Roxanne Williams - July 5, 2016 - 8:30 AM (Departure from Seattle)

My suitcases were finally ready, I brought enough clothes for the week and even more. My kit containing all my necessaries hygiene products was also complete. I had completed the preparations for the trip I had been waiting for all my life.

I made sure my mom's birthday present was tucked under my pillow one last time, I was so proud that I managed to buy it before the end of summer vacation. I had worked so hard to achieve my dream and my mother's dream.

I grabbed my suitcase with one hand and the hygiene bag with the other hand, not being able to take the third piece of luggage which contained shoes, sandals, and an empty backpack since I had no more hands available. Going down the stairs was quite an ordeal, obviously I had almost taken my complete room on this long-awaited trip.

Once downstairs, I meet my mother's gaze as she was staring at my luggage.

__ "Hey! Are you going on a trip or are you moving?'' She said in a mocking tone.

__"Wait you didn't see everything. I have one more bag to go down besides my purse.'' I replied laughing.

However, I didn't have time to go back up the stairs because my brother was already coming down the stairs carrying my missing bag in one of his hands and my hand bag slung over his shoulder.

I smile at him; my brother is truly an incredible person.

__ "Hold on little sister. I heard what you said from above. I thought I'd help you before you left.'' His white teeth shone from his big smile.

__ "Thank you, Chris, you are amazing! I didn't want to go up the stairs again.''

I was out of breath from this physical exertion having been awake since six o'clock in the morning in addition to having almost had a sleepless night due to the stress that the impending plane flight was bringing to me.

__ "I can't wait for you to come back Roxy, it's going to be a long week without you." My brother replied.

My mother next to me was shedding tears.

__ "Baby, I will miss you so much. The years have passed far too quickly, and you are almost already an adult who is about to take a flight for more than half a day. You will be so far from me; it will be difficult.'' My mother said as the tears now flowed freely.

__ "C'mon mom, I'm only leaving for a week, we'll see each other soon enough and I'll be very careful.'' I said to my mother.

My mother's eyes gazed into mines; her hazel-colored pupils were so bewitching. Every time I looked at her it was like falling in love one more time, only my brother had inherited that same look.

I was the only one in the family with bright blue eyes, even my father had brown eyes. I had inherited my blue eyes from an aunt on my mother' side I think, but I wasn't too sure.

Our eyes fixed for a few second. She smiled delicately and placed her hand on my cheek.

__ "I want you to call me when you get on the plane and when you arrive. No matter the time, I want to be sure that everything will be fine.''

__ "I promise mom, I've wanted to visit Italy for so long, but I promise to come back and be very careful. Anyway, the number of times I've put Chris on the ground can prove to you that I know how to defend myself.''

Chris looked up with a menacing grin and started to put his phone away.

__ "Hey! Not true I'm the strongest here.''

I came up to my brother at breakneck speed laughing and grabbed him by the back of the neck before forcing him to submit to my force, he was squealing asking me to let him go and I squeezed with a finger on the back of his neck showing him that I was stronger, and he was groaning in pain. It had to be recognized that Christopher was more strong in the mind rather than physically.

__ "Admit it that I am stronger than you.'' I say laughing. "Admit it and I'll let you go.''

__ " Fine.'' he says.

__ "What are you admitting?" I asked. I will not let him get off that easily.

__ "You're the strongest, now let me go." He said, growling.

When I let him go, I winked and laughed. It's not age that makes you strong.

My father came into the hall.

__ "What was all that noise?" He asked.

__ "I beat my brother's ass again.'' I said laughing and my dad was laughing too.

__ "Okay, are you ready Rox? I'll drive you back to the airport soon.'' Asked my father.

I nodded and showed him my suitcases. My father approached us, took his jacket off the hook and sat down on the stairs with his shoes in his hand.

__ "I'll help you with your luggage.'' Said my brother.

My brother was starting to take bags to go and carry them in my father's car. I decided to start putting on my shoes as well, which were without laces, and took my jacket. I smiled and looked at my mother to give her a big hug.

__ "I'll call you as soon as possible. I love you mom.''

She embraced me so hard that I almost ran out of air in my lungs. I gave her a final smile as I walked through the doorway.

