Flight 118: A Woman’s Future

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts. As you can probably tell we have hit a lot of turbulence and may need to make an emergency landing,” the pilot spoke over the intercom in a tense-sounding voice.

I quickly snapped out of the sleeping daze I had drifted off into. Disoriented from the nap still, uncertainty filled me as I tried to figure out what was going on and yanked off my headphones. The sudden jerking of the plane had me gripping my seat as I scrambled up from my slouched position.

The first thing I did when I had boarded and found my seat was getting comfortable. I always did. My shoes had come off, my headphones out, and my seatbelt off as soon as the seatbelt light turned off. My sock-covered feet still rested on my shoes, not wanting to be dirty, but it was helpful whenever the plane was just taking off and the heat from the engines cranked up to a temperature that was almost unbearable.

Now I scrambled up, shoving my feet back into my sneakers and looking around at everyone. I quickly realized everyone was scrambling for their seatbelts and putting up their things.

It’s okay, just some turbulence, I thought to myself as I quickly made sure my seatbelt was on and tightened.

I shoved my things back into the bag I brought as my carry-on and then pushed it under the seat in front of me with my foot since the seatbelt made me unable to reach that far. Taking off the seatbelt I had just put back on was not an option.

Leaning back, I gripped my seat’s armrests as I looked around.

The flight attendants ran to the back of the plane to buckle in themselves, as they practically yelled at people to buckle up while on the way. Not that anyone would have chosen this particular moment to act rebellious and not fasten their seatbelt.

But it was slightly disconcerting to see the flight attendants not behaving in the calm, collected, and professional way I had seen before in-person and in movies. If they were freaking out enough to be yelling and running towards the back, there had to be something more going on than just turbulence.

The plane suddenly jerked to the side, and my head slammed against the small window by my seat. I groaned, suddenly wishing I had not gotten the window seat. I could already feel the pounding in my head that would for sure lead to a killer headache.

Often when I had been on planes before, window seats were the seats I liked the best. But not this time.

Just my luck.

Blinking out the black spots and rubbing my head, I realized people were screaming, crying, and even praying all around me.

I didn’t know what was happening. I had not been paying attention after I hit my head. But I obviously missed something. I mean, I’m not having a great time and just had my head bashed into a window. But as far as I could see, that was still simply a serious case of turbulence.

“Oh my God! We’re all going to die,” the person sitting next to me sobbed.

Looking over at the person who addressed herself earlier as Clarisse Johnson, my eyes widened. One of her hands was stark white as she clenched the armrest and her other pulled at her strawberry blond hair. From what I had learned about her earlier when we had talked, she loved her hair. Now she was ruining it and her makeup.

Yep. I had to have missed something.

My voice came out as what sounded like a part squeak, part yell. “Why would you say something like that?! What’s going on?!”

I grabbed the armrests tightly as the plane jerked again and the pilot voice came back on over the intercom. His voice was a garbled mess over all the noise of people screaming, crying, and the noises of the plane itself.

I could not make out his words. Turning, I looked out the window hoping to see I don’t even know what. I couldn’t see anything other than the dark shape of clouds, though. No one was telling me what was going on, the plane was now feeling like the worlds’ worst wooden roller coaster ride, and I couldn’t hear the pilot.

“Did you hear what he said? I couldn’t hear anything. What’s going on?” I tried to ask the girl next to me again. “Clarisse-”

Suddenly, a loud pop and bang rang through the air. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention fast enough for me to look out my tiny window again and see fire shoot from the wing of the plane.

The plane jerked to the side, tilting as everything seemed to fade into the background. I couldn’t hear anything over the loud rushing in my ears. My head slammed into the window next to me again, and I vaguely managed to hear Clarisse next to me yell, “Emilia, I think we are going to crash.”

“Breathe. Just breathe.” My eyes squeezed shut. I didn’t know who I was talking to, her or myself.

I didn’t say anything more because I did not want to voice the fact I was agreeing with her aloud.

Then I heard another muffled shout that sounded like, “We’re going down!” Which, quite frankly, was not what I needed to hear. It was seriously unnecessary commentary, considering my body was pushing against the seat belt at the sudden change in direction the plane was going; down.

Honestly, I can not remember anything else about what happened after the terrifying realization we were going to crash. All I could remember was the moment it dawned on me itself. I could label it bone-chilling terror, but honestly, I did not feel anything other than numbness, accompanied by rushing in my ears.

Then the night sky, which had been lit by fire in the previous seconds, was now black.

The world blinked in and out of focus as I slowly tried to open my eyes. Then suddenly the darkness ceased to exist with a blinding and penetrating light.

I groaned against the pounding in my head and blinked away the black spots from my vision. Sitting up with a hand to my head I looked next to me slowly. Clarisse wasn’t in her seat.

