{"id":342,"date":"2015-06-24T17:02:53","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T17:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/?p=342"},"modified":"2016-09-12T17:07:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T17:07:03","slug":"short-story-flight-680","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/short-story-flight-680\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Story: Flight 680"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/strong>f you are reading this, I have been murdered.<\/p>\n

As a senior stewardess, sometimes it is my job to check people onto the plane. Each traveller hands me their boarding pass and I slide it under a scanner and let them board the aircraft. Today, before our pre-boarding check-in, I received a phone call from our airline administration center.<\/p>\n

A husky man\u2019s voice came on the line. \u201cAre you Carolyn St. Vincent?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am.\u201d I cleared my throat. Why was a stranger using this phone line? <\/em>An ominous feeling consumed me and my free hand started twitching.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre there any passengers who have been earmarked on your computer as having military or police training?\u201d<\/p>\n

I scanned the console. Two men and one woman had military boarding flags. \u201cI see three priority flags.\u201d I hoped that these service people would be receiving a special first-class upgrade as sometimes happens. Deep in my gut, I knew that this was not going to happen today.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeny them entry onto that aircraft!\u201d The man\u2019s voice was harsh. I scanned the crowd milling around. As usual, all of the priority-three boarders had formed a wide disorganized queue, even though they still had a long wait. All this did was delay the boarding, because they blocked the path of the priority ticket holders. I did see one man in camouflage and he had kind eyes. He did not look like a security threat, much less a terrorist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat shall I tell them?\u201d I gritted my teeth and started chewing on my cheek. I despise taking the wrath of disgruntled passengers over situations that are not my fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose three may not board this flight. Put them on any later flight. You may even bump other passengers from those flights if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is all.\u201d The man hung up. I spotted a woman in a sharp navy outfit and regal bearing. I could imagine being friends with a woman like that. I called the three of them to the front desk and explained the situation. I was grateful for their calm response as I rebooked their flights. The rest of check-in went as normal. I secretly enjoy helping the families with little ones board first. They look so tired but always offer sincere gratitude for my assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a call.\u201d My assistant Amy told me. \u201cIt\u2019s the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

I turned over economy boarding to Amy and took the call. \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n

A woman with a very nasal voice spoke each word in staccato. \u201cHi, I\u2019m calling from Central County Hospital where we have been keeping your mother under observation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes! Is she all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

The emotionless voice sounded like she was reading from a script. \u201cThere\u2019s been a setback. I highly recommend you come by today as she may not have long to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

I barely remember finishing the call and arranging for another flight steward to handle flight 680. What I do remember is the black SUV with darkened windows that followed me.<\/p>\n

I made some abrupt turns that seemed to loose my pursuers. My jazz station was interrupted by an emergency broadcast. Flight 680 had just been seized by terrorists.<\/p>\n

Here I sit, next to my unconscious mother writing this. She is indeed teetering on death\u2019s door. I can see through the glass mirrors. In the hallway, men in dark suits are walking towards me\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are reading this, I have been murdered. As a senior stewardess, sometimes it is my job to check people onto the plane. Each traveller hands me their boarding pass and I slide it under a scanner and let them board the aircraft. Today, before our pre-boarding check-in, I received a phone call from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2097,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/2097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanborns.org\/word_press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}