Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2012 18:06:36 -0700
From: Pete McDonald <bajabudfan@hotmail.com>
Subject: TIME-TO-SEE-57-

TIME-TO-SEE-57

The cockpit was larger than most.  It had two small beds for the pilot,
copilot, and navigator to rest, and it contained workstations for each of
the three officers.

The boys were speechless as they moved past glowing dials and flashing
lights on the communications equipment and navigational
instruments. Conventional digital displays flickered and published status
information on the myriad systems operating in the aircraft as it flew
gracefully through the sky.

"What are those big black bubbles with the little white airplanes floating
in the center?" Nicky asked.

"That is an instrument that tells us whether the aircraft is flying level,
climbing, or descending and the amount of either.  It shows us when the
airplane banks left or right and helps us to guide it into a smooth turn,
like we had to make just after we left Kennedy International, the airport
in New York," the pilot replied.

"And those dials and lights tell us how the various hydraulic and control
systems are operating."

"Ohhhhhhh!" Shannon said with big eyes.  He had to stand on his tip toes to
see better.

"Which one of you is going to fly the airplane first?" the pilot asked.

"You're really going to let us fly the airplane?" Jilder asked.

"Well, of course." the pilot replied.

"We'll be able to fly the plane using parallel controls if you do something
that might disturb the smooth flight, but you'll be able to make it go
faster or slow it down and steer it just the same."

"Oh, Yeah! I'll go first," Jilder volunteered eagerly

The other two boys seemed more than ready to let Jilder try first.  The
vast display of lights and meters was more than a little intimidating, but
they seemed willing to take their turns just the same.

The pilot showed Jilder how to climb down into the copilot's seat, strap
himself in with the seatbelt, and put his hands on the wheel in front of
him.

"Is it OK to touch the steering wheel?" Jilder asked.

"Yes, of course.  Now remember, Jilder.  If you push the wheel forward,
you'll make the nose of the plane dip down in the front, and if you pull
back on it, the nose of the plane will point up and the plane will climb up
higher.  Now you do need to coordinate the foot pedals too, but the copilot
will do that for you on the parallel controls."

"And over here is the accelerator or throttle.  If you want to climb, you
need to pull back on the wheel and on the throttle at the same time to make
the aircraft engines go faster.  Okay, now, let's try those two moves
together... The copilot will let you do the flying, but he'll keep the
plane from tossing about out of control... You ready?"

"Yes, Sir," Jilder said tense, holding the wheel with his right hand and
the throttle with his left, and his eyes trained on the big bubble in front
of him that would show him the plane is changing attitude.

"Okay. Pull back on the throttles to gain speed.... That's right... a
little more.... good... Now pull back on the wheel-- it may take both
hands, 'cause it'll feel pretty stiff... that's it.  Now look at the bubble
instrument... see the plane is rising above the white line... You're making
the plane fly higher..."

Jilder didn't smile or register any emotion.  He just concentrated intently
on his job, and he wouldn't dare to divert his attention in the midst of
such an important task as he'd just undertaken...  His fingers went white,
he was clutching the wheel so tightly.

The pilot said, "Now, Jilder, push the wheel back toward the front of the
cockpit and allow the aircraft to level off..... VERY NICE... you certainly
have a steady hand, Jilder.  You could make a very good pilot someday if
you went to school..."

"Okay.  Now return the throttle to it's original setting... good... Did you
hear the engines quiet down when you told them to go more slowly?" the
pilot said.

"Yes, Sir," Jilder said, not looking away from his task for even a
moment...

"Now just hold her steady for a while." The pilot instructed.

"Yes, Sir."

At that moment the aircraft bumped and it's wings rose and fell over
several of these bumps.

Jilder went white but he didn't shrink from his duties.  He instinctively
pulled back on the wheel and pushed the throttle forward again, bringing
the craft through the series of warm air pockets... Quickly it settled down
into a smooth and steady path.  Then Jilder lowered the throttle and
returned the aircraft to level flight.

The pilot said, "Woah! I couldn't have done better myself, Jilder... " Then
he turned to the other boys, "All right, you guys.  You saw how a "pro"
does it.  You're next..."

