One Last Flight

Caleb goes on a flight that would change the world forever; Flight 175

Chapter One

“Are we there yet?” said my brother for the eleventh time.

“We’re about five minutes away, Noah, relax” said my Dad in a slightly irritated tone.

My brother looked more annoying than usual today with his bed head and droopy eyes. His shirt looked like it was on backwards and both of his shoes were untied.
School had just started, and we were already going on vacation (well, more like a wedding in a different state). And even though I hate the fact that I have to go, if it gets me away from school, I’m happy. School started a little more than a week ago, and my teachers already seem like a total pains-in-the-a*s. English used to be my favorite subject; USED. I can tell already that we will not get along very well at all. At least I have a few days away from that school to regroup and find out how I’m going to survive this year.

“Dad, are we underwater” said Noah as we went under one of the various tunnels here in Boston.

“Only a little bit” my Dad responded.

It seemed my brother always asked that question whenever we went under a tunnel. Logan Airport was our destination. Our flight was at about 8 o’clock, so we had to get up extremely early. The only reason that I was able to drag myself out of bed this morning was the irresistible smell of freshly-cooked bacon that my Mom was griddling up for my family and me. That still shouldn’t have been enough to get me out of bed, but for some reason it was. My lifetime phobia has always been, and always will be flying in any sort of aircraft. The fact of sitting in a tube for two hours disturbed me. And this one would be for five. I remember balling my eyes out on my school trip to Germany, which for some reason I agreed to go on. I was fine until I actually got on the plane. I held my emotions quietly inside until we hit a little turbulence, and I broke down. Right in front of everybody. My class. The other passengers. The flight attendants. Everybody on the plane had to hear my obnoxious sobbing for the next twenty minutes until one of the special-ed teachers finally calmed me down.
We arrived at the airport, and my Dad parked the car. We all carried our own individual luggage.

“Caleb, did you remember to pack a tie?” my Mom asked

“I hope so Mom, I hope so” I said in my usual smart-a*s tone.

We rolled our luggage to the counters and checked in. The lady working there seemed a little uneasy, like someone had just pointed a gun at her and run off. She wasn’t animated like all the other workers there were. She only said what she needed to say; no small talk. She took our luggage, and we moved out to the security area. We underwent, a long, and grueling process of taking various parts of our clothing, having a security guard search us, and putting any loose belongings in a box to have a worker search them. Noah got away easy. I guess they don’t suspect ten year olds to be hijackers. I, my Mom, and My Dad had to take off our shoes and sweatshirts and be searched. Finally, that ended, and we walked into the waiting room. I sat down with Noah. He looked excited to get on the plane. I felt the complete opposite of that.

 

Chapter Two

We all sat down for about five minutes. My Mom and Dad stood up.

“Your Dad and I are going to get some coffee. Stay here and BEHAVE” said my Mother sternly.

“Yeah, Noah, behave” I muttered softly.

I watched them walk away.

“Caleb, where are those guys from?”

He pointed at two men. Their skin was a tannish color, and they both had dark hair. One of the men had a goatee and glasses on. The other one’s back was turned against me.

“I don’t know, somewhere foreign I guess” I responded.

Our parents returned with their coffee just as they called for us to start boarding. I was reluctant to get up, but I didn’t want to make a scene. For 7:49 in the morning, the airport was pretty crowded. I stared at the ground while walking through the gate and onto the plane. My older sister was the one having the wedding. She was marrying a pretty rich man, some lawyer. She was able to get Business Class seats. According to my ticket, I was seated at 11A, next to my brother. Our parents were in the seats adjacent to us.

“Can I please get the window seat?” said Noah in a whiney tone.

“I would have given you it, but you asked” I said with a smirk on my face.

My smile disappeared from my face when I realized where I was again. I picked up my solid gold Cross necklace and kissed it. I knew he would keep me safe.
The voice of the pilot appeared over the intercom.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. Welcome aboard American Airlines”.

My mind drifted off into thinking about the fear of flying. I didn’t hear anything else the pilot said. I looked at my watch. 7:58 A.M. The plane shifted into motion, and started take off. I pulled out my headphones and attached them to my music player. I just hoped I could relax and get my mind off this claustrophobic death trap.

