Hey, Buddy. Can I Get The Time?
It was my first time in an airplane and I was nervous. Still it was totally unexpected when no more than two hundred miles into our flight, the plane hit turbulence.
"This is your captain speaking," came a barely audible voice over the rattling of the plane, "I need to ask everyone to return to their seats and strap in. We're in for a bumpy ride."
"Oh, no," said the woman next to me. "I hate this."
"I'm sure we'll be all right," I said, hardly convinced myself.
There was another jolt, and then another, and the plane seemed to veer sharply to the left. There was some correcting and then the entire passenger compartment lit up and there was a loud boom.
Shrieking from he passengers followed. The woman beside was hysterical. I looked over at her to see if she was okay, but she was looking down at her lower right leg, where something dark was streaming from her skirt.
"Man, this is pretty bad," a male voice said. It was the woman's husband. He'd gone to the bathroom a few minutes before the turbulence began. "Hey!"
When he saw the rip in her dress, he had a hard time controlling his anger. He looked at me, back at her, and then over to me again. The plane rocked, sending him back into the passenger across the aisle. Angry words were exchanged and a brief scuffle ensued before he returned his attention to me.
"What did you...?" he started.
"I think she's hurt," I said, "Is there a doctor somewhere?" I stood up and looked around the compartment. "Anyone know how to bind a wound?"
"Yes, here," a woman's voice said. She was about forty, sitting next to a child four rows back. She whispered something to the little girl and then came up to see the bloodied woman, still crying, holding her leg.
"We need towels, some pain killers and some disinfectant," she said to a fight attendant after a moment's assessment. "Do you have anything sharp? I'm going to need to remove that piece of plastic."
"I'll be right back."
I could feel the husband closer to me, breathing down my neck. "Don't think I've forgotten," he said, making no move to console his wife. "You don't belong here."
I was about to tell him to back off when another loud boom shook the cabin. I tried to keep from falling but I was shoved further off balance by the husband. I must have hit my head, because things went black.
When I came to, I was laying in a bed, staring out the window. There were clouds in the sky, and aside from a slight ache in my head, there was nothing to suggest that this wasn't just another ordinary day.
I sat up easily and eased myself up. So far so good. No hint of any problems. I was in some form of hospital gown, so I went looking for my clothes. I didn't find them, but there was something resembling a uniform that looked like it might fit, so I tried it on. It was as if they had been tailored made for me.
I went to the door, and finding it unlocked, I entered a dimly lit corridor. No one seemed about as I walked the length of it. Eventually, I came to a reception area, where a lone nurse sat at a desk. She looked up as I approached. She didn't seem surprised to see me.
"Well, Mr. Marks. How are you?"
"I'm okay," I said. "I am a little confused, though. I don't seem to remember how I got here. I think I was on a plane..."
"Yes, you were," a voice said. I turned to see a male, who looked like a doctor. His tag said his last name was Hama.
"Am I okay? Can I go home?"
"Yes, you are okay," Doctor Hama said, "but going home might be a problem."
He took me over to the big double doors leading outside. As we stepped through them, I saw futuristic buildings and unfamiliar vehicles whizzing by. They floated above the ground as they passed.
"Welcome, Mr. Marks," he said, "To the twenty-fourth century."
This post is a part of the the weekend freewrite. Image source—Pixabay