My brother after a few minutes had finished putting the luggage in the car. I gave my brother a quick hug so that my departure would not leave any grudges. I'm lucky that I have him as a brother. He smiled at me and left me to go inside of the house, I noticed at that moment that he was only in socks.

My father quickly left the house after kissing my mother and joined me at his car. I sat on the passenger side. Long before leaving for the airport, we were heading downtown to pick up Jennifer because her mother's vehicle was in the garage. Magalie had decided to ride with her mother.

It wasn't until the intercom came on, that my gaze lifted and landed on the nearby screen displaying the time. It had now been an hour since I had left my family. I had Magalie and Jennifer by my side.

__ "Passengers on flight eleven-A to Tuscany Airport, Italy. Please proceed to door number three. The flight will take place in twenty minutes. Thank you.''

Me and my best friends got up and Magalie pushes the cart with all our luggage piled on top. We had already gone through check-in and baggage checks and each of them had a tag to identify them after the flight. The cart seemed heavy, but Magalie didn't complain. We weren't the only ones to have one, the airport provided it for those who took a flight but had a lot of luggage.

Once we arrived at gate three, we handed over our luggage to the person in charge of putting it on the conveyor belt that lead the luggage to the plane. We handed our tickets to the flight attendant. She took them, confirmed the flight time indicated above and affixed the stamp confirming that the ticket was validated.

__ "Have a good flight!'' The lady tells us.

__ " Thank you!'' We all said in heart.

We entered through the door and walked along the long corridor which, after a few minutes of walking, took a slope upward.

__"Wow! I can't believe it; we're going to Italy!'' Exclaims Magalie.

__" Yes! We have been waiting for this trip for so long! I'm sure it will be wonderful.'' Said Jennifer as cheerful as Magalie.

__"Without a doubt, many surprises will await us there.'' I tell the girls.

People were coming back and ahead of us as they were looking for their seats. We got to the plane in a few extra seconds. Me and the girls were rushing to find our seats. It turned out that we were all next to each other. I took the seat near the window and stared at the landscape outside.

It had easily been ten minutes that I had been staring outside; I was fixated on the airport employees. They took such good care of the luggage and I noticed that the property was being heavily supervised; a voice on the intercom startled me. The doors were starting to close.

__"Welcome to every passenger on Flight Eleven-A to Tuscany, Italy. Thank you for choosing our company for this wonderful trip. We will be at your side for a period of thirteen hours. If you ever need help, there is a bell at the top of your benches and an air hostess will take care of you. Please fasten your seat belts for the flight and do not use your electronic devices for the duration of the take-off.''

The girls and I each turned off our phones to listen to what the flight pilot was asking us, and the flight rules started being listed but I wasn't listening anymore. The plane began to move forward, and I watched the scenery outside move quietly and pick up speed. The takeoff amazed me. Being a pilot must be great!

Shortly after takeoff, the intercom rang again telling us that we could remove our seatbelts and use our devices without any problem. I grabbed my headphones from my purse and settled into a Netflix movie I had downloaded. Magalie started reading a book and Jennifer was surfing her social networks.

I stared at my watch set to the time zone of Italy. It is now seven in the evening there, although here in Seattle it is only ten in the morning.

In about three hours we are all going to sleeo so as not to be tired when we arrive, jet lag is something I don't want to experience.

After spending some time on our phones, I picked up a novel while Jennifer and Magalie discuss make-up and fashion, Magalie who was reading had dropped her book reading to chat with her.

I continued my novel which I had started a few days ago. A very pleasant read speaking precisely of a trip.

-----| Sometime later |-----

Having lost myself in my reading after several chapters, I looked at my watch set to the time zone of Italy, and I see that it is already nine forty-five in the evening.

I rummage through my purse for a granola bar I'd brought and nibbled on it quietly. My gaze turned to the window, and it was absolutely stunning to see the view of the sky in front of me. The sun was still shining brightly.

Roxanne don't be fooled by the light of the sky. Instead, get on with the time you have in front of you. However, not having slept all night, I began to feel tired.

I decide to put on my blindfold and fall asleep calmly with music in my ears because my sleepless night caught up with my tiredness. I quietly relaxed to the sound of frequencies and nature sounds for relaxation.

