by J. T. Lewis
“Looks like we will be sharing a plane ride together; you going all the way to Cincinnati?”
I nodded my affirmative as the first call to board the jet came over the speaker system, and I glanced over at my pack.
The girl held out her hand, saying “My name is Abby; maybe we’ll see each other on the plane!”
I halfheartedly shook her hand, reluctantly telling her my name. Our conversation ended with, “Goodbye Gabriel,” as I headed over to collect my belongings, thinking.
Why would she have guessed Cincinnati?
The flight I was on was really more of a flight to the US, the Eastern half anyway.
Shrugging off the coincidence and getting in line, I waited for the attendants to open the gate. There seemed to be a holdup however as the attendants continued to look at their computer screens while talking to the young Asian girl, Abby.
Finally, one of the attendants broke away from the computer, opening the gate and collecting our tickets as we passed. We walked out the door and onto the tarmac, the oppressive heat suddenly hitting my face like a baseball bat. I followed the herd as we walked the seventy five feet to the rolling stairway leading up to the jet’s hatchway. The flight attendant pointed me to my seat in the back of the plane. I headed back and stowed my pack overhead after taking out my journal.
My seat was at the window, and I strapped myself in and concentrated on the dark landscape outside. The airport lights revealed trees and other growth within one hundred feet of the edge of the runway, and I mentally compared this to the clean-cut landscape surrounding most of the airports in the US.
The low rumble of the idling jet engines captured my attention as my eyes were drawn to the wings. I numbly stared at the blinking red light at the end of it, thinking about…nothing.
The plane was filling up, the pressure change in my ears telling me they had shut the hatch only moments before I felt the vibration of the engines revving up. Although the air conditioning that filled the cabin was a relief from the heat that surrounded us, I opted to close off the vent blowing on me. My body had gotten used to the oppressive heat in this country, and I did not find it comfortable to be blasted with the frigid air.
The plane lurched as it started moving down the runway and I closed my eyes, trying to relax. Taking off and landing in an airplane were not one of my favorite things to experience.
Being mentally exhausted combined with the rumble of the engines contributed to my body’s heading into a sleep state before we got very far down the taxiway. As the numbing effects of stage-one sleep were starting to engulf me, I was unceremoniously awakened by a loud voice standing next to me in the aisle way.
“Well hello again!”
Chapter 9
August 20, 1998
My newfound “friend”, Abby, stood at the end of the row, a big grin on her face.
“Seems we are seatmates; how weird is that?” she stated as she stowed her carryon, plopping down in the aisle seat. Strapping on her seatbelt, she then looked ahead with an expectant air.
“I love flying; don’t you? It’s so liberating, breaking the bounds of earth and all that. I would fly everywhere if I could!”
Looking over at me then, she seemed to take a moment to study me, as if looking for something in my face that wasn’t there. “You look like you spend a lot of time outside Gabriel; what is it you do?”
“What the hell?” I thought, annoyed. “Can’t she just leave me alone?”
“I’ve been working at an archeological dig for the last year or so,” I declared with little enthusiasm, trying to cut off conversation with the statement. It didn’t work.
“Wow! That’s so interesting,” she said with exuberance. “That sounds like something I would like to do someday; I’ll have to add it to my list.”
I nodded my head and closed my eyes in preparation of getting a little shuteye.
“Well?”
It took me a few seconds to realize that this was a question, opening my eyes and seeing her expectant look told me it was directed at me.
“Well what?” I replied, a little peeved.
“Did you find anything, any treasure or anything like that?”
“Nothing like in the movies. All we found were artifacts that are important to the native people of the area; those items are priceless to them.”
I decided that I needed to nip this situation in the bud.
“Look Abby,” I started in the nicest voice I could remember how to project, “you seem like a really nice girl, but I’ve been traveling all day; I really need to grab some sleep.”
“Oh sure, I understand.” She made the exaggerated motion of zipping her lips with her fingers, before of course adding, “You won’t hear anything more outta me.”
I smiled and nodded my head before leaning back in my seat and once again closing my eyes. Before long I felt the numbing sensation of sleep approaching, and I embraced it wholeheartedly.
***
I entered the room once again through the long hallway. The door easily swings open, and the pleasant warmth of the room once again envelops me like a loving hug.
Grabbing my usual seat and taking up the mug of coffee, I greedily sucked down a large quantity of the silky liquid. The cup was magically full again when I sat it down to look over the chess board. I was pleased to see that my opponent had apparently fallen for the previously set trap I had laid for him, and I made my next scheduled move with great satisfaction.
Taking up the cup once more, I let the coffee warm my hands as I looked around the room, totally enjoying my surroundings unlike I was able to do anywhere else.
I felt the heaviness in my eyelids and elsewhere telling me that I was again going to go farther into this dream. My eyes closed and I was once again enveloped in darkness. I looked around trying to see something, but a total blackness completely surrounded me.
I suddenly felt the embrace from behind me. The buzzing had started again, as someone tried to communicate with me in their unusual language. I strained my ears and my mind, trying to pick up anything that sounded like a real word. This seemed to go on for at least a half hour, my frustration building with each passing minute.
