Page 127 of Owen

Since we opened the flying school, she’s been desperate to get me into the two-seater stunt plane she teaches extreme aerobatics in. Students and thrill-seekers travel for miles around to fly with Jade.

It draws crowds of spectators; they line the pier most days, turning up in droves at the weekend to watch her perform stunts in the sky above the waters of Castleview.

Our website uses the word “extreme” as a gauge to describe the experience. Now thinking about it, as I’m suited up, headphones and microphone in place, I want to get out as sweat soaks through my clothing and mild panic takes over my body.

Having just taken off and zooming through the skies above Castleview Cove, I’ve never minded flying with Jade before, butthe stunts are something that have always scared me and I have never let her perform them with me in the plane until now. She convinced me it’s the best feeling in the world, telling me, “You’ll want to do it over and over again.”

In a moment of weakness, I agreed. Only now am I regretting my decision; I feel sick as hell, so why the hell did I think this was a good idea? However, it’s too late to change my mind as she says, “Here we go.”

The noisy Extra 300 aircraft flips upside down and I can’t control the scream that leaves my throat as the landscape I’m now viewing is upside down. With Jade seated in front of me, I push my arms out to the side as if the edges of the plane will help me, but they won’t.

As Jade flips us back round, I sigh with relief, but it’s short lived as she sends the plane soaring vertically, making me scream again. “Slow down. Oh my God, you’re trying to kill me,” I shout, which makes Jade laugh.

“We are only pulling speeds of two hundred miles an hour. You sound like a girl when you scream.”

“Two hundred? I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Big baby,” she mutters, her tone full of humor. “The next move is brilliant. You’re going to love it,” she informs me through my headset as she keeps the plane in the vertical position.

“Hey, no name calling, Hotshot, and why the fuck are we not flying the right way up?” I shout down the microphone, still bracing myself on either side of the plane.

“Here we go again.” The excitement and joy in her voice makes me feel uneasy.

Her mission in life is to go as fast as possible and to kill me, I’m sure of it.

Jade maneuvers the small plane, which sounds like anangry hive of honeybees, from its soaring position into a nosedive within milliseconds as she flips the plane, making it do a loop, then dive bombs at breakneck speed in a downward position.

I clamber in my seat, my harness and the speed we’re traveling at pinning me in place as I scream to the point I might lose my voice, my eyes bugging out, and I’m pretty sure my bowels might explode. My life flashes before my eyes as we hurtle to the ground, nose first, into the waves of Castleview Cove, seemingly flying faster than before.

“Holy shiitttttttt,” I yell as I imagine fish eating me when we crash and I vanish forever. Then at the last minute, Jade pulls the stick controller up, shifting us from vertical to horizontal at the speed of lightning, and we are skimming the surface of the water.

“Wooooooo hooooooo,” Jade whoops with joy.

Sweat dripping off my entire body, feeling like I am about to vomit, I whisper, “I think I shit myself.”

From the pilot position in front of me, Jade throws her head back with laughter. “You okay?”

As I mop my brow, my stomach lurches and I have to cover my mouth to hold back the vomit that threatens to explode around us.

“Landing now,” Jade says calmly.

“I hate you,” I belch.

“Sick bags are on the left.” The tires of the plane bump a few times as we land, and my stomach muscles spasm as I reach for the sick bag and spew into it, retching and coughing.

“You’ll be fine in an hour,” Jade says calmly as the plane stops and she unbuckles herself once she’s done her safety checks.

Eventually, she coaxes me out of the plane, my legs shaky.

“You look gray.” Lincoln laughs when he sees me, pointing, informing my son, Atlas, I didn’t enjoy the flight.

“More like green. What do you think, Poppy?” Jacob counters, laughing with Poppy by his side.

Before I can reply, their faces become a blur, and I pass out.

“So, no more flying for you then?” Jade sticks a giant piece of halloumi into her mouth, smiling wickedly as she chews, casually leaning back in her chair.

We are having a barbecue with all our friends and family on the airfield. Something we try to do once a month.

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