Scenes From a Flight -- Rob Borcic

A man sits alone. Three seats to himself, he has chosen the one next to the window. He's reading a book, but glances out the window every few minutes. He looks thirtyish, dark hair greasy and uncombed, a day or two's worth of beard. A woman in her early twenties is standing in the aisle looking at him. He looks up from his book. She has short blonde hair and a nose ring.

"Do you mind if I sit here? The guy in the seat next to mine is pretty creepy."

"Uh, sure." She sits in the aisle seat. "Was he a big tall guy, dark hair, mean looking, wearing a dark blue suit?"

"Yeah! Do you know him? I'm sorry, I didn't know he was a friend..."

"No! It's OK. I don't know him, and I agree with your assessment."

"Huh?"

"I think he's creepy too. What was he doing when you left your seat?"

"I don't know. Reading something I think. Why?"

"He's been following me."

"Cool!" She moves to the center seat. "You mean like some kinda spy thing?"

"Shhh! Not so loud. Look, I don't know what he is, but I am afraid of him. I think I took a picture of something that I wasn't supposed to see."

Whispering, "like a UFO or something?"

His expression changes. Fear, nervousness.

"Hey, chill out! I only said that 'cause you look a little like that guy on The X-Files."

He grins. "I do not! I do like that... hey look at that!"

"What?"

"Did you see that light?"

"No, but I wasn't really looking."

"There it is again. I think it's closer this time!"

"I don't see anything!"

"He pulls a camera from a bag. Click-whir, click-whir, click-whir. "Oh man! These are great!"

"What do you see? There's nothing there."

"My God! Are you blind? Don't you see those lights?"

"No."

"Look! Right there." He points out the window. "A light - flashing from green to orange to - IT'S GOING TO HIT US!" He ducks his head between his legs.

The flight attendent approaches. She's in her late thirties, a little plump. Dark hair pulled back into a braid. A knee length skirt reveals stubby legs clad in blue nylons. Her name tag says 'Brandi.' She looks at the man and frowns. "Is something wrong? Can I help you?" He stays in position, rocking slightly. She turns to the blonde. "Is something wrong with your friend?"

"He's not my friend. We were just talking, and then he said he saw somehting out the window, and then he freaked!"

Brandi rests one knee on the aisle seat and reaches over to touch the man's shoulder.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" Brandi pulls back as if burned. He looks up. The look of fear melts from his face, replaced by confusion. "Where...?" He looks out the window. "Huh! I guess they missed us."

"Are you feeling better now sir? Would you like some water?"

"No thanks..." He turns away from the window and looks at Brandi, squinting. "...I'm fine. Really."

"You must have fallen asleep and had a nightmare."

"Nightmare?" He turns back to the window. "I guess..." He starts mumbling, still facing the window. The blonde quietly gets up and finds another seat.