My mother grasped my hand
tightly as we walked briskly to our gate, our suitcases dragging behind us. My
father walked stiffly, nose up, at the same pace. I stumbled to keep up until
we came to an abrupt stop, causing me to slam my nose into my father’s back. He
did not move and continued to face forward. We then began to walk again, my
father periodically looking over his shoulder. We shuffled through our gate and
down into the grey, bright tunnel that led us to the plane.
We
were quickly seated on the plane, wasting no time, and without saying a word. I
didn’t know where we were going, and I didn’t want to ask. We left so quickly,
with no explanation. It was very late last night when I was shaken awake and
was told we had to go. That was it. Nothing else. We were escorted from our
penthouse in Manhattan by men dressed in all black suits and driven to the
airport in silence. And now we were leaving.
My father sat in the
aisle seat and my mother sat in the middle of us. Both just stared at their
feet with a grim expression on their face. I didn’t know what to think…but the
longer we sat in silence, the more fearful I grew.
I got up on my knees and
turned around to look at the fellow passengers to distract myself, and I looked
behind me to see a man, and his cold, dark eyes staring directly back at me. I
immediately whirled back around and sat down solemnly, back straight, eyes
staring at the back of the dark blue seat in front of me.
We
took flight and all of my fear melted away like snow on an early spring day. I
loved it, seeing the changing sky and all of the reds, oranges, pinks and
yellows of the sunrise against the vast body of water beneath us. My ears
popped lightly, making me feel weightless. I turned to look at my mother, softly
snoring in her sleep. I leaned forward to look at my father who, with the
slightest nervousness, glanced back and forth down the aisle. He held his
carry-on tight in his hand against his necktie. He hadn’t let it go since we
boarded the plane. What was it?
“Daddy?” I called quietly, trying to not wake my mother. “What’s in
your---“
‘BOOM’
My back was forced
against the back of my seat. Shards of glass rained down from all directions. Gusts
of winds swarmed the inside of the plane. My seat belt suffocated my waist as
the winds changed directions sporadically. My long hair whipped around my head
as the winds took it. I heard screams and cries as unknown masses flew with
great speed across the seats. I forced myself up to face the source of the
wind, being a gaping hole in the side of the plane. The man who stared at me
earlier was gone, his seat descending towards the earth, along with the side of
the plane he took with it. Large pieces of debris flew through it, taking many
things with them: luggage, carry-ons...people. A sharp piece of metal ripped
free from the side of the plane and collided with my petrified mother, knocking
her out and forcing her to slump forward.
“Mommy!” I cried. I was drowned out by all of the other chilling
screams. I unbuckled my seatbelt and
crouched to the floor, crawling clumsily to my mother. My father, still holding
his bag, grabbed my mother’s shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her up.
After only moments of trying, he turned away from her, grasping his carry-on
even harder than before, turning his knuckles white.
I reached out to grab her
skirt and pulled myself up, using all of my strength. I grabbed on to her waist
and looked at my mother to see a large gash on her throat that drenched it in
blood. Tears were unable to well in my eyes but I was crying. A mournful cry
escaped my mouth as others did the same.
‘BOOM’, another
explosion. Suddenly, my weight shifted, my body rose and then slammed into the
ceiling. Hot pain pierced through my back and neck as they hit. The plane
spiraled downward. I strained my neck to look out a broken window, and saw the
dark ocean growing larger and larger, until it engulfed the plane completely.
END
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