#WritcoStoryChallenge
#WomensDay
She smiled with quiet determination,
The journey was tough but so was she. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Taking a deep breath, she tried to still her beating heart, tried to stop the quiver in her hands, she needed them.to.be calm. Her feet felt like jelly, and she wasn't sure if they would take her weight anymore, let alone permit her to climb. "Pumping oneself up is very important, but it doesn't automatically make one brave.", she thought. "The fear, despite the self motivation, is an intrinsic emotion. It's a survival instinct, that may make your palms sweat, and settle in your stomach, as a heavy stone, but it won't stop you from moving ahead.", she remembered her instructor's words. "Determination can't be stopped by fear, fear only, acts like the wind beneath it's wings. Pushing me towards my destiny.", she said as she strapped on her helmet. "There is no love greater than the love for the country, nothing purer than your service to your motherland. Patriotism is gender agnostic, as it should be.", she smartly saluted, while starting to taxi on the runway. "Soon the butterflies in my stomach will join their counterparts in the open sky", she said to herself, pushing back her aviators as she took a deep breath. She turned towards the sun, it's rays warming her face, she had done the impossible. She was airborne. The glass ceiling was broken, a woman sized hole through it. And it was through this hole, that she took flight. She checked the vitals in the cramped cockpit, and when finished, looked out of the window, as she continued her maiden flight as a fighter pilot in the Indian airforce. Her dreams had finally taken off, and she soared high in the skies.
© Natasha Sharma