Hola mis queridos amigos, hoy vamos a leer un relato corto. ¿Os gusta volar? Si no es así, ¡Al menos, espero que os guste el relato!
FLYING ON HOME by Carl Schonbeck.
Gil Passy woke up sweating for the fourth consecutive morning. The month was July, the place Perugia, Italy and the reason was a recurring nightmare that seemed as real as the knock he now heard on his hotel door.
-"Gil, we're going down to breakfast!"
It was Billy Stern, the bass player in Gil's jazz quintet. He and pianist Connie Blackwell were usually the first at the breakfast table when they were on the road. In this case, the "road" was the Umbria Jazz Festival, where they would play that evening.
-"Order me a coffee," said Gil. "Be right down".
The plane had landed. It was a phrase Gil often repeated to himself. For someone as terrified of flying as he was, it was a comforting mantra. It helped him remember that planes take off and they land. Usually. It was the "usually" that gave him problems.
Gil pulled himself together and went down to breakfast. Along with Billy and Connie, there was the drummer Dan Freeman and saxophonist Vinnie Mariano.
The others noticed Gil's pale face and troubled expression.
-"What's wrong, Gil?" asked Dan. "You haven't been right since we arrived here, man."
Gil had considered telling his bandmates about the dream but it seemed too crazy. Even so, he needed to talk to someone. If you couldn't tell a group of jazz musicians something crazy, who could you tell?
-"I've been having this weird dream since we got over here. You know the kind that seem real? I'm sitting alone in this place...a combination of a jazz club and a funeral home. These guys are on stage playing old swing standars. They look like undertakers..."
The guys laughed at the joke and urged Gil to continue.
"Anyway, I'm sitting there and on the table there's an airline ticket. I look down at it and it's for the flight we came over on from Boston, SX 436. I'm looking at this ticket and I've got a really bad feeling, you know? Just then the band leader says they're going to play "Flying on Home", the old song by Mojo Kirkland. He dedicates it to me and gives me this strange smile. Really creepy. I look down at the ticket again and when I look up there's a closed coffin in front of the stage. Then I wake up. The whole thing seems so real. Guys, I'm afraid we're not going to make it home tomorrow."
It was Connie who spoke. The ticket had been for the flight over, from Boston to Rome. Flight SX 435. There was nothing about the flight home.
"Yeah, that's the strange part", admitted Gil. "Why would it be the flight over and not the one back?" But still he worried.
The concert that evening was a success. Gil knew they'd be invited back the following year and that could only bring good things both in Europe and back home. If they got there.
-"Well Gil, if your dream means we're finished, at least we went out with a bang," joked Billy back at the hotel.
The following morning Gil awoke with a start. He'd had the dream for the fifth consecutive night. It had to mean something.
It wasn't until flight SX 436 was over the Atlantic that Gil spoke to anyone. Reasoning that most airline disasters happened either during takeoff or landing, he relaxed a little but not much. As the plane began its final approach to Boston's Logan Airport, Gil braced himself. In a moment it would all be over. Either he'd be on the ground or somewhere else.
It was the smoothest landing Gil could remember. The Gil Passy Quintet gathered its luggage and exchanged goodbyes. Gil was tired and wanted to get home. Fortunately, he didn't live far from the airport.
Crossing the arrival hall towards the exit Gil heard a familiar voice call to him. It was his old friend and fellow trumpet player Scott Hyler. He was catching a late flight to Paris to work on a film soundtrack. Would Gil feel like having a drink or two? He was tired but said yes.
The two musicians ordered drinks in the airport lounge. An hour quickly passed. Scott said: "You know Gil, just the other night I dreamt about you. We were on stage playing "Flying on Home" together. That's quite a coincidence, sin't it?"
Before Gil could respond, a cry of alarm went up from the bar. All eyes were fixed on the television. A plane had made a crash landing nearby. An apartment building had been struck...the details were certain. It was the flight from Boston to Rome SX 436.
Fortunately, the world would soon learn that all the passengers had survived the crash landing in a nearby field and the damage to the apartment had been relatively small. Only one top-floor had been destroyed. It was the apartment of one Gilvert Passy, who fortunately, in the fateful moment was having a drink with a friend and learning that having one's feet on the ground can be as dangerous as flying on home!!!
VOCABULARY OF THE STORY.
-TO URGE: rogar, instar.
-CREEPY: inquietante.
-COFFIN: ataúd.
-TO GO OUT WITH A BANG: salir a lo grande.
-WITH A START: de un sobresalto.
-BRACED HIMSELF: se puso tenso.
-SMOOTH: suave.
-TO GATHER: recoger.
-LUGGAGE: equipaje.
-TO STRIKE: golpear.
Photos by: elespanol.com / cazawonke.com
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!
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