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Dylan’s voice is a whisper.
“I forgive you.”
Dylan radios air traffic control as we approach our waypoint. There’s always a chance we might not hit turbulence, but CLEAT is known for being particularly unpredictable. That’s why I hate it.
“Cali nine eight nine to ATC. We’re approaching CLEAT at flight level three six zero. Are we cleared to descend three five zero?”
The pause feels like it’s twenty minutes long.
“Cali nine eight nine, maintain three six zero. I repeat, you are NOT cleared to descend.”
I inhale, sharply.
“Andrew.”
Dylan is so calm. I don’t understand how he does it.
“Passengers and crew,” Dylan says.
I nod.
“Flight attendants and passengers, this is your pilot speaking. It looks like we’ve got an air pocket coming up, so kindly fasten your seat belts securely and get ready for a bit of a bumpy ride.”
The pocket hits us quicker than it ever has. I hold onto the stick with all the strength in my body, while Dylan almost releases his. Turbulence is jostling and vibrating the plane like a giant cell phone.
Lights flicker around us, not just inside the plane but outside. I can hear crashes and gasps from the cabin. I can’t focus. The turbulence is getting worse with each moment.
My body feels like it’s being thrown around on an ancient roller coaster.
Alarms go off around us and all we can see is white as we crash around in our seats.
I look over at Dylan. He’s maneuvering the craftwiththe currents, not against them. My hand can hardly hold onto the stick.
Oh no.
This is going on too long. The turbulence isn’t letting up.
“Dylan.”
“Almost there!”
The plane thumpshardwith a crash. The cries from the back are louder than ever. Adrenaline pumps through my veins.
“Dylan!”
“Andrew, we’re almostthere!”
The plane hops and for a moment it feels like the descent we weren’t cleared for is happening whether we like it or not.
Suddenly, the rattling stops and we appear to be out of the storm cloud. I become painfully aware of how tight my muscles are.
Dylan looks at me and releases a chuckle of relief. I can’t help but do the same.
“Holy shit,” he laughs.
“What the hell happened back there?”
“I imagine we weren’t cleared to descend because a plane was down there. We must have caught the CAT from the cloud and followed it up with more CAT from their jet stream.”
