Well, here I am. Sitting on a plane for London. Staring out the little window. And thinking.

There's nobody sitting next to me. I guess that seat wasn't assigned. Ahead of me there's some guy holding a mirror up and smoothing out his hair, sitting next to a bleach-blonde woman. Behind me I hear someone blowing his nose. Really loud.

The plane's fully boarded now and I hear the pilot talking to us: "This is your captain speaking." Blah blah blah. Funny how he calls himself "the captain". But I guess that's what he is.

In case you don't already know, I'm feeling pretty surreal right now. This is like something out of a daydream, and I almost feel it isn't happening at all. I was just told to fasten my seatbelt, although I had it fastened already so it didn't really matter. The plane is taking off.

I watch out that window as the asphault runway speeds faster and faster, until I feel myself being lifted off the ground. Away from the airport, the buildings...everything is getting smaller. We pass the control tower and it looks diminutive as we go higher into the sky. This is it.

I suddenly remember the envelope that Aunt Libby gave me. As much as I didn't want to take my eyes away from the window, I quickly reached into my purse, pulling out the white rectangular thing that had been placed inside only minutes before.

I'm not sure why, but I stared at it for a moment. There was nothing written on the front; it was just white and blank. This got me nowhere, but somehow I didn't need to open it to have an idea of the contents inside. I turned it over and opened the flap.

What I pulled out amazed me. My mouth dropped slightly open as my mind registered what I was holding. Five things had come out of the envelope.

The first thing, I realized with astonishment, was a copy of Daphne's birth certificate. I had never seen this before. There was my aunt's signature, right underneath where it indicated "Mother's Name". The space next to it was blank, but there were in fact two names listed in print underneath Daphne's in a space above.

In that moment, the truth really hit me, for the first time.

There were also three photographs. The first was a picture of Daphne when she was about five years old, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. The second was her most recent school picture, the one thing I had seen before - I had told her when it came out that it looked much better than mine. And then there was one more, one that made my throat tighten. A picture of my aunt, standing with a dashing-looking man I hardly recognized from television. They were smiling, and he had his arm around her.

The last thing from the envelope was a small note on plain lined notepad paper, folded in half with my name written on the outside. I opened it and read the writing inside:

If you should ever get the chance, here's proof. You don't have to do anything if you're not up to it, but I finally realized what I've been doing is wrong.

You have my permission.

-Aunt Libby

I look out the window again, still holding the note in my hand. I see the Statue of Liberty, holding up her torch, as if to wave goodbye as we pass into the ocean. There's so much I'm leaving behind. I don't know what's ahead.

The ocean seemed endless. There really wasn't anything to look at out the window anymore. Sure, the ocean was beautiful, with the sun reflecting off of it and making it shine. Meghan made sure to periodically take little breaks from the book she'd brought to look at the view, taking in the sparkling waters.

But it was the same view every time.

The on-board movie was a total bust. They were showing one of the Mission Impossible movies, and Meghan couldn't stand Tom Cruise.

The view out the window soon got Meghan's full attention yet again, however, when the sun began to set, spreading gorgeous colors across the sky. She leaned her head against the chair, ready to watch the show.

It was beautiful. Watching that sunset, Meghan felt a most wonderful and comforting sense of peace. Her anxious mind settled down, and she felt reassured. It was such a lovely sunset, so majestic, so peaceful, so calming...so calming...

"This is your captain speaking." I heard, from far away.

The noise kept going and got louder and louder. My eyes crept open, and for a few seconds I couldn't figure out where I was.

Talk about scary.

But eventually my senses came back to me, and I shifted in the seat, trying to get my bearings. I stretched as the pilot blathered on and on.

Then I was compelled to look out the window. In my drowsiness I realized the plane had landed. The sky above was dark, and a short distance away I could see the brightly-lit airport. I saw the ground, black with yellow light shining down upon it. People walked around outside, and I saw some guy driving a cart.

Inside the plane people were gathering their things and filing out. I felt a sense of urgency to move and sat up, rubbing my face. I wasn't fully awake. Grabbing my purse, I shook myself, trying to turn on the switch in my mind.

In my rush, I dropped a bunch of stuff on the ground. I bent down and picked up my book, as well as the white envelope, which I realized I'd forgotten to put in my purse.

As disoriented as I was, I knew I had to guard that thing with my life. I buried it deep in my purse.

Tucking my book in as well, I hurriedly stood up. I looked behind me, to make sure I hadn't left anything in the chair. It was empty. I then dropped to the floor and felt around to make sure nothing else was left down there that I missed. I felt nothing.

