Axel
Shahar followed closely behind as we walked out to the hangar to fly a mini-plane. The blue sky stretched above us, promising a smooth flight with no turbulence. Shahar pulled up the flight planning app while I climbed into the cockpit, flipping the switches with the ease of muscle memory.
The hum of the engine was a familiar comfort as I turned on the master switch, adjusted my headset, and tuned into the local airport frequency.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Shahar stealing glances at me—his way of silently asking if I was okay. It was written all over his face, but I was too tired of explaining the same thing over and over again.
Some days were better than others, but then there were days like this, where the weight of everything threatened to crush me. Flying was my escape. It was the one place where the sky didn’t judge me, where the air carried me far from the curses that had tethered me to an existence of unhappiness.
"Gaia thinks I should try shifting again," I sa
