"Up in the Air" by S.G. Benson
– It looked like a go-kart with wings and a parachute.
Still flying, but with one wing pointing at the sky and the other within 18 inches of the sunflower field that lined the airstrip.
S. G. (Sandy) Benson lives in Warne, North Carolina, where she is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network-West. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and she received awards from the Nebraska Press Women. She published her first book in 2021, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. Her second book, Dear Folks: Letters Home from World War II, 1943-1946 was released in 2024. She is working on a collection of autobiographic short stories, “Girls Can’t Do That.” Details at https://www.sandygbenson.com/
Author’s Talk
S.G. Benson
This is the second PSPP anthology to feature one of my wild escapades. I’ve experienced many more adventures than any normal person could expect. Amazingly, I’ve survived them, although I almost didn’t, this time.
Flying gets into a person’s blood. It’s not cheap, so I’ve had to be creative. Over the years, I’ve found thrifty ways to sneak up into the blue. I tapped into my savings account for this go-round; more often it came free as part of my duties as a newspaper reporter. That’s how I floated in a hot-air balloon, gasped under the weight of three-G turns in a World War II dive bomber, and helicoptered into a firefighter training exercise. But I never took flight for granted, especially after I covered a fatal plane crash.
I enjoy writing adventure stories; I love that mine are not fiction. I know I couldn’t dream up even half of the wild experiences I’ve lived. My forester, firefighter, and journalist careers provide me with nearly endless material. Now that I’m retired, I have time to mine those memories for just the right nuggets that may keep readers on the edges of their seats or cause them to chuckle.
One of the “other duties as assigned” tasks that fell to me during my working life was to talk to teens as part of an annual Career Day. My advice to them? “Do what you love, and you’ll never have to WORK a day in your life!”
