at the bottom of everything

"Where are we going?" she says to the old man beside her seat.

The airplane shakes violently from one of the failed engines, for which the pilot has apologized three times. The old man turns and looks at her. "We are going to a party."

She smiles.

"It's your birthday party. Happy birthday, darling."

The plane rapidly loses its altitude, and people start putting on their oxygen mask. One mother scolds his son as he refuses to put down his Nintendo. The passengers at the back are passing shots of bloody marys.

She looks out the window and sees the Pacific ocean reaching out its arms to her. She remembers her mother watering orchids, her father painting their walls orange. She thinks of smoking a cigarette, but it will probably get wet.

"I'm happy just because I am really no one."

She closes her eyes, and her skin meets the salt of the sea. Her lips part into a smile. She thinks this is the adventure she has been waiting for.