Air Travel

Where are we going? A micro-fiction

Photo by G-R Mottez on Unsplash

You wake up in the middle seat of a row on a jumbo jet. In the air.

What the heck are you doing here?

All you remember is arriving at the airport, walking through the crowded terminal past people moving in all directions. No, you weren’t exactly walking. More like your body was walking itself, and you were watching.

And wondering what the heck you were doing there.

A man in a business suit sits in the aisle seat to your left. Glancing the other way, you see an elderly woman staring out the window. The sky is a cloudy white-gray.

Thinking hard, you summon another memory. In the terminal, in line to board the plane. Ahead an agent was checking the tickets. You thought, I don’t have a ticket. But you reached into your pocket and there was the ticket.

“I don’t know what I’m doing on this plane.” You realize you’ve muttered this in your outside voice.

The man in the suit looks over. “Not surprising. None of us know.”

Now you’re really afraid.

The old lady smiles gently. “I’m sure there’s a reason.”

“I don’t even know what’s keeping this plane in the air,” says Business Suit. “Think about it: What’s keeping us up?”

“It has to stay up because we’re here.” Gray Lady explains. She tilts her chin up toward the Seat Belts On sign. “Anyway, I wouldn’t try to leave.”

You stare into her eyes and wonder if she knows what she’s talking about. “But where do you think we’re going?”

She smiles and pats your wrist. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll know when we get there.”