*Some may say that the tiny plane is too tiny. This is one of those where I kept thinking, “no, make them smaller.”
Danny was wrenched from his dreams by a violent shaking. His senses were immediately overloaded as he struggled to process what was going on around him. He was bouncing around in his seat, the screams of people were all around, the light through the window was painfully bright, and and acrid smoke filled the cabin. The woman sitting next to him had her eyes closed and her hands clasped in front of her. Oxygen masks were already bouncing around, hanging from the ceiling panels. He grabbed one and put it over his nose and mouth, and tried to breathe normally. Exactly as all those safety videos had said. But it wasn’t that easy when it felt like you were in a tumble drier. It was a good thing he fell asleep with his seatbelt on. He gripped the arm rests and looked out of the window. There was blue sky, and bright glaring land below. Something was off. He could hear a voice over the speakers, but with all the commotion it was hard to make out what it was saying, until he heard: “BRACE, BRACE.” He threw himself forwards against the seat ahead of him, arms folded, and waited for impact.
Peace. Or at least a sense of peace, as the shaking had stopped. The screams were less now. There was whimpering, crying. He looked at the woman next to him. She was shaking, her eyes still closed. The smoke was thicker now. There was a shaft of light and fresh air as one of the doors was popped open. Danny undid his seatbelt, and the woman’s, and put his arm around her shoulders, helping her to her feet. As they stood, so did some others, making their way towards that open door. Many others were still in their seats, some did not look well. The smell of shit and vomit was all around. At the door the smoke cleared for a second, and his eyes got used to the light. The chute had been deployed and one by one they slid down. He helped the woman, and took one look around before jumping down. Something was definitely off. They were rising and falling like they were on the high seas, but very slowly. He could see that the engines were on fire, the wings crumpled against the ground. But not the ground. He’d never seen ground like this. They were in a valley with huge steep curving sides. It looked smooth but broken into plates, like in a salt lake, but far larger. A bronzed kind of volcanic flow perhaps? Cooled into slabs? Before he knew it he was on the ground, helping the woman gain. They had to get away from the plane, it could go up in a fireball at any moment. That’s when he saw the face. Or not a face, a chin, a neck, a necklace, and he looked around at the valley. A cleavage. And rising up over them, those hills. He recoiled and screamed.
*
Sandra was on vacation and had fallen asleep in the sun again. Those tan lines were going to bite hard. She was snoring, empty mojito glass at her side. Soon she would be woken by a tiny fire on her chest and hundreds of lives would be in her hands.