"We'll let you hand the control of the aircraft over to your copilot,
Jilder.  And then these other two guys can try their hand at climbing."

"Who's next?  This man right here?... Shannon?... Do I have the name
right?" the pilot asked.

Shannon suddenly seemed even smaller than he was as he answered with a
clear "Yes Sir" and stepped up to the seat that Jilder had just climbed
away from.

Jilder turned and gave directions to Shannon, "Just sit down in that big
seat and buckle yourself in, Shannon.  That's first."

"OK." Shannon said following directions to the letter settling his little
hands on the steering wheel.

The Captain followed up on Jilder's beginning.  "Now, Shannon, you saw what
Jilder did to make the aircraft climb.  You think you can do that? You'll
have to pull back on the steering wheel, and sort of-- at the same time--
advance the throttle until you hear the whine of the engines get louder
telling you that you're gaining speed for the climb.

Jilder coached from behind the big pilot's seat: "You have to pull kinda
hard, Shannon, cause the wheel thing is really stiff.  But you can do it,
just pull hard..."

And with the same concentration that Jilder manifest, Shannon began the
operation.  He pulled the wheel back with both hands where the muscles in
his little arms tightened and bulged under his skin, and then holding the
wheel with his right hand, he moved his left hand to the throttles which
moved more easily.  The sound of the monstrous engines roared loudly--more
loudly than when Jilder directed them to climb--and the aircraft lurched
and headed to a higher altitude.

The pilot smiled and said, "Well, Shannon, all of the passengers will
notice that move for sure...  Now, why don't you level the aircraft by
pushing forward on the wheel and moving the throttles back a notch..."

Shannon didn't utter a word.  He was too busy concentrating on his flying
maneuvers, but he heard every word of the pilot's instructions and executed
them masterfully.  Here was another bright, pilot-hopeful.

"Okay, bud.  Maybe you can pass control of the aircraft to the co-pilot and
let our third pilot trainee get into the pilot's seat where you are.

Having not uttered the first sound, but having been super alert and utterly
responsive, Shannon relinquished his piloting to the co-pilot, turned and
climbed out of the pilot's seat without saying anything.

Nicky said, "You did GOOD, Shannon... I hope I can do as good as you
did..." on the way to taking the pilot's seat and buckling up.

Shannon was mesmerized by his experience.  His eyes were fixed on the
instruments and his breathing was smooth and even.  He turned his gaze to
the pilot and spoke, his first effort at communication since before he
began his piloting the aircraft.  "Thank you, Sir.  That was AWSOME!  I
can't wait to tell my dad!"

"You did a great job, Shannon. I'm sure your dad will be proud," the pilot
replied.

Nicky went through the operations that Jilder and Shannon had executed,
demonstrating a capacity for smooth and commanding movements.  And, very
shortly, there was yet another transfixed boy on the flight deck feeling
like he'd just made a real start on his trip to the stars.

The pilot spoke as he indicated that he would be accompanying the boys back
to their seats now, "That was the perfect beginning to a career as a pilot,
or at least a suggestion that acquiring your pilot's license one day, boys,
is definitely not far-fetched.  Each one of you-- with study-- when you're
old enough, can certainly attend flying school and earn your pilot's
wings."  The pilot reached over and pinned little plastic wings on each
boy's shirt, which left all three of them smiling, just beaming with
delight...

And with their experience echoing in their minds, the boys left the cockpit
and filed to their seats with a serious demeanor that, at first, alarmed
Kevin and Hugo, but that they quickly realized had just been a tiny peek
into the bright and serious young men these boys would eventually become.
The pilot winked at Hugo and Kevin, saluted to the boys, and turned to
re-enter the cockpit.

Shannon was the first to speak.  "Did you feel it when I made the engines
jump and push the airplane higher?  That was me!" Shannon said with a
prideful smile.

"So THAT was YOU," Kevin replied. "How does a little guy like you make such
a big thing happen?"

