It was the last flight out heading east and, because of the weather it was running nearly two hours late. They finally let us board the plane, so I quickly found my seat and pulled out my book. I didn't really pay attention to the other passengers, I was simply too engrossed in the book.
We waited another hour before the plane finally could take off, so I knew it would be well after midnight when we finally arrived. Most of the other passengers had turned off their lights hoping to perhaps sleep through most of the three hour flight. I didn't bother because I was too wound up to even consider sleeping and besides, the tiny seat I was in was absolute agony.
The plane was one of those Embraers with two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other. If you got on the one seat side, at least you could read and pretty much keep to yourself without being bothered much. Of course, spending three hours on this flop eared Braer Rabbit of a skinny plane can be a very personal hell.
Fortunately my book was good, so by midway through the flight, after the flight attendant gave us a soggy sandwich and a beverage, most of the people were asleep and I could stretch out, leaning into the aisle without worrying about tripping anyone. I closed the book for a minute, turned off my light and peeked out the window, hoping to see some lights below. Sadly we were flying high above a pretty dense mass of clouds so all I could see were the lights of another plane as it streaked by well below us.
When I turned my light back on something in front of me seemed to almost glow. As my eyes adjusted to the light I could see the beautiful blonde curls of the woman in the seat in front of me. Surprised I hadn't noticed the beautiful shiny hair before, I rested my head next to the window, peeking between her seat and the hull of the plane, trying to see as much of her hair as I could.
