Fear of Flying

Steve was always the calm rational one when it came to flying. He would calmly read a magazine whilst his wife Alice nervously wringed her hands and looked around the departures lounge. However this time was different.

They were waiting to board their flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam and there was something that was just making Steve nervous. It started that morning he had said goodbye to his brother, who - for some reason, uncharacteristically - had told him that he had always loved and respected him. His brother was the silent type, not really one for words or emotion so this caught him off guard.

Then, two burned out cars on the side of the road on the way to the airport. Normally he would consider this to be simple coincidence, results of careless driving or engine burnout. But there was something ominous about them this time that he couldn't shake off.

Steve looked up from his magazine and observed the dark clouds on the horizon of this beautiful sunny day. Although he had been reading the magazine in front of him, he could not remember what he had read - he was distracted by these... signs.

The stewardesses called their seats for boarding and they made their way down the elevated tunnel and into the plane. Steve loaded their carry-on bags into the compartment above and closed the lid - only it wasn't closing properly. It kept springing back up. Eventually he slammed it down and it held, but not without catching the attention of other passengers. Sheepishly he sat down in his seat.

They waited and after 20 minutes the plane started to role. During that time something had caught Steve's eye whilst he was gazing around the cabin. One of the light fixtures 2 seats in front had been installed the wrong way round. This was obvious as the light for the seat-belts and 'no smoking' were facing towards the cockpit and not towards the rear where passengers could observe them. It was such an obvious, careless error. So obvious in fact that it caused Steve to wonder if there were any other parts of the plane fitted incorrectly.

As Steve was wondering this, the plane began to make a bumping and scratching noise below as it rolled across the tarmac. He became increasingly nervous and began to sweat. No-one else seemed to notice as the air stewardesses made strange glances at each other. So they heard the noises too - and they didn't seem natural. It was at this point Alice turned and noticed the expression on his face.
"You're not nervous?" she said, almost as if to reassure herself.
"I am, something doesn't feel right about this plane." he replied.
"Oh no, why did you tell me that!" she wailed.

Steve glanced out of the window, the fear was building up beneath his cool exterior. He wondered what would happen if he stood up and demanded they stop the plane and be let off. He wondered if other passengers would follow or just stare at him like a lunatic. He tried to visualise it in his mind.
"What if I'm right?" He thought, "This is my last chance to save us. I'd be a hero. But if it was just nerves I'd be a disruptive, overreacting embarrassment at best". And at this thought he decided he'd simply trust in statistics and the pilots ability. They wouldn't take off if that noise meant anything - they check these planes before they leave.

The plane was now in position and began to charge down the runway. Steve would normally look out of the window at this point and watch the ground disappear and the surroundings get smaller but instead he looked forward and closed his eyes, just as Alice always did. There was another large, grinding bang and then, a few seconds later, the plane left the ground.

Steve opened his eyes. The plane was in the air, still climbing, then suddenly rolling to the side, and the front end dipped down. Steve felt his heart sink into his stomach. He clutched Alice's hand as they felt and heard the loud crunch of steel and concrete. The last thing he saw was a huge fireball making it's way, like a flash, up the cabin.

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The Lost Empire

Just beyond the reaches of our solar system a space-craft carrying 3 dead beings was on course for a direct impact with planet Earth. The craft itself had developed a fault. Whilst it's rocket systems remained intact and operating, it's life support systems had failed and the 4 passengers had died frozen to death.

Though the passengers were dead, perhaps the last survivors of a dying planet or race, the craft itself contained a wealth of information on their journey, biometrics, culture and historical data. In fact, it may even be possible that Earth scientists could reverse engineer the craft to find out the secrets of space-travel.

The space-craft had reached the moons orbit by the time scientists and astronomers around the Earth shared their data, and governments prepared their military for action. Then an unfortunate thing happened, the gravitational systems onboard the craft failed, causing the corpses and other loose items to float. One of the corpses bumped into a control panel and this caused the guidance system to reset a trajectory for the Sun.

The craft missed Earth and flew directly into the sun within hours, burning up before even getting within reach of a solar flare. All valuable data and explanation for the existence of the craft went with it.

Prom Queen

Jammie had always felt there was something different about herself. It wasn't through a feeling of specialness or superiority, if anything it was the opposite. She was a shy, social outcast, lacking the awareness and social skills of other girls her age, mostly due to the strict upbringing by her ultra-religious and domineering mother. The other girls made fun of her, especially when she 'developed' late and failed at sports.

She began to notice the difference when she reached the age of 15. It was subtle things at first, a crack appearing in a window, objects falling off shelves. It happened during times of stress, and as the bullying intensified, so did the stress and with it, these manifestations that she could not control.

The one day after class, one of the popular boys, Tyrone, asked her to the prom. She was too shy to accept at first, but he persisted. He called her "pretty", "beautiful". He had grown tired of all the common girls and there was something about Jammie that was quiet and understated, like a deeper intelligence. Turns out, as the others learned that Tyrone showed an interest in Jammie, they began to see what he saw too. By the time they got to the prom it was a complete reversal. The kids who used to mock and torture her had voted for her to be their Prom Queen. It was a wonderful night.

After that night, life became easier for Jammie. She was able to move out of her mothers house by the time she had started college and she went on to study law. After graduating she and Tyrone eventually married and settled down to raise a family. The manifestations had stopped and were long forgotten.

Solving The Paradox

It's not that Rob wasn't grateful for the opportunity to get an education, for his friends and his choices in life. But as he made his way from the university campus through the snow on the cold January evening, he wondered how different his life would be now if he had taken the job his father offered him 2 years ago. Perhaps he might have been able to help Caroline and she wouldn't be in this mess, perhaps he would even be able to solve some of his own problems, not make the same mistakes.

Lost in his own thoughts as he walked over the Ryegate Bridge, he didn't hear the loud crack of a tear in the fabric of space-time. A wormhole had opened up directly in his path and he was about to walk directly into it, until he spotted something something shiny in the snow which made him pause and stoop to examine it. It was a handful of one and two pound coins, Rob couldn't believe his luck. As he scooped them up, the wormhole began to close. As he continued his steps closer to the spot where the wormhole had opened up, it grew smaller and smaller till it closed up completely. Rob continued on his journey home with the feeling perhaps his luck had changed after all?