Busman of the Skies

Avatar Author: Mostly Harmless Good day! The name's Ed - theatre buff, pianist and proud Ficleteer... Of course, all comments and ratings are appreciated, and I do try to do my bit as well - if you want to note me, that's always pleasant too! ... Read Bio

“Daddy, when I’m older I want to fly just like that Earhart lady – she’s so cool!”

That had been Tommy’s cue for his daddy to pick him up and run around the room making aeroplane noises, before throwing him down and tickling him until he begged for mercy.

The simple pleasures of a five year old. How little I knew…

Thomas Bright’s father was now long dead, but his dreams of flying over the Atlantic had been all too often realised. Though all those years ago, he hadn’t planned on taking 416 sweaty tourists complaining about the in-flight movie picture quality along for the ride.

Self-importantly flicking one of the countless, mostly useless switches, Tommy wasn’t fooling anyone. All the crew knew that since the airline had installed fancy autopilot technology, the most their Captain ever had to do was check the air conditioning.

Whirring engines, meaningless beeping and inane chatter from behind the partition ensured maximum boredom.

And there was another thing:

Tommy was sick of cockpit jokes.

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Comments (13 so far!)

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  1. Avatar someday_93

    Childhood dreams dashed…I really liked the wording throughout this piece – it was sort of sad and disappointed, but with some bits of humor thrown in.

    Also, I was unaware of the British/American spelling of aeroplane/airplane…you learn something new every day, I guess!

  2. Avatar PJ (Jae) [[LoA]]

    Ah, it’s what we all eventually face, isn’t it? Well, I hope I don’t. Bittersweet.

  3. Avatar Charlie K

    I love British spellings of words, like aeroplane, favourite, or realise. I feel like they’re easier to read. Maybe I’ll start spelling things the British way even though I’m a stupid American. Great story, though. Very well-written.

  4. Avatar kaellinn18

    I think we can all relate to having reality be far different than our dreams. I could definitely connect with that aspect of the story.

    However, being the son of a commercial airline pilot, I also know that some of what you’ve written is not factually correct. Yes, autopilot does relieve them from having to hold the controls all the time, but there’s always something to do, whether it’s checking on the status of various aspects of the plane or tracking the weather to make sure you’re not going to fly into the middle of a thunderstorm. And trust me, none of those switches are useless.

    Things also go wrong on planes sometimes, but the passengers rarely know it. My dad has brought planes in with entire engines offline just fine. That’s what the pilots are paid for.

    I don’t mean to rag on your story, just to educate. My dad will be the first to tell you that it can be very boring and tedious, so you nailed that aspect as well. :-)

  5. Avatar Elisabeth L. Davis(LoA)

    Oh come on, am I the only one who had an idea for a segue into a deranged killer’s mind? I suppose I read psychothrillers too much.

  6. Avatar someday_93

    Charlie: This is just a thought….why is it we always refer to ourselves as stupid Americans, but they never call themselves stupid Brits? Hmm…

  7. Avatar Charlie K

    That is a good thought, Someday. I never thought of that… I will have to meditate on this…

  8. Avatar someday_93

    I shall meditate with you then…after all, it seems that British and Americans have the same average intelligence, so perhaps its a psychological thing…I will continue to ponder.

  9. Ahfl_icon THX 0477

    Ah, the dream and then the letdown. It’s like an allegory for most of adulthood. How sad, but nicely told.

  10. Avatar jcain

    Oi, very nice story mate. These bloody Yanks have no idea how to write. Ah, sorry, okay I’ll come back to reality here in lower Alabama. But it really is very well written.

    Cheers. (Sorry, couldn’t help it)

  11. Avatar Lighty

    I like the flow in the writing from the memory of a young boy to someone’s thoughts on their situation, adult and slightly cynical. The last line made me chuckle, and I’m now wondering how I never considered it in that context before.

    Uh, to Someday, possibly because although Britons are famously self deprecating, generally witty, usually, dry, humour is preferred: mocking/satirising situations and stereotypes rather than out and out insults.

  12. Avatar ElshaHawk (LoA)

    what if in the future some of the buttons really are useless? :P
    i think most everyone said what I would have.

  13. Avatar Luke Nicolaou

    British English is much nicer than American English imo. That might be because I’m Australian, but I don’t like the spelling for American words. And I hate the spell-check for my browser because it is default for American :S

    Oh and a good story. I saw this as a futuristic thing, where pilots were virtually obsolete.