Suddenly, the buzzing stopped. I looked around in the blackness, seeing nothing for a few moments. I sensed something was about to happen. Then I saw them…the eyes.
I should have been startled, but instead I felt peace envelop me. The pair of softly glowing orbs seemed to radiate love and understanding. They appeared to be about ten feet away but clearly visible, the kindest eyes I have ever seen.
Waking up suddenly in my seat, I looked around to get my bearings. I grabbed my journal and opened it up to the correct page. Digging out a stub of a pencil from my shirt pocket, I sat there with it poised, ready to write. What had I learned in this vision I could even write down?
I had forgotten about my seatmate, looking up to find her intently watching what I was doing. I threw a little smile her way before leaning back and concentrating on the notes I had already made. I thought some more about the meaning of my current visions, but failed to make sense out of them.
I closed the journal and laid it on my lap. I leaned my head back to try to relax. Glancing over, I saw that Abby was busy reading a paperback; so I quickly closed my eyes and tried to get some more sleep. Before long I was again in sleep mode; this time it appeared to be a deep and dreamless sleep. I didn’t wake up again until I felt a tap on my shoulder, an anxious voice saying “Gabe, Gabe, wake up!”
Chapter 10
August 21, 1998
Bolting upright in my seat with a start, I exclaimed “What? What’s the matter?”
Looking around, I saw that Abby seemed to be enjoying my confusion a little too much.
“It’s just dinner time,” she said with a smile. “The attendant was here awhile ago asking about your preference. I hope you don’t mind, but since you were sleeping so well, I told her to fix you the beef dish; you don’t look like a fish guy to m
e.”
I leaned back into my seat, trying to calm my heart from the start. My seatmate was still looking expectantly at me, and I finally realized that I should assure her that the selection was fine, which I did. Her smile reappeared, but she seemed almost too happy that she had made the right choice.
What was it about my newfound young friend? She was a total stranger who seemed delighted to bother me when least wanted. Normally that would bug the hell out of me, especially today, but her meanderings into my personal life and space had so far been more of a slight annoyance. She was definitely getting off easy.
Soon the attendant was rolling the cart up the aisle with our selections. She handed over the unidentifiable beef dish to me and a fish meal to Abby. Before leaving our row, the attendant questioned Abby quietly.
“Everything work out ok with your seat change?”
Abby looked at me, somewhat embarrassed before finally whispering back, “Yes, everything is fine.”
As the attendant moved down the aisle, my seatmate exclaimed, “Wow this food looks good. I was starving!” She attacked the food with her utensils like it would get away if she left it alone.
The attendant’s overheard revelation had left me a little mystified to say the least. Why would she change seats to sit by me? The delayed line at the boarding gate now came back to mind, as she held up the whole line while she apparently looked into changing seats.
“You mind explaining that last comment from the attendant?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to know the reason or not.
A look of embarrassment crossed her face momentarily, followed by a quick look of determination as she set her utensils down while leaning back in her seat. She looked at me full on and started in on her tale.
“Look, I’m sorry to weird you out like that. It’s really not what you may think. I only talked to two of the other passengers before we boarded, one was this weird guy that looked at me like I was his next victim. When he found out my seat number, he showed me his ticket, revealing we would be sitting together. I was not looking forward to that at all, and then I met you.”
“You were nice, quiet, and non-threatening. Plus, it really looked to me like you could use a friend. After they called to board the plane, I made the decision to try to change seats. They really didn’t want to do it, until I pointed out Mr. Weird to them. They were like, totally agreeable to the change then. It took awhile for all the paperwork to go through; that’s why I was so late getting on the plane.”
Picking up her fork, she picked at a piece of fish, sitting quietly, waiting for my next move I guessed.
“Non-threatening huh,” I said with a slight smile forming on my face. “I don’t know if I like that or not.”
Her smile was quick to return as she exclaimed, “Oh thanks for not being mad at me Gabe; I just knew you’d understand if you knew the whole story.”
We set about to eat our meals, the beef tasting very good after a long spell of having little of it. I was unable to finish my portion, not used to having big ‘American’ meals as of late. Abby it seemed was more than willing to finish mine off as she grabbed my plate and attacked the beef with gusto.
I marveled at her eating abilities, especially considering her small size. How she packed it all in that little body was beyond me.
While she consumed my meal, I looked out the window at the night sky, the puffy clouds below us rolling by slowly. My thoughts went immediately to Betty, her love of travel and flying, always wanting the window seat so she could gaze at the sky and the ground as it meandered by the window in slow motion.
My heart was in my throat as I thought of our happy times together. “I miss you,” I mouth silently, closing my eyes and remembering…everything. If only I’d turned around…
Chapter 11
August 21, 1998
I sat there looking out the window for quite awhile, thinking of Betty and Frank, feeling the shame of a man who has let everyone he cares about in his life down. I continued to wallow for a few moments until I again realized how pointless the guilt was right then.
