Waiting for Impact

My mind is clearing from a fog. I can’t remember what happened, I had some coffee and started to read on how we are getting a new shoe store down the street then blank. I crack one of my lids open to survey where I am. The bright light that hits my eyes makes me wince and snap shut my eyelids again. I can feel the ground humming beneath my feet, the reverberations wracking my bones in a way I’m not used to. It’s not a car and not a train or a boat. I finally open one eye and see a small window. Out of the window all I can see are endless clouds and bright blue sky. I come to my senses and open both eyes to look out of the tiny window. I rub my eyes furiously thinking my mind is playing a sick joke on me. But as I touch the small cool window and the plastic bild around it I know this is no sick joke. I look around and see three other people. An old lady knitting, a little boy kicking a seat, and a young-looking woman reading a book. They look calm, not scared or stressed but relaxed like they don’t have a worry in the world. 

    “ Where are we? “ I ask them, my voice thick from sleep or whatever state I was just in. No one looks up for flinches. No one replies either. It’s like I’m not there. I go to stand but look down and see that my hands are handcuffed to the seat. They weren't like that minute ago. I try to yank my hands out of them but they stay put and it feels like they almost tighten. I have no inkling of where I am or what is going on. I don’t know who these people are and I want to go home.

     “ Where are we going?” I ask louder, almost yelling in the smallish cabin. I get ignored yet again. I can feel my clothing stick to me like a second skin. My eyes start to well up from unshed tears of stress and panic. My hands are still trapped to the seat as the small cabin of the plane starts to fill with water. I start to scream and cry but no one looks panicked. The little boy even gets up and starts swimming. I screw my eyes shut and sit back down in my seat. I need to get out of here. Now. I can feel the water up to my chest now and I truly start to cry. My dad would be so ashamed of me right now. My last moments on earth and I’m crying just like the little girl he always accused me of. All a sudden the cuffs release and the window opens and I look back at the boy playing and the women reading and the grandma knitting and I jump. I fall and I fall and I never stop falling. I wait for the impact of the ground to come but it never does.

    My mind is clearing from a fog…