. I stare out the window in awe, as I see the shine from the cats' eyes on the road, the orange colour of them seen for miles and miles.

The sun will rise in the next couple of hours. It is around four am. I can see a little white truck on the road below me, and it appears the driver has a lot of milk bottles in it. I cannot make out a company name on the truck, I see it from afar. It has me mesmerized as I watch it driving down the road. There are only a few trucks and cars on the road in the morning. I stay looking out the window, my eyes transfixed on all the surrounding areas.

We are slowly getting lower and lower to the road and the milk truck. I imagine being in a vehicle on that road, side-by-side to the milk truck. Where am I going? What will I see? Who will I meet?

 My name is Charlotte and I live in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Currently, I am travelling with my mom and dad, as well as my little sister Julie, to visit our family in Liverpool, England.

We left our home in Brantford at approximately five-thirty pm. We are flying out of Toronto Pearson Airport, heading to Manchester Airport in England. Our family is travelling for three weeks. Everyone was born there, and we have tons of relatives to see, and places to go.

Our flight took off at ten pm, we are due to land in Manchester at six am the next morning. Yes, I am looking outside of my airplane window. Everyone around me is asleep. The cabin is quiet. There are a few people talking, but the main noise I can hear is the sound of the jet engines roaring. At the present time, we are flying over Scotland. There is one stopover in Glasgow.

The cat's eyes I mentioned are lights built into the road. You can follow them for miles and miles as they follow the shape of the roads. They are amazing, and anyone can follow them for miles after miles of road. I cannot get my eyes to stop looking at the milk truck beneath me. The Captain comes over the speaker to tell us we will land in Glasgow in approximately twenty minutes.

Boy, I sure feel sorry for those sleeping. What a beautiful sight they are missing from their window. They have pulled down their shades. My mom is sitting beside Julie and me in the aisle seat, my dad across the aisle, also in the aisle seat. Julie stands up and we both look out the window, watching the traffic below us on the road. I point out the milk truck to her, and she is so excited watching it drive. The Captain has turned the lights in the cabin on. The cabin crew is walking up and down the aisles, making sure that everyone has their seat belts fastened.

The ground is getting closer and closer to us. The Captain once again comes over the speaker advising that we are approaching Glasgow Airport. Everyone must remain seated in their seat, and our trays are up and locked in place in front of us. As we land and pull into our spot, the crew opens up the doors of the plane so those who are going to Glasgow can get off the plane, and those that are travelling to Manchester can get onto the plane.

Before we take off again, the cabin crew brings us breakfast. We can get up and stretch our legs. Julie and I walk gently up to the front doors of the plane and stand on the staircase, looking around. The air is crisp, but after flying all night, it sure feels good breathing in that cool, fresh air. We tell each other that wow; we are in Scotland; it is so beautiful there. We stand there for probably five minutes breathing in the fresh air. Our plane has a stop there for twenty minutes, as they prepare for the last leg of the flight to Manchester.

I take Julie and me back to our seats. We are both so hungry after flying all night. Have you ever had your breakfast after flying? The cool, crisp air is wafting through the cabin. It sure wakes you up, what a great feeling. A gracious lady puts our food in front of us. A glass of orange juice, a bowl of cereal, a glass of milk and a danish. I cannot say why, but food to me tastes better like this. The fresh air, the cool air, whatever it is, I am enjoying my breakfast. As the crew comes to gather my plate up, she tells me what a good girl I am, eating all my breakfast. I smile at her. Julie is finicky, but I see she has eaten all her breakfast too, and my mom and dad. Mom and dad have tea with their breakfast though.

Soon we hear voices, people climbing up the stairs to come on our plane. They get seated in their seats, and we are ready to take off again on our way to Manchester. Our flight will take us about an hour to reach Manchester. Unlike the first part of our flight, everyone is now awake and talking. Some people are getting a cup of tea, some of them a cup of coffee.

As the plane takes off, I pressed my face against the window. I do not want to miss a second of us as we head to Manchester. The excitement is building up. We are told we are now flying over England; we should land soon. In my head, all I can think about is if I will see any planes near us? What scenery is below us? Of course, I am too little to understand planes will not be beside us in the air. It is so cool as we go through the clouds. They look like cotton candy; I open and close my mouth to each one, pretending I am eating.

Here we go, we are ready to land. I can see the runway as we are coming in. The sun has come up, so I can see everyone on the roads going to where they need to go, still looking out the window. As we feel the bump of our landing, I can see other planes there sitting. We pull into our spot; the engines shut down, and we are ready to go meet our family. The crew opens the doors; we are told we can undo our belts. People are standing up, getting their bags out of the drawers on top of their seats. People are getting off the flight one by one, there is a long line-up in the aisle. Slowly we leave, walk towards where our suitcases will come off the plane, then head to greet and hug our family.

On the flight back to Canada in three weeks, my sister Julie gets the window seat.