“Stop it damn it!” I mumbled to myself.
“What?” my seatmate asked, having just finished the last of my meal and hers.
I looked toward Abby, ready to jump down her throat for butting into my life. Finding a worried face of someone who seemed truly concerned, I decided on a different tact.
Putting on a little smile, I explained that I was just talking to myself, a condition that I was apt to repeat at almost any time.
A relieved look crossed her face, “That’s good, I was a little worried Gabe; I do that all of the time too. It’s like, ‘You ditz, why did you do that’?”
“People are always looking at me like I’m crazy. You’d probably just wanna leave me at home most of the time…I mean, you know, if you’d known me in the past and didn’t want to be embarrassed in public or something.”
She quickly picked up her magazine and started paging through way too quickly to be reading anything, seeming almost embarrassed. I had not noticed anything embarrassing up to that point, but thinking back to her last sentence, I was confounded by the wording. The more I thought of it, the more I realized that there seemed to be an underlying personalizing to it, maybe too personal.
I quickly shook it off; ‘I guess I see a mystery in everything these days,’ I thought as I dug out my journal from beside me on the seat.
Just as I opened it up however I felt a sudden weightless sensation before my head hit the ceiling! I hung there for what seemed like ten seconds before dropping and plopping down in my seat. I quickly grabbed for my belt with shaking hands, quickly clicking the buckle before looking up again.
I now noticed that the seatbelt light is lit; I guess I missed it when it came on at some point in the past. A cold sweat covered my face; flying was not my favorite form of travel anyway. Looking over at Abby, I saw her looking back at me with concern in her face yet again.
“You ok, Gabe?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine….as soon as we get on the ground.”
“Sorry about that folks,” we heard the pilot’s exaggerated southern accent start on the overhead speaker, “we hit some turbulence from Hurricane Bonnie, dropped us over ah hundred feet. We are increasing our altitude to get above this system. Good thing we had the seat belt light on!”
A bong sounded to let us know he was done with his announcement. I was still trying to recover from my experiences, my heart rate ticking in my now aching head like a fast watch. Looking out the window and trying to get some control over my being, I felt a hand lay gently over mine. I grabbed onto it like one would a life preserver in a stormy sea, instantly comforted by the touch.
I continued to stare out the window as my heart slowed, maybe too embarrassed to look at my new friend, maybe a little guilty to find that I needed help from someone. As my body began to relax, my eyes are heavy once again, and soon I was sleeping, my hand still gripping hers.
***
I woke up to the bustle of activity, feeling us descending into DC. Realizing that I still had Abby’s hand in mine, I quickly release it, making a show of finding my journal on the floor.
I picked it up and held it on my lap, staring at the family cross etched into the front of the old leather.
“That’s an interesting cross on there; what does it stand for?” Abby asked, staring at the book.
“Part of my family’s crest; my grandfather designed it long ago.” I said a little too reverently.
“Do you mind if I see?” she asked, seemingly unsure as to what my reaction will be.
I hesitated a moment, but then relented and handed it to her. She took it respectfully, showing the admiration of someone that appreciated an old book. Holding it in her left hand, she traced the outline of the cross with her right hand, her fingers tenderly taking in all of the tool marks, as well as some battle scars obtained after the original etching.
“That’s neat!” she said with enthusiasm as she handed it bac
k to me. “Family means a lot.”
I nodded my head in agreement, but my concentration was on the approaching landing. Although outwardly I appeared under control, my hidden right hand was in a death grip on the arm rest, my knuckles growing whiter as we got closer to the runway.
Finally I heard the sound of the tires touching land, and I slowly relaxed my grip. My new friend and I were silent as we rolled to the gate. I was relieved that we were on the ground, but I was still slightly worried about the next two flights before reaching home.
As the plane came to a stop, people started to unbuckle and stand up to grab the luggage in the overhead. Abby was gathering up her stuff and getting ready to stand when I lightly clasped her arm.
As she looked over at me, I looked her in the eyes and said, “Thank you.”
She smiled a knowing smile, and for once she seemed not to have anything to add. I quickly asked her if I could buy her a cup off coffee.
She nodded her head enthusiastically, adding, “I love coffee!”
Somehow I figured she might.
Chapter 12
August 21, 1998
The man finished wiping the band of his wide brimmed hat, then replaced it on his head before removing his glasses and drying the lenses. The perspiration from his exertions was a minor annoyance compared to the exhilaration of his work.
He had thought that he might have been able to get through to Bill tonight, but in the end, he had not. A sigh escaped the man’s lips as he pondered his client’s stubbornness.
“Nothing to be done about it now,” the man stated with finality.
They had made great strides on the other matters however, the paperwork. Bill was greatly concerned about his family’s future should anything happen to him, and the man had spent a great deal of time with his client going over bank statements and insurance policies.
Everything seemed in order; Bill’s wife and daughter would be more than adequately cared for when Bill left this world. The man had even congratulated Bill on his forethought in these matters; many of his clients had needed much more in the way of financial counseling on his visits.