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An Untraditional TripA short story by Hanna RaskinJanuary,15, 2014 Per 5Boarding The cheery blonde lady at the podium in front of the boarding shuttle smiled at us and said in a high voice,"May I please see your boarding passes?" We gave them to her and she flashed her lipstick stained teeth. My boyfriend, Jake and I handed them to her and he ran his hand through his curly blond hair. We were going to visit his family for the holidays in New York,I had graduated the past summer and was taking a gap year before moving up to L.A from Orange County to attend USC. Jake didn’t plan on going to college. It's not like he was stupid, no, nothing like that, he just well, didn't fit the college mold. Plus, he was working at his mom’s bakery, not too far from the grove. He always smelled like freshly baked bread, and would bring me baguettes and other little treats that hadn’t sold that day. This was the longest he would ever be away from the shop: Thanksgiving to the day before New Years.“Have a nice flight!” she squeled.We sat down and within minutes I was asleep.The voice"Attention passengers. This is your captain speaking.” I rubbed my eyes, warm from deep slumber. “Your... New captain. There has been a slight. Erm, change in plans. It doesn't matter. You see, we are interested in some money, and you are going to help us get it. If not, well, Let's just say I don't think you will be arriving in the big apple before your glutinous tradition of consuming the bodies of countless birds." The voice trailed off chuckling and the speaker was off. Fear It's funny really, the way that humans react to fear. Everyone does so differently. But in almost all cases you encounter there is a moment before the reaction begins, the calm before the storm if you will. Whether that "moment" spreads over a period of a second, to a minute, to a day, it's there. This moment lasted exactly two seconds. In those two seconds I turned to Jake, the only person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. His eyes were swollen but his mouth was stern. His jaw clenched. The bitter taste of adrenaline crept it’s way up my throat and coursed through my veins. Our eyes met as a woman pierced the silence with a bloodcurdling scream. Shrieks, cries, and madness filled the plane. People ran to meet their family members who weren't seated close. Jake got up and grabbed my hand in his. We sprinted down the corridor passing faces upon faces until we reached the back of the cabin near the bathrooms.A tall man with a black turtleneck and khakis stepped out of the control room with a gun. Probably stolen from the air Marshall. “Cellphones will be collected shortly." The man shifted the gun in his hands. “Now, I want you to stay in whatever seat you're in. No seat? Find one." The man left and passed the gun to another man. He was shorter. Thicker. He wore a brown leather jacket and matching shoes. "You need to get up for some reason? You tell me." Just then a small round woman with gray hair asked to use the ladies room. He took her shoulder and held the gun to the nape of her neck. She gasped and he walked her to the rooms in the back where we were seated. Jake stared as the woman was shoved into the small stall. "What are you lookin' at? Huh?" The guard spit at him."If you didn’t have that gun so help me-" the guard slapped Jake on his temple and forced him into his seat. "What's your name you little.." he started."Jake. Jake Kidd, " Jake replied. "Alright Kidd. Watch to your back."Then the short guard and the tall guard switched and the tall one came out to search the passengers.Search "Name?" The tall man asked. "Harold smith, yours?" the lean man replied. This obviously irritated the tall man because he snarled and said, “Ivan.”Ivan checked the other passengers. Cell phones, food, wallets, keys, and purses from the overhead were all tossed to the front cabin and shoved into the stall. When he reached our row he pulled Jake up first. "I heard about you Kidd. Attitude huh?" The man slid his hands up and down Jakes body, sure not to miss anything, then threw Jakes blue backpack to the front. HE searched me and got rid of my bag too.Once Ivan left, Jake pulled me out of my seat and into the small legroom. " We've been in the air for two hours if that clock is right," he said pointing to the clock above the curtains in the front. "That means there's only about two hours left until the fuel stop in Illinois. If we don't come they'll be worried and call a search for our plane, and we'll run out of fuel soon. This airplane is landing. Soon" he stared at me.“Okay,” I said, “Here’s the plan,,”Putting the plan into action Ivan was busying himself with checking things so, snuck over to the pile of carry-on at the front. I opened the blue curtain and saw that the short man sat at the flight attendants table, (the flight attendants were bound to fold out chairs.) "what in the name of the lord are you doing up here? Ivan! Iva-" his face had turned red. "The other bathroom was occupied so I came back here" I leaned against the wall. "We'll see about tha-" again the short man was interrupted, this time by the sound of flesh pounding flesh: Ivan knocking Jake to the floor with one swift kick to the jaw. In the commotion, I uncertainly crawled to the stall, picking up a phone on my way. I took a deep breath. Looking over I saw Jake stand up! I couldn't believe it! The plan was working! The anxiety I felt minimized and for a second I was relieved. I locked myself into the stall and dialed the police. Suddenly, a loud noise exploded from the main cabin. A gunshot. The noise bounced around the plane and my ears rang. A woman screamed. A body fell. 911"Hello 911 what's your emergency" I could barely hear her my ears were fuzzy."Hello I'm on a plane and there are these French men, they've taken over. I snuck away to find a phone. I, I don't know what to do." I cried. I really deeply sobbed I mourned my innocence and prayed that Jake was okay."We are going to track your flight but we need the flight number.” She told me.