Question

“I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Answer 1

Hint: The above question is from the chapter ‘Two Stories’, which consists of two stories or prose, namely, ‘His First Flight’, written by Liam O'Flaherty and ‘The Black Aeroplane’, written by Fredrik Forsyth. The question is from the second story, ‘The Black Aeroplane’, which deals with the longing of a pilot to be with his family.

Complete answer:
The story “Black Aeroplane” is about a pilot who feels happy and content to fly over a city that is sleeping (at night time) and he is flying from France to England. He first sees the storm signals when he is one hundred and fifty kilometres ahead of Paris. Initially, he thought of returning back as he was sure that he did not have enough fuel for the journey. But, he was compelled to take the risk to be with his family.

The risk was flying through the storms and black clouds and he took the risk of flying through the black clouds because he was dreaming of holidays and wanted to reach his home and meet his family. He also looked forward to getting home in time to enjoy a good English breakfast. The thought of joining his family made him take the risk of flying in the dark stormy clouds to reach England.

Upon landing, when he asks the lady in the control room about the other pilot who helped him, he is left in shock when she says that he was the only plane that was flying through the storm in the sky.

Note: The ‘Black Aeroplane’ is in fact a mystery story. When the pilot was flying towards his home in old Dakota, suddenly he was surrounded by a storm and when his plane moved within the dark clouds, his compass stopped working and he was blind to see anything. The pilot was unable to locate it; which remained a mystery. The story gives the readers the message that we should not lose hope in life. Even in the worst challenging situations, we should be able to see light at the end of the tunnel. If we take risks and face hardships with grit, willpower and perseverance, we can face any storm and get rewarded with a rainbow.