Our eyes met across a crowded room.
Just for a few seconds we were the only two people in that room.

Sounds like the stuff from movies, but no,
it does happen in real life.

Back in the 1970’s.
Somewhere in the South Pacific, in the prime of my life , things like this happened.

I am sure I am not the only one to have experienced these kinds of happenings.

There seemed to be a party almost every night.
Not just any party, but ones where the elite and famous of that particular place  attended.

I mixed with all manner of people, some Politicians, Heads of State and others working for the United Nations.
It was a multi cultural world.
Folk from all over Europe, Polynesians, Australians, New Zealanders and Americans.

Every week for several weeks I found myself locking eyes with that same man.

Time went on and I decided to do an island hop. I bought my ticket and waited to board the small plane.
Seems like I was the only one boarding that particular flight.

I was pleasantly surprised when the pilot boarded…

It was him.

The one who I had been gazing at for the past few weeks.

He introduced himself as Dave.

He knew who I was.
He had made it his business to find out.
This was going to be a great trip.

Just the Pilot and I.

Dave invited me to sit next to him in the cockpit.
He showed me the workings of the plane and made me feel right at ease.

The plane was scheduled to visit several different islands and as there were no other passengers  Dave suggested I go along to all of them with him..
My stop was one of the first but he told me he had to go back there later on as he would be sleeping on that particular island.

I did not argue as I was getting a free ride and going to islands I had not visited before.

Dave was from the USA and was a single guy. This was music to my ears.

We got along like the proverbial house on fire.
Chatting about all kinds of things.
Much laughter followed by a fair amount of flirting.

Before I knew it things became hot and steamy.
Hang on though, who was flying the plane.?

Don’t worry, Dave whispered, the auto pilot will take care of the plane.
This was a first for me.
It was a little unnerving ,but I trusted Dave knew what he was doing.
Besides, it would not be the worst way to leave this earth.
I would probably be unconscious before we crashed.

Nothing bad happened to the plane though.
That auto pilot knew what he was doing.
We landed at the first island and dropped off supplies.
Then onto the next.
We visited six islands altogether. Had a romantic  seaside lunch on one of them.

All too soon it was time to land back where I was originally heading.
Would you like to come and stay with me for the night Dave asked.
Of course I would.
He was a fun guy.
He wined and dined me that evening.
We talked a lot more and then he had to go back and start his day flying.
He promised to pick me up the next week.
He did just that.
When I disembarked at my stop, Dave gave me a big hug and suggested we do it all again some time.
I did many trips with Dave.
He was a top bloke.
After a couple of years we went our separate ways.

Me back to Australia and Dave back to the USA.
I often look back with fond memories on that special time.