Colombo Bombings 2019
In 2019...
I was working in call centres.
The big boys at work booked trips to Thailand...
I went to book mine.
I saw a brochure in the background...
I said "take me there."
It was Sri Lanka.
I changed my plans and felt called.
I didn't check the world map, I just started planning.
I got to Dubai, messaging a friend.
He messaged... "Watch out, there has been an attack in the city you're flying into."
I boarded the plane, it took off as per normal.
We turned on the news, the energy was tense.
A bombing, at our destination.
The Mother and Child next to me freeze.
The flight attendants pretend nothing is wrong.
I stare at the news...
The death toll rises.
1, 2, 50, 100.
The plane doesn't turn around.
I sit, for 4 hours, the death toll rising...
Me approaching. 300...
The Mother next to me and myself, we held hands.
We clenched tight.
I realised I hadn't checked the language spoken over there.
We landed, the signs made no sense.
By God's grace, I'd booked a tour guide.
36 degrees Celsius, military everywhere.
Crashes in the distances, traffic back to back.
Scared faces everywhere, foreigners turning around.
Checkpoints and bodysearches, I looked and felt anxious.
Found my tour guide in a hot, rained on crowd.
He asked to take me to his village.
I still don't know where it was.
Social media shut off, no contact to home for 48 hours.
7 Days under Martial Law...
Soldiers lining the streets, guns in hand.
Body and car searches in the mountains and drugs offered to me to keep me calm by locals.
A beautiful experience... Incredible people, scenery and adventures...
Where my "flight path" trauma response was formed.
I couldn't get off of the plane.
From then on, whatever bad happened... I was stuck on the plane.
For years, in daily scenarios... I closed my eyes and put on my parachute.
I wasn't stuck on the plane.
You're not stuck on the plane.
You don't need to fly into the chaos...
You have a choice.
Do you have a flight path response?
A road that you always follow?
Does it have to be this way?
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