Welcome to Los Angeles!

Flight take-off sound, Vzzzzzzz. The aircraft was soaring amongst clouds at top speed. I could hear the sound of engines roaring to the rhythm of my heart. “Ladies & gentlemen..’ an announcement aired through intercom awakened me from my sleep. “We will be landing at the Los Angeles (LA) international airport in a short while. Please fasten your seat belts”. I let out a sigh of relief, excited and nervous at the same time. My Los Angeles dream was eventually coming true!

“Wake up Senara!”,yelled mum, and then I realized that I was dreaming of my dream trip to LA as it was just about to happen in a few hours in real life.

Everyone in our house was running around as if the sky was falling and each one of us had to do their bit to avoid it. It was half past six in the morning. Our flight to LA was departing at 9.15am. Yet, we were still at home. “Hurry-up Senara, ten minutes, is ALL you’ve got,” mom screamed. The morning traffic was roaring, a melody of horns sung from the street. “Get going”, my dad kept telling the cab driver. All I could think of during the entire cab ride was reaching LA as planned.

‘Tik-tok’ the clock struck eight o’clock. Overjoyed with incredulity, I couldn’t fathom just how we made it on time to the airport. “Wallets? Keys? Passports?.... Are they all in place?”, “P-p-p-passports!”dad shrieked. Mum was fuming, “You had them a few minutes ago!” Like headless chicken, we searched every nook and cranny, until an angel in disguise appeared to our rescue. “Excuse me sir, I believe this belongs to you...”. Oh poor dad! He had left the passports in the cab and if it weren’t for the kind cab driver, we’d be as dead as the stare mum gave dad, after this little incident.

We ran to the check-in counter like a pack of wild geese with adrenaline pumping to our hearts. All along I was pondering over the sequence of events that we’d enjoy when we arrive in LA where they say that dreams come true.

Alas, suddenly fate stood in our way with its huge presence. The flights were being delayed due to a mammoth ash cloud which covered European skies, resulting from a volcanic-eruption in Iceland the previous night. “I must hold on to my hope without giving up, I reassured myself trying to be optimistic, but it didn’t help much. I was, in fact, obsessed with getting on a plane and flying to Hollywood. Why don’t things happen the way we wish them to happen?

As I was just about to let myself go into dismay, hope blossomed in the form of an unexpected announcement. An airport official announced to the delight of all stranded passengers that the skies had cleared and permission was granted for our flight to take off. “YES!” I gasped, leaping from my seat with joy. My face was beaming with delight from the moment we were ushered to the business class lounge until we boarded my ‘dream flight’ to LA.

I knew that my dream flight was about to land in LA when I heard the captain announce,”Cabin-crew, please take your seats for landing”, I began to see the Hollywood sign under the blue sky on a sunny morning in Los Angeles, California.

I was filled with enthusiasm and excitement when I saw my dream of travelling to Hollywood LA turning into a reality. “I’ve made it. Welcome to LA, Senara!”, I said to myself. Senara Fernando Class-6D, St. Mary’s Catholic High School,Dubai