Getting back to my feet, I slung my purse over my shoulder and slowly began to follow the line of people crowding out. It was a little hard to keep my balance. All around me, other people looked sleepy, too. I heard the guy behind me blow his nose again.

That'll help you wake up.

Slowly I was making my way to the door, as if in one of those waltzes they're always playing at the senior center, where Grandpa Reynolds lives. I could almost hear the bingo numbers being called out in the background: "I15, G38, B4...". I think of the last time we had visited him, about a week ago, actually. He was telling us about Delila, an old lady who has the hots for him. He told us about how she likes to knit in the room where he plays checkers with Bernie, and how every once in a while he'll look in her direction, and she'll look up from the toaster warmer she's making and gave him a flirty little wave.

He says it's really starting to bother him, especially since she's always wearing these creepy little bunny slippers, one of which is missing an eye. They freak him out.

But now I didn't hear any bingo numbers. Just some kid crying in the back, along with the relentless nose-blowing.

When I got to the front, I was hit with a cool breeze. Clutching the strap of my big brown purse, I followed the rest of the crowd as the started down the steps toward the ground. I wasn't cold, but I was a bit taken aback by the sudden gusts of fresh air I was feeling after having sat in an airtight plane for about eight hours.

The breeze carried my hair up a little bit, and I felt refreshed. Though I was pretty fatigued, it felt good to get outside. I couldn't shake the feeling of still being back in New York; it didn't seem like I'd gone anywhere. It was as if I'd just gotten in the plane to take a long nap, and then woken up to go home.

But this sure wasn't home.

The crowd spread out as we stepped down from the stairs. I was thankful to be able to put a decent amount of space between me and the nose-blower. I hoped I wouldn't get sick. I wondered if maybe those dumb shots I'd had to take before leaving would have any effect on that.

Probably not.

We crossed the asphault and once again were crowded as we entered the huge building and coursed through a hallway. Then we emerged into the bustling place. Here it was, Heathrow International Airport, pretty much the largest airport in the world. Other than the rushing of people, nothing was familiar. I suddenly felt very alone.

I remembered what I was supposed to do next: look for the family. The host family, whom I would be staying with. They were then going to help with my luggage and drive me to where they lived.

I thought of how my mom had spoken with them on the phone to make the arrangements. They hadn't given her too much of a discription of how they looked. I just know there's a mom, a dad, an older boy, a girl about my age, and a little boy.

My mom, however, had given them a very detailed discription of how I looked. I didn't think they'd need it, though - I was pretty much self-explanatory. I mean, being a lone, confused teenage girl wearing flare jeans, a denim jacket, and a shirt that said "I Heart NY" on the front.

I heard voices calling out over the intercom what flights had just arrived and what flights were leaving. I hoped that the group I was supposed to be looking for had heard my flight when it was announced. I smiled. Everyone around me sounded funny. It was like I'd stepped into one of those shows I always watch on BBC.

I wandered through the immense clusters of people, worried I'd never find what I was looking for. What if I got lost, and they had to send security guards around to look for me? A part of me was beginning to think I wasn't mature enough for this trip. Maybe Mom and Aunt Libby had been mistaken...

I suddenly heard a sharp, loud whistle.

"Over here!"

I looked in the direction of the yell. There I saw an excited blonde girl, frantically waving her arms. She beamed when she saw me look and motioned me forward. I smiled with relief as I began to walk toward her.

It was then that I noticed the people behind her. Standing there was a couple: A tall, handsome man with yellow hair like the girl's, his arm laced around a serene-faced woman with firy red curls piling onto her shoulders - both of them were smiling. The woman gripped the handles of a stroller, where a sweet little red-haired boy slept peacefully. Next to them stood a blonde teenager almost as tall as his father. He wore a huge grin as he held up a sign with the words Welcome Yank scrawled across it.

I loved it here already.

When I reached the excited girl, I extended my hand and began my greeting and introduction. "Hi." I said, smiling. "I'm -"

"Meghan." The girl immediately finished for me, grabbing my hand to shake and giving me the widest grin possible. "I'm Faye. Welcome to London."

Well, there you go. I went pretty deep with Chapter 5, and it's also the longest chapter so far. By now you're probably starting to get an idea of the plot, and you may be wondering some other things too. Like what's going on with Catherine...

The next two chapters will be up soon! Read them, or I'll sic Delila on you!

Bye for now

-rf-