Solid Ground by wraithkeeper (amnesty 2007/fight or flight challenge)
Title: Solid Ground (or Aerophobia)
Author: wraithkeeper
Word Count: 350
Spoilers: Grace Under Pressure and Echoes
Disclaimer: I don't own it and I can't even think up a witty disclaimer.
Summary: Claustrophobia isn't Rodney's only fear. He's also afraid of flying.
The first time I flew was when I was eight years old. We were flying down to the states to visit my grandparents for Christmas. After half an hour of Jeanie and I arguing, my father yelled at us and made me sit by the window so I couldn’t talk to her. The sky outside was deep black, and even back then I had problems with claustrophobia. Shoved in that corner, surrounded by darkness and my father’s cold anger, I began to panic and hyperventilate. Actually, it was pretty much like now. Sitting in the back of a jumper half-filled with freezing water, surrounded by darkness and sinking further into the ocean with every panicked breath I drew. And that wasn’t even mentioning the dead body I knew floated just on the other side of the bulkhead doors. Unless he’d been pulled out by the rush of water or some carnivorous sea creature looking for a snack. I tried not to think about that either. I wasn’t exactly seeing why Sheppard loved flying so much right now. Although I don’t think plummeting to the bottom of the ocean with no power or controls qualified as flying, but I wasn’t in a position to argue over details right now.
I managed to make it almost a year avoiding an underwater trip in the jumper. Flying it into space wasn’t as bad, at least it didn’t carry with it memories of terror and imminent death. But then I showed Sheppard the whales in the surrounding waters. “Want to take a closer look?” he asked, dashing out of the lab before I had time to make up some excuse. And maybe he’d done that on purpose. I had swallowed down my fear, settled into the co-pilot’s seat and tried not to panic.
And now, sitting beside Sheppard in the jumper as it slid beneath the surface of the water, I thought that maybe flying wasn’t so bad after all. Of course, that was before I knew that everything was about to go to hell again. But that was kind of par for the course with us.
FIN
Author: wraithkeeper
Word Count: 350
Spoilers: Grace Under Pressure and Echoes
Disclaimer: I don't own it and I can't even think up a witty disclaimer.
Summary: Claustrophobia isn't Rodney's only fear. He's also afraid of flying.
The first time I flew was when I was eight years old. We were flying down to the states to visit my grandparents for Christmas. After half an hour of Jeanie and I arguing, my father yelled at us and made me sit by the window so I couldn’t talk to her. The sky outside was deep black, and even back then I had problems with claustrophobia. Shoved in that corner, surrounded by darkness and my father’s cold anger, I began to panic and hyperventilate. Actually, it was pretty much like now. Sitting in the back of a jumper half-filled with freezing water, surrounded by darkness and sinking further into the ocean with every panicked breath I drew. And that wasn’t even mentioning the dead body I knew floated just on the other side of the bulkhead doors. Unless he’d been pulled out by the rush of water or some carnivorous sea creature looking for a snack. I tried not to think about that either. I wasn’t exactly seeing why Sheppard loved flying so much right now. Although I don’t think plummeting to the bottom of the ocean with no power or controls qualified as flying, but I wasn’t in a position to argue over details right now.
I managed to make it almost a year avoiding an underwater trip in the jumper. Flying it into space wasn’t as bad, at least it didn’t carry with it memories of terror and imminent death. But then I showed Sheppard the whales in the surrounding waters. “Want to take a closer look?” he asked, dashing out of the lab before I had time to make up some excuse. And maybe he’d done that on purpose. I had swallowed down my fear, settled into the co-pilot’s seat and tried not to panic.
And now, sitting beside Sheppard in the jumper as it slid beneath the surface of the water, I thought that maybe flying wasn’t so bad after all. Of course, that was before I knew that everything was about to go to hell again. But that was kind of par for the course with us.
FIN