Fight, Freeze or Flight by Michaela Fricek

“Is this your first time flying to South Africa?”

Furkan heard the chubby middle-aged woman with light brown curls who sat next to him asking. “What a curious question?” he pondered, while he heard himself answering: “Yes, there is a specialist in Cape Town who is well-known for treating my disease. I also want to take some time to see the country. What about you?”
“I have been there a lot of times. I was an apartheid activist, as I have some dear friends there.”
“Sounds interesting! I have to get some sleep now. I could not sleep a wink, because of the pain in my little finger.”
Next Furkan saw a man who was just skin and bones. The skin on his face was hanging down like a tea towel. The odour that emanated from him was almost unbearable.
“I am in terrible danger. You are the only person who can help me. You will find me at Canal Walk, next to H&M.”
“I do understand you, but as you can see yourself, I can hardly walk properly myself. How can I help you? You should rather find someone else.”
At that very moment, a person with long black curls and a winning smile appeared “You will be able to help him by the time you arrive there. I am Dr. Nefise Ikram and after having done a systemic family constellation, you will be able to carry out your mission.”
Furkan felt his head fall to the right and jerked up realizing where he was.
“Juice, water or wine,” the flight attendant asked.
“Give me a glass of Enlightenment™!”
“What a brilliant idea. Same for me,” his flight companion said. “Call me Nella,” she said, tapping her two fists above her chest.
“What are you doing in South Africa?”
“Do you really want to know? You were already screaming like a scaredy-cat in your dream.”
“You’re not exactly friendly to me. Do you always drive your arse into people’s faces?”
Suddenly Furkan felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and the plane descended what felt like half a kilometre. Before the oxygen masks fell off, he heard Nella say the following words “Ey göklerde olan Babamiz, adın kutsal kılınsın. Egemenliğin gelsin. Gökte olduğu gibi, yeryüzünde de senin istediğin olsun. Bugün bize gündelik ekmeğimizi ver. Bize karşı suç işleyenleri bağışladığımız gibi, sen de bizim suçlarımızı bağışla,” and thought they sounded like the Lord’s prayer.
“I don’t give a shit about these masks”, Furkan mused. His thoughts were interrupted by severe turbulence and in his torpor, he felt every hair on his body stand on end. He neither felt his breath nor his heart. At the same time, his hands were as cold as ice cubes.
Ten minutes later, all that felt as if it had never happened. They were flying calmly through and above the most beautiful clouds. “Do you know Dr. Nefise Ikram? I am going there for systemic family constellation. She is brilliant.”
“What the f…! She just appeared in my dream and I would like to join you. But this does not sound dangerous.”
“No, she is also part of my environmentalist group and we are going to pour pink liquid into the Black River.”
At the systemic constellation, Dr. Ikram put relationships into their proper order, so that Furkan was no longer his mother’s keeper. “Please go to the H&M at Canal Walk. There will be a very skinny man. Give him this remedy. It contains pure gold and will heal him.”
“Very weird that people can read my thoughts and dreams. But maybe we’re all connected in some way or another and it’s not a hocus pocus at all.”

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

Nelson Mandela