"Oh, the pilot told me what to do, and I did it as best I could.  It was
kinda hard to pull on the controls, 'cause they're made for adults, but I
could make the plane climb higher after he told me what to do.  It was
fuuuuuuun!" Shannon said as he sank back into his giant, upholstered seat
with a beatific smile on his face, reliving the joy of his first piloting
experience.

Jilder went on, "Yeah! Dad.  It was awesome.  Maybe when I get older, I can
take pilot's lessons and get my wings?  You think?"

Kevin interrupted, always ready to hammer in a lesson.  "Of course, but
you'll need to keep your math scores high; so you can calculate the
direction that your airplane goes and such."

"Yeah! That's right," Jilder said thoughtfully.

"It really was great, Dad.  I really want to do that some more.  And like
Jilder said, maybe we can both go to flight school and learn to pilot a
plane some day," Nicky added.

And very little more was needed to augment the consciousness that these
boys had found in their one little trip to the cockpit and into adult
satisfaction and adult responsibility.

Everyone sat peacefully without speaking.

And the aircraft engines thundered on toward Europe.

*****

Maybe 15 minutes later, Nicky stood up and moved the short distance over to
Kevin's seat.  He leaned down and spoke privately directly into Kevin's
ear.

"Dad.  I read that email you got from the pilot, sorta by accident.  I
wasn't trying to pry into your mail.  It was lying out where I could see it
when we went up to the cockpit," Nicky confided.

Kevin replied, "Yes? That's alright, Nicky.  You didn't do anything
wrong. If the message was really that private, I should have put it away,
but I didn't.  I'm sorry you felt that you'd done something wrong.  You
definitely did nothing wrong."

"Thanks, Dad," Nicky said exhaling and with some relief in his voice he
went on.

"I been thinking... Would it be Okay for me and Jilder to invite Shannon to
stay with us for the week that his dad has to be on his business trip? I
mean, I'd like for him to visit us after we get to Europe, if it's OK with
you and Hugo."

"Hummm... Well, we'll have to ask Hugo what he thinks.  Checking with your
dad is important... to make sure he won't feel stressed, since he's got to
go to those meetings; but I think you may have a good idea there," Kevin
replied.

"You see.  I'd be really bummed out if my dads couldn't be with me when I
came to visit; so I don't want Shannon to feel bad like that, if I can help
it.  Shannon can feel at home with us until his dad gets back. Right?"
Nicky asked.

"You bet, Nick.  That's a very mature and empathetic assessment you've
made.  Why not see what Jilder thinks about it?"

Nicky moved carefully back to where he had been seated, then he moved
forward to Jilder's seat, and getting down on his knees he cupped his hands
and whispered his plan to Jilder.

"Yeah! That'd be cool.  Let me talk to Shannon with you," Jilder said.

"Let's talk to him now," Nicky said.

And the two boys got up and moved the short distance, more forward still,
until they arrived at Shannon's very comfortable swivel seat.  Jilder
leaned over Shannon, and Nicky got on his knees in front of him; so that he
was looking directly into Shannon's face.

Nicky began, "Say, Shannon, we just found out somethin from an email that
the pilot brought to our dads from your dad.  It says that your dad has to
go on a business trip, and he will be able to pick you up in a week from
now; so's Jilder and me thought we'd like to ask you to visit with us for
that time, 'cause we like you and want to be with you some more, like while
your dad can't come.  Do you think you'd wanna stay with Jilder and me,
Shannon?... Don't feel bad if you don't wanna stay. I'd understand, but
since your dad has to be away, I thought you might be willing to visit with
us some more..."

Shannon looked at Nicky with a shocked expression on his face.  The thought
that his dad wouldn't be waiting for him hadn't crossed his mind, and now
it brought a wave of sadness and disappointment through his little chest
that he just couldn't hide, not from two boys who understood what that kind
of news does to a guy...

Shannon sat forward in his seat and turned his head in Kevin's
direction. As soon as Kevin caught Shannon's eye, he rose and went to where
the three boys were.  He stooped down; so as to be on eye level with
Shannon too.