“Flight 67, New york from the John Wayne airport.” I recalled.“You don't have enough fuel left to make it past your scheduled stop so you won't be up there much longer.” She got really quiet and I cleared my throat. I felt like there was a branding rod on my tonsils and a struggled to speak. "I need to get back out there or they'll be suspicious." I sank to my knees and held the phone so tight my fingers turned red, with my other hand I pressed on my eyes to stop the tears.“I have your location and you seem to be on course. Stay safe.” She instructed. I said goodbye and thanked the woman. Then I flushed to seem normal and left.The SacrificeJake was sitting tied to his chair with a broken seatbelt. He had bruises and a small cut on his cheek."What happened?" I asked him. He went on to explain that as he tried to take the gun from Ivan, he was pushed to the floor and Ivan was going to shoot him. Harold jumped in front of the bullet, except it hadn't been a normal bullet, just a rubber one. The shorter guy took out a Taser (somehow he had managed to get it in,) and used it on Harold, who was unconscious but alive. A rush of relief flowed over me and I pushed my face into jakes shoulder, focused on steadying my breathing.After a few minutes, the tall guard, Ivan, whispered something to the shorter one who came out to make an announcement. Illinois "We will be stopping for fuel in a little while. If anyone acts up they will not arrive in New York." The short short man told us.The plane began to descend and after about thirty minutes the guards straightened up and walked towards the exit.As Ivan opened the hatch, men in SWAT uniforms rushed down the boarding corridor and into the plane. Red lasers, at least 20 pointed themselves at Ivan and backed him against the wall. 40 more men and women in uniform rushed into the plane and did the same to the short guard and burst throught to the control room to the pilot. Children shrieked, their parents cried. A wave of relief washed over me and tears streamed down my face. We were safe, scarred, but safe.SafeWe arrived at the house the next day, after questioning. I immediately fell asleep in the guest room when we got there. I was awoken by a woman with short, white hair and crinkles near her eyes; Jakes grandma I assumed. She handed me a warm mug filled with tea and I sat up and smiled. Bringing the cup to my mouth I was overwhelmed by the smell of herbs and honey. The tea warmed my throat. "You must be hungry! Dinner is in an hour. There's a shower through that door." She gestured to her right."There are fresh towels and I took the liberty of putting your bags next to your bed. I'll leave you be now." She stood up and closed the door behind her with a warm smile. I drained the mug and set it on the white nightstand! I had slept the whole day and night it was 4pm, but still, I was tired.Showered and dressed, I crept into the living room where Jakes family was watching the news. I passed an antique wooden sewing table they used as a side table. There were fleshly cut red tulips in a white vase and a little bowl full of things live earrings, rings, and buttons. Above it all, hung a beautifully engraves mirror. The girl I saw was not the same girl that had boarded that plane. This girl was strong. Her hair danced like flames around her freckled face. Hey eyes beamed like green orbs and her grin grew into a warm smile. As I walked through the hall, I approached a wide room with a cracklng fireplace in the corner. The mantle was filled with childhood pictures of blonde kids: Jake and his cousins. A group of people sat on and stood around a chocolate brown leather sectional that faced a modest but impressive television. They all wore sweaters or coats and jeans. Some of the people still wore slightly damp shoes and their faces were kissed by a rosy hue. Jake’s grandma quietly handed those cousins mugs full of cocoa or coffee, which they accepted kindly. With all of the people you would expect quit a lot of talk, but they all remain transfixed on that t.v. As I crept closer I could hear the report.“Tonight, the story of how three French men working for the mafia, found a way to takeover a commercial flight from Orange County to New York and how 19 year old Kataya St’Claire managed to save the flight. That story at six, but for now..” the voice trailed off. I watched from a far, embarrassed. Slowly some of the people who stood noticed me in the back, their glossy eyes met mine. Suddenly a wave of faces turned at me and I got anxious again.I searched the room for Jake in the sea of his realtives and hoped no one noticed me. Finally I locked eyes with him and felt at home. He came up to me beaming. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he announced,"Guys, this is Kataya St’Claire. She saved my life." ................
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