I don't know when I fell asleep but obviously, I'm still dreaming the same dream I've had several times since I was born, but this one is slightly different. I am next to a woman dressed in green, yellow, and orange tree leaves. The woman seems benevolent and puts her hand on my cheek. Once in a dream she had already told me not to fly to Italy. I was sure she represented my inner stress from the airplane flight which at first frightened me.

Several women moved to stand in a circle around us. Flames appear at their hands as they raise them to the sky. Looks like some kind of ceremony. They all smile at me singing in a language I can barely understand, from the parts I did catch, they were singing about nature and peace of mind.

I hear the voice of this Lady who tells me that we will see each other again very soon that I will not suffer very long from what is going to happen to me. What does she want to talk about?

The young women around us who previously used fire are now using water drops and they continue to sing. The wind turns around us and I feel the Earth rumble under my bare feet. I am neither hot nor cold. I just feel good. The Lady looks at me and loses her smile.

My treasure, my beautiful protector. I'm so sorry for you. I would have liked to help you but what must happen, will happen. Take care of yourself young soul and always stay on the right path. We will meet again one day; I will do my best to save you from this life.

A rabbit came up to my feet and rubs against my leg. The other young women arrive and all hug me one by one and I don't know why. I have memories of being here before but it's fuzzy. I am more worried by what was said to me a short time ago.

I feel like I've known them all forever and as soon as I look at one, I remember their first name. Trees start to grow around us and each of the women start dancing, and some are playing obviously handmade instruments, my clothes are now replaced by a beautiful white dress, and I have flowers in my hair. Roots are around my legs.

The sun is setting, the clouds are disappearing, a cool breeze is felt, music and birdsong are heard all around us.

Flowers grow everywhere, I have the impression that we live a beautiful ceremony filled with purity. This is not the first time that I find myself with these beautiful young women, but I would like to know more. Yet my body cries to me that I already know the truth but for the moment it does not come to my mind.

Squirrels come up to meet me, I bend down and I make water appear in the hole in the ground near them because I know they are thirsty. We are in connection with nature, the elements and I feel that I am pure. I control the elements and understand the desires of nature and animals. It's ingrained deep inside me; my full history comes back to me reminding me of everything and it's so wonderful.

We dance and laugh for hours, I would like to stay with them and continue to have fun for a long time, but I know that is impossible, my soul will soon return to my physical body to continue living its incarnation on Earth.

------| Destination Reached |------

I feel someone shaking me. I raise my head quickly and see an air hostess. She looks at me smiling and when I can finally hear properly, she tells me that we have arrived at our destination, the girls were also sleeping.

How many hours did we sleep?! I look at my watch and it indeed at the time our flight ended. I never saw the time pass and I didn't think I would sleep so much.

I wake up my two friends who were in as deep of a sleep as me, but when they see the airport in Italy they hurry to get to their feet.

We get up in line to leave the plane through the door that is now open, and we get off the plane to land in another corridor.

We cross the long corridor and I smile seeing the amount of people present in this airport. The signs are written in Italian and English. We are greeted by a hostess who shows us the carpet on which we will find our luggage. There are rows of carts, Jennifer takes one and we head to the treadmill.

Finally, I see red and recognize my luggage. Jennifer's are not far from mine, all together we take them and put them on the cart. We wait a few more seconds and we see those of Magalie, and we help her to take hers. Once sure that we have everything we leave with the cart in the direction of the exit of the airport.

We call a taxi via a phone on the wall made for calling taxis and ask for a minivan as our excess luggage wouldn't fit in a normal taxi. The manager on the phone confirms the waiting time. I look outside with the girls; it's such a beautiful sun and we smile at each other.

__ "We got here. We are in Italy!'' I tell the girls.

We waited no more than ten minutes outside for the taxi to arrive. There are always several near the Airports, the driver helped us put all the luggage in the trunk of his vehicle and put some in the back. I took the passenger seat in front; the girls knew automatically that I didn't like to sit in the back.

I hand a paper with the address of the hotel to the driver; I see him turn on his device to calculate the mileage and the price. He barely speaks to us because it was obvious that his native language was Italian. He started the vehicle, and we were heading towards the Hotel which will house us for the week.

Let me know what you think of the first chapter 💬