Cez Presents: Airplane Trouble

Date: 10/10/2018

Today, I dreamt that I was going to London for an event. I sat in first class and was overwhelmed by how large international planes are compared to out of state planes. My mom called me to go over the list of items I had or hadn't packed, while the pilots forgot to turn off the monitor and were audibly squabbling on speaker. But I wasn't concerned with any of that at the time. I was focused on juicing out the last seconds of using my phone to look at the latest trending meme that had recently sprung up last night. It was a batman and robin comic that people were editing to something political or witty in the speech bubbles. The attendant came around to ask if we could turn off our wifi, and I did so, reluctantly. The plane began to take off, and I remembered how much I hated when the plane jolted back on the bumps. I turned on my music to tune out the sound. I thought about my new adventure. People are obsessed with airplane food, and if chicken or fish tastes better. I thought to myself, "I'll ask for the fish, and change my mind last second and go for the chicken, politely." Everyone says airplane food is horrible, but don't realize that the molecules in the food taste bad because our noses don't work in higher altitudes. Gazing out the window, I realized we had gone on more bumps than excepted. "Sorry folks," the pilot sighed, "we're experiencing a slight difficulty on liftoff. We're going to be turning around and restarting that runway again." I turned on my music again and sunk into my chair, half asleep. THUD. I opened my eyes a little. The blaring red light hurt my eyes. There were panicked passengers running in all different directions. I took off my headphones. A loud siren filled my ears. "THIS IS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. WE ARE SENDING FIREFIGHTERS AND PARAMEDICS SOON. DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE THE PLANE ON YOUR OWN UNTIL FURTHER INSTRUCTED TO. I REPEAT DO NOT LEAVE THE PLANE UNTIL UNLESS SPECIFIED." I heard wailing vertebrate through the plane. I looked behind me. Past the next five seats the plane looked twisted, like a beaten soda can. I sat still, still tired and trying to process things. My mom was calling my phone. I let it ring. Men in orange surrounded the plane, as frantic passengers jumped out of a large hole carved from the plane. They brought orange blowup safety mats and ladders as firefighters doused the plane. As I exited the plane, the men cooed soothing, comforting words into my ear, which I had no use for. When I looked back in the small gathering of shaken passengers, I was able to see the plane. The middle plane was dented inwards and melted in some places, and fire in others. To the front, there were massive holes carved out of the plane, and I recognized where I was sitting. The men in orange spoke hushly. "Don't tell the rescued passengers, but there are still people on board." "What? Really?!" "Yeah, several of our guys are melting an escape hole since the emergency hatches melted down from the fuel. Just let EMTs handle the rest." I was sent in a line to be checked out, and found no real damage except a scratch on my head. The EMT lectured me on "checking up with a doctor in a week or so to check for concussions." And handed me a bandaid. I looked back at the wreckage. There'd be no way I was getting my luggage back. I sighed. Suddenly a slew of daily reporters swarmed on me from local broadcast stations. I read their microphones: FOX NEWS, ABC, NY1, CBS, some were from radio stations I hadn't even heard of. Apparently, I was the only one not shaken to be interviewed. "How did it feel, to be wrapped up in such a tragedy today?" "Not bad, I was kind of listening to music or whatever. I think I might have slept through it." "And tell me, how has this changed your views on planes?" "Honestly, I would fly again. These experiences only happen once in a lifetime, so I guess I'm glad I didn't die. Planes are pretty safe, that's why I'm not dead." My mom called me after along with my grandmother, sobbing and talking over each other. I went home and explained the entire story, and she banned me from studying abroad in London. I was given some icecream and hydrogen peroxide for my scratch. The tv blared on all night, describing the events I experience in extreme detail. Apparently, according to forensic analysis, and people who know planes, the engine gave out mid-takeoff and caused the plane to 360 midair and crash in its center. Nobody died, however plenty weren't so lucky and had burns and plenty of broken bones. 12 people were trapped inside because of the twisted metal and the heat inside, and had to be extracted with metal burners. An hour after all the victims were accounted for, the plane did blow up. Not in a big flashy explosion, but more in a black smoke fire from the engine fuel. I watched myself on tv as I ate Ben and jerries, thinking how stupid I sounded talking about music on the news. My social media accounts were flooded by friends who recognized me, and I took comfort in enjoying my icecream dinner on the couch. And then I woke up.