After carefully unbuckling my seatbelt, I slowly stood up. I stumbled a little and gripped the airplane seat in front of me tightly, unprepared for the slight tilt of the plane and its partnership with gravity. A few seconds after the rushing in my ears from the sudden jump of my adrenaline died down, I heard groans, cries, and shuffles of movement. As I gradually moved to the center aisle, I stepped over trash and bags. Then I realized I was able to see everything.

Looking up, I realized the roof of the plane was gone and open to the beams of sun shining down upon us happily. We had crashed at night and now it was a new day. Wincing at the thought, I looked around only to gasp.

There was blood and bodies everywhere. Many of them still hung from their seats, held in by the very things meant to save their lives. Others were scattered around as if they had not been wearing their safety harnesses when I could all but guarantee they had been. Some of the people I had spoken to earlier when we had boarded our flight.

I immediately started checking bodies near me for pulses. Then I heard a cry for help.

Looking up, I went towards the sound to find a bloody Clarisse trying to help a guy who was barely hanging on. As in, the front half of the plane was separated and our half, which began at this guy’s seat, was stuck in the trees. His seat looked like nothing was even holding it in place and at any moment he would fall.

Relief filled me at the sight of her but quickly vanished when I realized she was about to fall. I quickly grabbed her and yanked her back.

“Clarisse, you need to wait. We are going to have to think this through because he has no floor and we have no way of catching him without falling ourselves.”

We soon got the man down. Or, I guess, pulled back from the ledge. Managing to hold him and pull him where he actually had a place to put his feet.

“Thank you.” The man sounded winded but I suspected it was because he was now allowing himself to feel the panic of the predicament he had been in. “I had been hanging there forever and couldn’t see or hear if anyone was awake. I had tried to move, myself, at first. But I quickly realized I shouldn’t move at all.”

“No problem! I’m just glad Clarisse here saw you. She’s the reason why I noticed you.”

“I’m very grateful. I’m Doctor Olmatas.”

“Oh wow! You’re a doctor! OMG. I’m so glad I saved you now. My nose is killing me. Is it broken? Can you check? Will it heal right? Will I have a bump or a scar?”

I shook my head. “Clarisse. It’s just a scratch, you’re fine. On the nose, that is. Is all that blood yours?” She shook her head no, an ill look crossing over her face. Looking over at the doctor, I continued. “But she is right about it being a blessing you’re a doctor...I-um...passed many people on my way here. I don’t know if they’re…” I swallowed and glanced at Clarisse then back to the Doctor. “Okay.”

“You’re fine. You’re both fine. I must agree with…” He cut off, glancing at me with a silent question.

“Oh! I’m Emilia! Emilia Boschi!”

“Yes, Emilia. Pretty name. I must agree with Emilia, Clarisse. It is Clarisse, right?” At her nod, he continued. “Your nose will be perfectly fine. It looks like you banged it hard enough to bleed but it doesn’t look like it’s broken. Now, how about you two young ladies help me check on who else needs help?”

We began checking for other survivors and gathering our bags. None of us had felt right about going through the belongings of everyone, but we needed to do it. Around forty other survivors on our half of the plane were discovered, but many were injured in some way or another. It seemed like a lot, but when you consider us being the better half of a plane that carries roughly 300 passengers, it’s not. Hours later we managed to find a doubtedly safe passage to the ground below us. Better to try than to stay up there. But it also meant we were having to get all of the injured people down, along with any bags we needed. We wouldn’t be climbing back into this deathtrap. The people not seriously injured helped get everyone to the ground twenty feet below us.

A few men had gone to check on the other half of the plane once we were all down and settled in a clearing a few miles away, but had only found three survivors and charred plane wreckage. There had been a somber feeling to the air even before that discovery, but after was even more so. We all had to walk or help carry injured people the distance. We had apparently crashed in the woods and it was the only place big enough for all of us to be able to sit. We had not wanted to go super far from the plane, nor did any of us have the energy for the hike, but it could not have been helped.

Since it was once again getting dark, we had all gathered around a fire that one of the men had managed to make. I don’t know who he was or how he did it, but he seemed to be the one telling other people what to do to build us a make-shift shelter and fire. He seemed to really know what he was doing.

Must have been an Eagle Scout or a Boy Scout, or whatever they were called.

Many of the people were injured badly, and we all hoped help was on its way. The doctor had gathered them off to the side, as best as he could, around their own fire. He hoped the warmth from the fire would help them hold on longer. For some, I was sure the hope of help being right around the corner was the only thing for keeping some of the seriously injured people fighting. It was just a matter of time before help arrived, and that thought was the only thing that kept many people, injured and uninjured, from freaking out.

The moans from the injured raised the hairs on my arm, causing me to shiver more than the night air did itself. Their sounds of pain in the darkening night were a stark contrast to the numbness beginning to sink through my body.

As I sat, my eyes following the embers as they flew away, I tried to hold onto the hope someone was coming but I wasn’t sure I could.