"Shannon, the pilot brought me this message from your dad that says that he
will be delayed a little while meeting you, when the plane gets to
Ireland. Nicky and Jilder and I... and Hugo too... would love for you to
stay with us for the few days that your dad has to be delayed-- that is, if
you would consider that.  Your dad says that he will send his butler to
meet you at the airport, and you can go to your dad's house with the
butler, if you want.  But I'd really like it if you'd consider staying with
Nicky and Jilder and Hugo and me.  We really love having you around. You're
a pretty neat kid..." Kevin said, trying to sound comforting while
delivering the unhappy truth of the message Shannon's dad sent.

Shannon looked down and his eyes began to fill with tears.  Kevin reached
over and rubbed Shannon's back with his big, warm hand..."Yeah! Man.  That
sucks!" Kevin said quietly.

"That's a bummer!" Nicky volunteered in a considerably more robust volume.
"I'd be pissed...  Ooops! Sorry, Dad," Nicky added.

Shannon looked up at Nicky and smiled through his tears.  "You guys are
really nice. But I just wanna see my dad. That's why I'm crying, not cause
I don't wanna visit with you...."

"Well, Shannon, you don't have to decide right now, if you don't want to.
We all understand.  But when you decide, whatever you decide, it will be
alright with us..."  and Kevin rubbed his hand around some more on
Shannon's back and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead, just as
he would comfort either Nicky or Jilder.  Love is not only for your own
family.

Shannon's trickle of tears instantly became a flow, and he dissolved into a
little bundle of quivering, inconsolable sadness.

Kevin simply continued to rub Shannon's back, and Nicky reached over to put
a hand on Shannon's arm, while Jilder, just as affected as the others,
squeezed Shannon's shoulder.  No one said anything for a few minutes.  Only
the roar of the mighty engines inserted itself into the world of this sad
little guy...  But Shannon was NOT left to be alone in his saddness.

Nicky looked up at Jilder and silently mouthed a message: "You think he's
okay?"  To which Jilder shrugged his shoulders, indicating he was unsure of
what was happening.  Kevin put his index finger to his lips to indicate to
the boys that they might best continue to be silent.

In a moment, Shannon's tears subsided, and he looked up into everyone's
faces and said, "I'd really like to be with you guys, 'till my dad comes
for me."

They all smiled at once, communicating their pleasure at Shannon's
decision, collectively radiating a warmth that could almost be measured
with a thermometer.

"Oh, that's terrific news, Shannon.  Thanks for staying with us... We love
you very much, and are really happy you'll be staying with us," Kevin said.

And the brave little pilot of the aircraft that now pushed on through the
night sky knew that all of the guys cared about him-- all four of them,
even if life had delivered him a blow that he was unable to control.  He
was going to be alright in the cradle of all the love the guys provided.

*****

Nicky went over to his seat and pulled his laptop computer from the little
storage compartment next to the seat.  Then he went back to Shannon's seat.

"Look, Shannon.  You can use the email address on your dad's email to write
him an email letter and tell him what you are going to do... And you can
tell him that you want him to hurry and get you."

Bringing up the Google mail Sign-In screen, Nicky handed his laptop to
Shannon.

"Shannon wiped his tears away with the back of his shirt sleeve, gave a
little shiver as he cleared the crying from his system, and began to type
in: ShanNY2IR along with his secret password.  The laptop jumped to work
instantly and presented Shannon a blank page on which he could write to his
dad..."

"Dear Dad...

I am very sad that you can't come to get me at the airport when we get
there but I have new friends named Nicky and Jilder and Kevin and Hugo and
they want me to stay with them while they go to talk at a doctor's meeting.
I really want to do that, if you can't meet me.  So I'll tell your friend
who comes to meet me at the airport that I'm going with Nicky and
Jilder. You can always write me a letter and I'll get it on Nicky's laptop.
He told me how to write this letter, and he helped me get a userID and
secret password. Please hurry because I miss you.  Love, Shannon Oh, and
I'll send you our hotel room number as soon as we get one. The doctors will
have our hotel when we get there.

"What do I do now?" Shannon asked Nicky...

