Best Day Ever

A lonely pilot sees the love of his life.

Under the moonlight stood a Boeing 737. Inside were seven people from the ages twenty to twenty four. Six of them were having fun. The seventh, who was also the pilot, was a short young man sitting on the floor of the empty cockpit. He was angry and distressed (as short young men usually are).

Regretting most of your life decisions isn’t easy. But the pilot was doing an excellent job doing it. He regretted his career choice. He regretted working for a doomed airline. He regretted losing touch with his school friends. But most of all, he regretted his decision to invite six people he barely knew to an empty plane. Ungrateful unemploids, no less. And even after all this hassle the one person he wanted there cancelled on him.

Turns out, it’s actually really easy to think of ways to kill yourself when there is a party going on in the next room. The pilot was frolicking around in his natural state of sadness. This was his comfort zone. He has been here for quite a while now. It is tragically comforting to completely lose your mind in misery.

While the pilot was browsing through colourful nylon ropes on Amazon, someone knocked on the cabin’s door. It was a friend. Not his friend, obviously. Just a person he trusted. More specifically, this was the best friend of the love of his life (unrequited).

“Hey, why aren’t you there with us?” She asked.

“I don’t really know.” There was no time to make an excuse.

“Oh c’mon. We’re playing Court-Jester. You have to join us. You’re the host!”

“Eh.” The pilot replied and stood up, dusting off his best jeans and fixing his best T-shirt.

Yes, he wore these for today. All wasted, he thought while walking towards the commotion. The happy chatter coming from the cabin grew louder at each step.

“Look! Pilot man is here!” Someone said. Everyone stopped. And after a long second of silence, they cheered. They were having the best time and they made sure the person responsible for it knew.

“So who wants to play cards?”

“Someone brought cards here?” The pilot asked no one in particular.

“Yeah,” A girl with a ponytail replied. “I always keep ’em on me.”

And thus began a very normal game of cards. It started out slow but once the pilot won a game, things got better. Little by little he got to know each person (turns out some of them weren’t actually unemployed). And soon enough, the pilot was joking and laughing with his six brand new friends.

Everyone was so engrossed that they did not notice the young woman who had just entered the aircraft. For most people present, this was another friend. But for the pilot, she was the reason he went to work everyday. And why he threw this entire shindig. But he was absorbed in telling Ponytail Girl about his first day of pilot training. So much that he did not see the love of his life (unrequited) walking down the cabin’s aisle.

“Hey guys,” She smiled at the sight of everyone. And wider when she saw her bestfriend.

“Look who decided to show up after all.” The bestfriend ran up to hug her.

And thus the seven people on that aircraft were joined by another of their own. The pilot was grinning. The night went from good to great. But when she came up to talk to him, that’s when the pilot let out a little laugh. It was a sound the universe hadn’t heard in a while.

“Hi, heard you’re the pilot.” She said.

“Yes, that’s me.” He smiled.

“Very cool job.”

“Well, you gotta do something to make ends meet.”

“That’s pretty modest.” She chuckled.

“How’s your job? Cargo supervisor for Amazon, if I’m not wrong?” He really hoped she wouldn’t think of him as a stalker.

“Oh so that’s why your face looks so familiar.”

Phew.

The rest of the conversation was a breeze. She was everything a cynical man could hope for in a woman. Beautiful (but not arrogant), smart (but not arrogant),and charming (but not arrogant). And as an added bonus, she laughed at half of his jokes and politely smiled at all of them. She even gave him her number. A after a long, long time, the pilot was finally having a good time.

When it was too late at night for even the 23 year olds, everyone decided to go home. As they were walking towards the exit, the pilot quickly touched his beloved’s hand and they stayed a couple steps behind everyone else.

“After a while, mercantile.” The pilot had thought of it the night before.

“See ya later, aviator.” She replied.

This was the best day ever.

On his drive home, he was thinking about everything that happened. Him playing cards (and winning three games), making new friends, talking to her. He repeated all the things she said to him in his head, trying to picture it in her sweet voice. For the first time in forever, he was smiling while recounting his day. He was finally happy. And satisfied. This was the best day ever.

Therefore, on reaching home, he poured a glass of rat poison for himself to be consumed by permanent rest.

Reviews

[Lyra]

The ending on this one caught me by surprise!