THOSE AWAKE... 

By Tessa Harvey

    Grayson Holmes was feeling so exhilarated as his plane soared over silver clouds shot through with sunlight. All his meetings had gone far better than expected. He had been made several offers to transfer to different firms - promising salaries, but more important to him, great potential for developing some of his designer ideas and even one or two of his innovative and creative inventions for different business settings.

    He felt his spirits soar as the sunlight bounced off the silver wings.

Suddenly the plane hit air pockets. It jerked and descended swiftly. Calming voices came from the cockpit. Directions for seat belts to be fastened, oxygen masks for those who felt themselves to be panicking. Air hostesses moved smoothly and calmly along the aisles.

    Gray felt no panic at all, but he thought: This is life! Never ups without downs, the shadow of COVID blighting the world; climate change advocates telling young children they would all be dead in a decade.

    A baby was crying, but a small girl was gazing up at the handsome young man, intently. He smiled at her, then suddenly thought of his young daughter. His wife, Yvonne had suddenly disappeared two years ago with Alison.

    His beautiful child would be five now. Would she remember him? He could not work out why they had gone and left no trace. How hard and how desperately he had searched. Perhaps he should try again.

    A shrill cry of alarm echoed in his ears. An overweight lady was pointing at red flares of flames from under one wing of the aircraft. Others caught the fear and pandemonium reigned. The pilot quickly asked for calm, requesting all personnel to reassure the passengers. The co-pilot quietly sent out a distress call over and over from his seat in the cockpit.

    Gray only stared in shock. Old men died, not bright brilliant young ones or the little girl crying softly across the aisle.