"Look at the top of the screen.  See up there... there's a button: 'SEND',
that you're supposed to click on.  That'll make your letter go in your
dad's mailbox."

"Oooookay!" and Shannon sent his letter on its way.

"Now dad will know where I am, and I won't have to be alone while I wait
for him," Shannon explained to both Nicky and Jilder who hovered over his
seat.

"Cool." Nicky said.

"And you can check for an answer from your dad as often as you want,"
Jilder added.  "You can use either MY laptop or Jilder's too."

Although he never said it, it seemed pretty clear for Shannon that we had
all just established: "ISSUE CLOSED"... Well, at least for the time being.



*****



"Let's go exploring the airplane," Jilder announced to Nicky and Shannon.

"Yeah! Let's go to that salon and the bar too, if they'll let us in," Nicky
said.

"What's a salon?" Shannon said.

"I don't know, but our dads said that this plane is full of rich people.  I
guess they want to go somewhere and drink beer and stuff."

Shannon volunteered, "Isn't it sorta late to go explorin?  I mean, the
lights are turned down low, and I see some people are sleepin."

"Yeah! But I'm not sleepy yet," Jilder answered, "and the movies don't
start for almost another hour... We gotta do somethin..."

"Well, OK.  I think that would be fun," Nicky contributed his opinion.

"Yeah. I'll go too.  Do you think they'll let kids in?" Shannon wondered.

So off the three of them marched... Kevin and Hugo were both dozing; thus
the usual supervisory and sanity filters were off-line for just this one
moment.  (Recall: Kevin understood that it only takes a 'moment' with these
guys...)

There were two remarkably long aisles, parallel to each other, leading to
the rear of the aircraft.  About half way to the very tail of the aircraft
were two spiral stairways-- one for going down to the salon deck, and one
stairway for returning.

Jilder disappeared down the stairwell first.  Then Shannon went. Finally
Nicky...  What they found at the bottom of that stairwell shocked all three
of them.

There was actually a dance floor with flashing colored lights and a big
revolving hemisphere, covered in mirror chips that made the lights twinkle
and sparkle and reflect moving colored spots all over everyone.  Muted but
very jivy dance music played, and five couples danced-- or rather shook
their booties-- while a lot of single males hung around the bar at the far
end of the dance floor (at the tail of the aircraft) cheering, laughing,
and holding glasses which must have contained alcohol.  (At least that's
what Jilder thought anyway...)

As soon as the boys arrived on the scene, two women--perhaps in their 30s
came over to them, one taking Jilder by the hands, the other taking Nicky,
and dragged them out on to the dance floor.

Now Jilder had no idea what was going on, but he knew he liked the looks of
these women, and he smiled and decided to join them and shake his butt
around too.  It didn't appear that it required any special training, Jilder
concluded.  And in no time at all, Jilder was the center of attention.

Nicky was nervous, but definitely game.  The woman who "abducted" him
started rubbing her hands through Nicky's ample head of bright red curls
and laughing and blowing kisses to him as she did so. The guys at the bar
at the far end of the dance floor just cracked up when the lady ran her
hands through Nicky's hair...

Then she took Nick by the hands and started shaking her butt too... Nicky
was feeling major self-conscious, but then he looked over at Jilder and saw
that Jilder was way gone by now; so he decided to relax and dance
too... ("What the hey," he thought...)

Shannon-- tiny little guy that he was-- just stood there while his buddies
were out 'womanizing'...  No more than had he realized that he was alone,
than a third woman, perhaps only in her early 20s, came to Shannon and
dragged him out on to the dance floor with Nicky and Jilder.  Shannon was
actually terrified!  But he didn't want anyone to know it; so he smiled and
started bobbing up and down to the beat of the music.

Jilder wiggled around past Shannon smiling like he was on a rollercoaster
ride at Magic Mountain.  Well, if Jilder can do it; so can I, Shannon
thought... After all, I can fly the airplane; so I can do this too.

