Arjun stared out the airplane window, his forehead pressed against the cold glass. The view of white clouds stretching endlessly beneath him was supposed to be breathtaking, but he felt more like his breath was leaving his body. His fingers clenched the armrest like it was the last lifeline between him and the sweet, solid ground.
"Why did I agree to fly? Stupid, stupid decision."
The engines hummed softly, passengers chattered in the background, and a flight attendant walked down the aisle, flashing a routine smile. Everything seemed normal—until the turbulence hit.
The plane jerked. Then shook. Then rocked.
Passengers gasped. Arjun's heart pounded. He turned his head back to the window, hoping to calm himself.
And that's when he saw it.
Both wings were gone.
Just—gone. Like a magician had done a vanishing trick.
The engines sputtered and died. The plane tilted forward.
"OH, NO NO NO!" Arjun yelled, grabbing the seat in front of him. His seatmate, an old man with thick glasses, turned to him.
"Son, planes don't just—"
WHOOSH! The wind howled. The plane dropped like a rock.
Arjun's stomach shot up to his throat. People screamed, luggage tumbled, a flight attendant lost her balance and somersaulted down the aisle.
"This is it! This is how I die! I knew I should've taken the boat!"
And then, just as suddenly, something even weirder happened.
Two giant pigeon-like wings burst out from the sides of the plane.
Feathers fluttered everywhere. The wings flapped, once, twice—WHOOSH!—and suddenly, instead of crashing, the plane soared higher than ever.
"What the—" Arjun gawked.
The other passengers? Perfectly calm, as if a plane with giant pigeon wings was normal. Even the old man beside him nodded approvingly.
"Good engineering," he muttered.
Arjun didn't have time to process this because the sky suddenly lit up.
A golden light burst through the clouds, blinding yet warm. The plane tilted upward, flying toward it like a moth to a flame. Somewhere, angelic music played.
And then, a voice.
Deep. Echoing. Divine.
"Welcome to Heaven."
Arjun's jaw dropped.
"WHAT?! ALREADY? I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO CONFESS MY COLLEGE EXAM CHEATING!"
Just as the plane crossed into the blinding golden light—
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Arjun jolted awake.
The golden light was gone, replaced by a ceiling fan lazily spinning above him. His heart pounded, his shirt stuck to his back with sweat.
It was a dream.
A stupid, ridiculous dream.
He groaned, rubbing his face.
"Why the hell did my brain give the plane pigeon wings?"
Then he remembered. Today was the first time he was ever going to fly. He had spent the whole night Googling things like 'How safe is flying?' and 'Percentage of plane crashes per year' like a complete idiot. No wonder his brain tortured him with that nightmare.
And then another realization hit him.
He wasn't waking up for a flight.
He was waking up for his wedding.
Arjun's eyes widened. His pulse spiked again—but this time, not from a fake airplane crash.
"OH CRAP! I'M GETTING MARRIED IN AN HOUR!"
He shot up from the bed like a missile, tripped on the bedsheet, and landed face-first on the floor.
Today was going to be chaotic.