“What do you think?”
“I’m glad you’re my pilot.”
“That may be enough to avoid the soup.”
“When will all this happen?”
“Just before we get wet.”
“How will you know the right time?”
“That’s the tricky part.”
While she works through an equation, Brannigan thinks about his family. Picturing his parents and sister produces warm memories. His images of Teddy and Amy bring a mixture of joy and sadness. They didn’t have much time together—none at all with his son—but his love for them is transcendent.
After Amy drowned, he struggled with the metaphysics of dust-to-dust and returning to nothingness. That no longer troubles him. He doesn’t feel angry or cheated. He never expected to collect social security or live to a ripe old age. Going this way is better than most. They’ll die on impact. Most important, they’ll leave the world together. Living without Kylie is unimaginable.
The storm recaptures his attention. A teeth-rattling gust—more head-on than vertical—slams the helicopter’s forward canopy. The windshield cracks all the way across. Most of the fissures are long and deep. Several transect the plexiglass. The wind drives rainwater through the openings into the cockpit. He worries that the next frontal blast will implode the entire bubble.
As they continue hurtling downward, he listens for the loud splash that will announce their oneness with the tsunami. Instead, he hears her voice.
“This is it, Michael. Prepare for liftoff.”
Kylie has been glancing at her watch during the countdown. It hasn’t been to keep time. She rolls her wrist and shows him the dial.
It’s streaming pictures of their son.
Her cadence shortens at the end. The last number is a blur. He’s watching her operate the controls. The downdraft hasn’t weakened, but she’s still hard at it, not an ounce of quit in her body. Brannigan smiles at his good fortune.
He wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
THOMAS V. HARRIS lives on Mercer Island a few miles east of Seattle, and on Highland Lake in Bridgton, Maine. A native New Yorker, he graduated from Harvard College with a degree in political science and Cornell Law School with a specialization in International Law. Mr. Harris is a Pacific Northwest trial lawyer who currently serves as a full-time mediator at Washington Arbitration & Mediation Service (WAMS). He is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Lexis publishes his legal textbook Washington Insurance Law (3rd Ed. 2010).
Tom’s website is www.thomasvharris.com
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