And the music played on... and very quickly the three little guys became
the center of attention of the entire salon deck... The music grew louder
in volume and the ladies laughed and put on seductive demonstrations for
their under-age escorts, while the guys at the bar clapped, hooted, and
yelled encouragement to the boys...

The festivities were in full swing, and a huge crowd had gathered around
the dance floor where the boys were putting on an exhibition for all to
enjoy.... when WHO SHOULD APPEAR, climbing on the DOWN-STAIRCASE, none
other than-- you guessed it-- THE DADS!

They didn't want to embarrass the boys; so they made their way unnoticed
over to the DJ booth and whispered to the DJ.  In just a few moments, the
music turned into a very primitive THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, giving the signal
that THAT particular dance had ended, and that NEW dance couples or new
partners were called for...

With that, the three lovely ladies who had captivated our Three Musketeers
each gave their under-age dance partners a kiss on the cheek and left them
on the dance floor.  And all three boys just stood there dumbfounded
smearing the lipstick around on their cheeks.  That made the guys at the
bar just roar...

And with impeccable timing Kevin and Hugo stepped out onto the dance floor
and grabbed the kids by the hand with a friendly invitation to "get their
asses" outta that place.... SMILE.... "IT'S FOR ADULTS WITH ALCOHOL AND NOT
FOR kids! you whackos!" they stage whispered to the boys.

Well, truly, NONE of the three boys wanted to retreat up the spiral
staircase to the passenger deck from which they came. They had learned yet
another adult enterprise-- substantially different from piloting the
aircraft but equally as much fun--but the message from Kevin and Hugo was
unmistakable: "asses upstairs!"... No problem, if they just go back to
where the kids are supposed to be: watching movies and playing computer
games with their laptops...

So back they marched in the direction of the stairs, Hugo leading the
parade.  Everyone in the salon dance floor clapped and cheered for the boys
as they started back upstairs.  The boys waved good-by to their fans, and
Kevin turned to the assembled crowd and shouted loudly, so as to be heard
over the thunderous disco-bumping rhythm: "Thanks for taking such good care
of our boys," they won't forget THIS trip..." And he waved as he followed
the boys...

The clapping and whistling continued until the little family was safe back
on the passenger deck where, surprisingly, one could barely hear the
reveling going on in the salon, and passengers slept in the quiet, dimly
lit compartment.

"Wow! Dad.... So THAT's what a salon is! That's cool," Jilder said loudly
when he plopped down in his seat...

Kevin turned to Hugo with a knowing smile and murmured under his breath, "I
think we've definitely got ourselves a pair of 'BREADERS'" And Hugo laughed
out loud as soon as it registered with him what Kevin had just said.

"Okay boys.  So now you know what a salon is, and you will have to wait
until you are much, much, much, much, much older (that's FIVE "much's")
than you are now to do that by yourself." Kevin pronounced closure on this
escapade too.

Shannon sat in his seat smiling from ear to ear.  "We weren't supposed to
go down there, were we," he said to the dads.

"No.  There's lots of other stuff for guys your age.  That's not what we
want your dad to think we allow our kids to do.  So NO MORE TRIPS TO THE
SALON DECK... 'Comprender?'" Kevin said.

"Okay. No more..... But what's 'Com-prehn-deer' mean?" Shannon said.

Hugo spoke up, "It's VERY POOR Spanish that's the best my partner here can
do. But under the stress of this evening, I'll forgive him..." and he
leaned over an gave Kevin a peck on the cheek. ("It means: UNDERSTAND?"
Hugo contributed...)

"Gosh.  Do you guys kiss each other?" Shannon asked innocently.  Apparently
he'd never seen such goings on in his world.

"Well, we love each other, and when we feel like we want the other one to
remember it-- again-- maybe 10 times a day, we give him a kiss," Hugo said.

Upon a few moment's consideration Shannon said, "Hummmm? ...That's pretty
nice."

Nicky made an announcement: "Shannon. Check your email.  Maybe you have a
message from your dad..."

And with that, the boys returned without complaint to their comfortable
kids' world of computer games and movies and snacks with lemonade.

"Can I use your computer?" Shannon asked Nicky...

"Sure..."

*****