Taxi. Faces. First-time flyers, route regulars. And the children. There was always the children. 10-year olds lost inside their handhelds, 5-year olds asking their parents an endless stream of questions, and babies. Crying, demon babies. They should just be eliminated from flying completely. All they do is cry. Then they go to sleep for a while. But then they cry some more. Before you know it, your ear will be bleeding, ringing with the sound of non-stop crying that isn’t there. Take-off. Paranoia. Though the bleeding hasn’t quite started yet, I am sure it is soon to come. After 20 minutes on the ground, with the babies crying, it’s way too much. The first-time flyers are scared out of their wits, hopelessly staring out the window with wide eyes. Their obnoxious “deep breathing” starts now. It never stops until they exit the aircraft. Seasoned regulars know the drill, and some stay quiet in their seats, but most of them look down at the rookies and laugh. Not outwardly, but silently. The slight turning of their lips, the glare of superiority in their eyes. They laughed until the newbies’ breathing stopped. All those people, no matter what they had in their minds and pocket, they all sounded the same. Screeching noise. 37,000 feet. “Entertainment.” The stewards and stewardesses walking around, asking people what they wanted, bringing drinks, selling food. The slurping of sodas. The clashing of coins. The TVs, heard only through headphones. Headphones turned up loud enough so that the rest of the plane can hear what’s passing through them. Reactions of people watching, the occasional laugh at comedies, the group sigh in romances. A slow, steady beeping noise from the aircraft cabin echoed throughout the plane. Noise. Everything happening. More noise. The movie was over. The discussion about the movie began. The beeping seemed a bit faster, though that was probably just because the sharpness and loudness made it seem so. I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like dying. With all this noise, I probably would soon anyways. Ruptured eardrums that clogged up my brain with internal bleeding. 25 minutes to landing. Almost there. The noise, loud as ever. The beeping. A bit faster. A bit more annoying. The discussion about the movie was over, yet the noise had not subsided one iota. The crying babies were full throttle. The regular flyers still laughing at the ones who couldn’t stop their heavy breathing. And the beeping, even faster. 20 minutes to landing. A man stood up, to give us a speech. He seemed aggressive, like of those product salesmen. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. It was all just more noise. Screeching, ear-piercing noise. The beeping was faster. 15 minutes to landing. Everyone was scared, except the man who gave us the speech. He seemed calm enough. How could they not hear the jungle of noise in this aircraft? The beeping was now really p*ssing me off. It was extremely fast by now, you could barely tell when one ended and the next began. I then realized what was happening. Why everyone was scared. What that man was talking about. But I didn’t mind. Though why did it have to be so loud? It’s of no matter now. 10 minutes to landing. The beeping was just one, continuous beep by now. Any minute now. Any minute now. Any min— there we go. Eardrum-rupturing, vile noise. We have reached our destination, enjoy your flight, and thank you for flying with us. It is currently a thousand degrees outside, the weather is dry, we hope you enjoy your stay. And now your host, Lucifer, would like to say a few words…