The plane was loud, and the explosion louder, but the air is much worse than both. Unfeeling, it whips my ears as I drop. It’s not the air’s fault, though; I am falling through it.

I should have worn earplugs. My flight is now more deafening than the screaming children.

Corey Orthmann is a freelance writer and mercenary wordsmith-for-hire based in Los Angeles, California.