Dreams In The Sky.

We arrived at Muritala International Airport very early on Saturday morning over a decade ago, and I was excited because nothing fascinates me more than seeing an airplane. Although I see them fly over our roof every day, it wasn't as satisfying as seeing them parked at the airport.

It wasn't my first time there because my mom loves to use the banks at the airport regularly since their network is always intact, and they also work on weekends because of the people traveling to and from the country.

A lot of things played in my head as we alighted from the cab on the airport premises, but it was too early to start daydreaming. On a typical day, I would have imagined myself strolling around the airport premises in a pilot uniform, but I managed to stay focused due to the heavy presence of the military.

"Is anything happening here?" I asked my mom.

"We just arrived here together; please don't question me, or how do you expect me to know?" Mom replied, and I got the message. She wasn't in the mood for my chat, so I just kept quiet.

"What are you here for?" One of the armed officers asked immediately when we arrived at the main entrance to the airport building; it was easy for them to tell that we weren't traveling.

"I came for a bank transaction," my mom replied.

"Can I see a valid ID?" The officer asked. My mom reached for her ID immediately and handed it over.

"You can go in," The officer responded after checking, and we went in.

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There were three banks in the airport building, and they occupied a very small space. We arrived at the counter, which was just an extension outside the bank space, and mom started her transaction only for the cashier to complain about something.

The cashier suggested that mom check in with customer care, and I finally got to see what inside the bank looked like. It was first time since we usually don't have anything to do inside the main banking hall.

We sat patiently waiting for our turn, and luckily for us, the queue was short.

Immediately it got to our turn, a fair lady called us in, and I just love how they operate there compared to other banks outside the airport premises.

"Good morning, ma. How can I help you, please?" The fair lady asked, and mom explained everything.

I sat comfortably on a chair and scanned the office thoroughly; it was just impossible not to fall in love with how the space was managed.

"Excuse me, ma'am, can I see you briefly?" A male voice interrupted the silence building in my head as I was slowly slipping into fantasy.

I turned around quickly to check who it was, and it was someone I have always dreamed of, a pilot. He was a man in his forties, tall, handsome and the uniform fit him perfectly.

"Oh, sorry, sir. Few minutes, please," the customer care lady replied.

"No, you can attend to him. He must be in a hurry," my mom said to the lady, and I felt great because she just bought me more time to enjoy the moment since it was my first time meeting a pilot physically.

"Thanks ma'am," The man replied to my mom and gave the lady some documents. I stood from my seat and offered it to the man immediately.

"Oh, thank you. I will be out in a few minutes, so don't worry," he replied, even patting me on the shoulder. I sat back and slowly fell into my regular daydreaming state.

In the span of a second, I had grown up and was wearing a pilot uniform at the age of 21. I was well respected despite my age, and life was pretty smooth for me.

_Source

My family was doing very well, and I pictured my kids boasting about their dad being a pilot. Everything was perfect, and I saw myself wearing this broad smile after looking at my achievements as a pilot at the age of thirty.

"Let's go, or do you want to start living here?" I heard mom's voice calling from afar, even though she was beside me.

"Ma?" I stuttered and looked around but the man had left.

"I am done; let's return to the cashier." Mom replied, and we left the office immediately.

The transaction was successful, and I didn't stop talking about the pilot as we journeyed back home. My daydreaming habit of becoming a pilot continued for some time until reality dawned on me.

I realized it wasn't as easy as I thought, but giving it my best shot left me with no regrets about not fulfilling that one dream, and the good thing about life is that we can always dream or live in fantasy as much as we like. In the course of dreaming, I have learned that success doesn't end with just daydreaming.