Chapter Three

For the time being, it worked. I was able to sway my mind into thinking of happy places, and the songs complimented that thought well. My eyes moved to my watch again. 8:40 A.M. I sighed. We wouldn’t be in Los Angeles until at least 1 o’clock. I began thinking of ways to occupy myself when I saw a man stand up. He was the exact same person Noah had pointed out earlier. He nodded, and a few other guys nodded back. Two of those men stood up, and walked to the front. I couldn’t make out what they were saying to the flight attendant. I turned my music player back on, and looked back down at the ground. A sound pierced through my headphones. I immediately knew it wasn’t a part of the song. I looked up and saw it was the flight attendant. Her chest was covered in blood, and the man was pushing what looked like a knife into her. Another scream accompanied hers. Gasps filled the cabin. Two of the other men stood up.

“Everyone to the back of the plane!” shouted one of the men.

I was frozen. Everyone was. 

“Now!” commanded the man for the second time.

My heart felt like it skipped a beat when he said that. Everyone followed this time. Noah got out of his seat, and I followed. He ran to Mom, and buried his head in her side. We walked to the rear of the plane along with the other passengers.

“If you follow our orders, you will not die” said the other man.

The blood rushed out of my stomach. I felt like I was about to go down sobbing, but I was able to hold my emotions in.

“Wait here and don’t move” said one of the men.

Both of them walked up to the front of the plane and the cockpit. Chatter filled the back. It soon turned to panic.

“I knew this was going to happen! I knew I shouldn’t have gone on the plane today!” said one kid.

 

 He immediately broke down into sobs and hid his face in his hands. He looked no older than twelve. I felt the same as he did, but I didn’t feel like spilling all my feelings like that.
The plane made a sharp turn to left. People started screaming as we all involuntarily rolled sideways. I could feel the plane going faster. My brother, like most people, was in a completely engulfed in tears now. My Mom looked like she was ready to start balling her eyes out as well, but my Dad, he was silent. He did not let out a scream, did not move his mouth at all. His expression was blank. I imagined I looked the same way. The plane started making some more jerky movements. Then, it held still.

 

"Dad, are we going to die?" I asked.

 

He looked at me and shook his head. I knew he was lying.

 

 People started whipping out their phones and calling their relatives. The worst case scenario has become a reality. The exact thought I had at the beginning of the flight was happening. Right now. Some of the passengers started talking to one another. I’m not sure how they were able to even move right now.

“I think we should go into the cockpit and take those guys out” mentioned one passenger.

“They weapons man, they’ll kill us in an instant” said another.

“Better one than all, right?” he responded

.
I looked at him for a second, and then looked back down at the ground. I overheard this man talking to what seemed to be his father. He looked to be no older than thirty. He had short blonde hair and was wearing a red polo and jeans. He was accompanied by what looked like to be his daughter and wife. Her face said it all. We were going to die and I knew it.

“Dad, some men have taken over the plane” he said softly.

“I think they killed the flight attendant….and someone else too. The plane is flying unpredictably, Dad. I need you to contact United Airlines, okay? I need you to do that for me. Tell them there is a hijacking on Flight 175. We need help now”.

The man hung up his phone.

The next ten minutes were silent. Not a word was spoken by anyone. Noah had stopped crying and was now lying on my Mom. Not even the baby made a sound. If this was how it was supposed to end, I hoped it was quick. For my sake. For my brother’s sake. For everyone else on the plane’s sake. I tear ran down my cheek and on to the carpet below. But that was it. That was the only drop of water from my eye that would come out. It wasn’t even worth crying now. It wouldn’t help anything. It wouldn’t give any sympathy to the hijackers. It would do nothing but provide more panic, but I think everyone on the plane right now had enough to deal with. The plane made some more weird jerks. I stood up for a second to look out the window. We couldn’t have been higher than 6,000 feet. Buildings looked sprawled out for miles. I tried to make my mind not think of the inevitable event that was about to occur, but that was nearly impossible. I sat back down, and kissed my cross again. The man picked up his phone again. He dialed a number and started talking.

“It’s getting pretty bad up here. The plane is making some weird movements. I think the pilots are dead….. we’re going down. Don’t worry about me though, Dad. If it does happen, it will happen very fast….”

I heard a scream.

It felt like we had hit a huge bump. Everyone started being moved around like ragdolls. Then, everything turned to slow motion. I looked up and saw a wave of orange coming at me. I tried to move away, but I just couldn’t beat it. I touched the window next me and closed my eyes. My life didn’t flash before me, nor did I see a light. The heat hit me like nothing else has before. I didn’t feel a thing after that. Not a thing.
 

 

Author's Note

Tell me if you think anything should be described more. I have trouble with that.