Thanks to my friends in the # NaNoWriMo #nowd for a fantastic night at The Julia Morgan Ballroom, San Francisco. I have reached my goal, ringing my bell today. This article is a sample from the manuscript in Swedish now awaiting processing. See you again next year.
Excuse a simple translation. Google Translate and I’ve done it together :-)
COMFORT ZONE
The song ”We Are Family” buzzing in my head when I try to sleep. Now it’s about an hour left of the trip from Frankfurt to San Francisco. I can read on the large monitor in front of me on the airplane, that the journey takes 11 hours and 19 minutes.
I sit on Site B, which means my place in the middle of a row of three seats on the same line, but on the other side of the aisle, as the line for parents of young children. The closest is a family with a little girl who can not stand and walk on its own, but having an energy that I had never seen before. Da da daa she calls everything she sees and takes in. It is a wonderful little bundle of energy and when the objects of the investigation ends, she cries until she can find something new to explore. It is fortunate that they are two adults on the trip so they can replace each other to eat, sleep, and try to keep the little girl bouncing a good mood. Sleep does not seem to be an option. When it’s quiet she looks on a touch screen with something interesting.
Of course, I try to sleep and write about every two, to pass the time. This way of traveling is really horrible, but I do not think so because then it becomes unbearable. It’s like the subway at rush hour, but without being able to get off.
I have a man and a woman on each side of me, which is also trying to sleep away as much time as possible. Suddenly, I feel something heavy on my shoulder. The man who sleeps next to me has put up his elbow on my shoulder and leaned his head in his hand with me as a support. I have not the heart to disturb him, so long as it does not become too heavy for me. When he leans his elbow in my ribs do I gently hold of his arm and put it out of my Comfort Zone.
I suddenly remembered a picture I saw on Facebook the other day that showed an installation of animals in an armchair. A giant dog lay in the armchair with his back against the seat back with all four legs outstretched. He looked as if he had been standing on the side of the chair and just fell right into it. On top is a long dog with short legs of the legs to the big dog. The finishing touch is a Siamese cat that has settled on top of the other two and hugs the long dog with its one paw.
For me it is not as peaceful and uncomplicated as in the picture above. I sit in the middle with an inflatable neck pillow, another pillow behind my head and the rest hidden under a blanket. On the other side sits a tiny lady who curl up on the armrest to find a good position to sleep on.
In order not to interfere with the neighbors, I have either arms crossed on the chest or so I stretch out her arms, fists clenched as if I would play volleyball. The passenger in front of me has shed his chair back so I sit with my nose into the built-in TV screen sitting in his chair. It is a touch screen that is for me to use and look at. To dream away in a movie is out. This position is only for very nearsighted people. The only way for me, not to develop panic, is to fold my chair backwards. I then end up in a position that I can not write or watch movies. I can see how everyone in the line behind me shed their chairs like dominoes. I close my eyes and think of what to write about next. It’s usually a good sleeping pill, so again this time.
Leaving the chair is just to forget. Took a chance on a lunch break. Took the opportunity to do gymnastics behind the curtain that separates the kitchen and the cabin. Here I was able to work out and stretch my joints for a while without anyone seeing me. I took my time because I knew all too well what to expect. When I returned was the little lady, who must move for me to come out, still beside the chair and waited politely for me to come. Embarrassing.
The neighbor above snores, he sounds like the snake that guards the king in the movie ”Robin Hood”. Here it is not a question of where the line is for our ”Comfort Zone”. Here we are one big family sharing life’s tribulations on the road to new adventures. I remember in my youth when I was on a course and we would build human pyramids, the teacher would love this state. After all, it is worth the trouble to get to interesting places around the world. Tomorrow I have forgotten this exercise, I’ve been through this many times before and never hesitates I will do it again, that trip. Perhaps the course with pyramid building did any good anyway.
”We Are Family, da da da da da da da da da da daaaaa, We Are Family …”
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