Last Flight Home

By Richard I. Gargus

Preface:  Added after several paragraphs into this story.  This story started getting more and more difficult to write.  As it progressed, I realized that I was telling a story of horror as through the eyes of a 7 year old child.  While I know more details may have added realism for the reader, I, being empathetic to even a fictitious child, simply could not allow my self to "see" nor describe certain gory details which would be, while sickening, obvious none the less, to an adult.  So, if you need more details, I invite you to edit this story to your tastes, and ask that you forgive my inability to associate such horrors with any child, real or otherwise.

    "Honey, please get up off the floor.  You're going to ruin your clothes."

    "But Mommy, that man over there just mopped the floor and it so clean, I can see my face in it.  See, Mommy?"  The precocious 7 year old made faces at the floor drawing chuckles from some of the other latent passengers.  "I can even see my cavity if I open my mouth real wide."  This drew even more open laughs.

    "Sarah just come over here and sit down.  Right now!"

    "Yes, Mommy."  Sarah sat down pouting.  But being full of energy, here legs never stopped moving, kicking and swinging.  She leaned forward and continued making faces at the floor from between her knees.

    "How old is your little girl?" asked an elderly lady sitting next to her.  "She reminds me so much of my granddaughter."

    "She's 7 going on 30." Joan replied.  "How old is your granddaughter?"

    "She's 8.  Well, 7 actually, but I am going home for her 8th birthday.  We have a family reunion scheduled all next week, and her birthday is Sunday.  She told me on the phone this morning that she was 7 and 99/100ths.  Lord knows where they get these things.  I haven’t been back home now for 3 years.  And what is your name young lady?  My name is Angie."

    "I'm Sarah.  And I am 7 and 1 uhh, 1/2.  I think."

    "My daughter is 9." volunteered the lady on the other side.  "We had a party for her last month.  They grow up so fast."

    "Your attention please.  Flight 237 is now boarding through gate 27.  Please have your boarding passes ready for the agent at the gate.  We will be boarding First Class rows 1 through 15 at this time."

    The two women on either side stood and walked away towards the gate.  Sarah watched as they disappeared into the crowd.  "Mommy, who are they?"

    "I don't know honey.  Just to nice ladies.  Don't stare now.  It's not polite."

    "May I have your attention please.  We will now be boarding parents with children for flight 237.  We are also boarding any passengers who need boarding assistance.  If you are traveling with children please have your boarding passes ready for the agent at gate 27.  If you need boarding assistance, please alert an agent at this time."

    "Come on sweetheart.  Let's go.  Get your purse."  They stood and milled toward the gate.  The crowd slowly disappeared into the tunnel like water, first circling, and then falling into a drain.  Finally arriving at their assigned seats, Joan found a blanket and pillow in the overhead rack, and put them in the middle seat.  Then she strapped Sarah in with the seat belt.

    "Mommy I don’t want to wear a seat belt."

    "Well, I know you don't but I don't want to pay taxes.  And I don't want to have to work.  I also don't want to cook three meals a day.  And I don't want to wash dishes.  I don’t want to clean house.  I don't wa.."

    "Okay, Mommy, I'll wear my seat belt." signed the little girl.

    "Well, thank you very much." Joan smiled at her.

    There was a low rumble of conversation as the rest of the passengers filed in and found their seats.  A shuffle of activity as carry on's were shoved into overheads and under seats.  The flight attendants hurried back and forth attending to last minute details and helping passengers get ready for tack off.  Finally with everyone seated, the plane taxied out to the runway and the after a wait, began it's acceleration.  Gracefully soaring into the air, the pride of man's achievements knifed into the sky.  Climbing steadily, it rose to over 30,000 feet and flew at most of the speed of sound, chasing the sun west.  The passengers settled in for a 4 hour flight.  Sarah dozed off.

    After 2 and a half hours, Sarah woke up, and stared out the window a few minutes.  Feeling the need to go to the bathroom, she spoke to her mom.  "Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom.  Mommy?"  Seeing that her mother was asleep, she unbuckled herself and carefully crawled past her mom's legs and out into the asle.  Seeing the child alone, a Flight attendant came up to help her.

    "Hi, sweety.  What do you need?"

    "I have to go to the bathroom."

    "Okay, honey, I think there's one open.  Come with me."  She led her to the rear of the plane and checked the restrooms.  She found one available and opened the door.  She showed Sarah how to operate the lock and left her to her self.

    After several minutes the plane began to buffet from turbulence.  The pilot turned on the seat belt sign and throttled the plane back to allow it to slow and descend.  Their decent continued through 25,000, to 20,000.  They were still descending as they came into to first mountains and evening twilight.  They continued to descend now down to 15,000 and still descending.  They plane had also throttled back further and was now flying at just over 200 knots.  At the last few seconds. The plane made several violent turns, drawing screams and panic, when the first trees struck the tip of the starboard wing.  Now doomed, the plane struck more and more trees with it's out spread wings, tearing pieces off, and slowing the plane.  Skipping over the tops of the trees at first, it finally plunged into the mountain side forest nose first at just over 100 miles per hour.  The fuselage broke in many places and passengers and luggage spilled out into the woods, tumbling as in a rock polisher.  A conglomerate of people, parts, and all manners of debris tumbled and scattered.  The lucky ones died instantly.  Others lay dying from multiple injuries.  And there sitting still upright, spun backwards and mostly undamaged, sat the very tail end of the plane body.  Included were the vertical rudder, and one bathroom, complete with one scared, shaken up little girl.

    She sat there crying.  Afraid, sitting in the dark.  She smelled smoke and indescribable burning smells.  She called to anyone.  It was silent other than a distant roar of burning fuel.  She stood and opened the door, which fell from its hinges as she pushed it open.  "Mommy?" she called into the darkness.  "Mommy, I'm scared.  Where are you?"  No answer.

    She could see flames in the woods, and the area around her reminded her of the junk yard where her dad sometimes used to let her ride to with him.  There was no other sound, other than the wind in the trees and the growl of the fires.  "Mommy!" she sobbed.

    "Hey, little girl.  Over here.  Can you help me?"  called a voice from the dark.  Sarah made her way around the piles of litter in the direction she had heard the voice.

    "Where are you?" she said, her voice shaking.

    "Over here, honey.  Just follow my voice.  I'll keep talking so you can find me.  Right over here.  Come this way."

    By now, Sarah had found her.  The old lady was still strapped in her seat.  "You're Angie.. Right?"

    "Yes.  Oh, it's you Sarah.  Oh, I'm so glad to see you are okay.  You are okay aren't you honey?"

    "Yeah, I think so.  But I can't find Mommy."

    "Help me get this seat belt off, will you, Sarah?"

    They struggled with the belt but were unable to unbuckle it.  They were able, however to loosen its grip by sliding some of the extra length through the buckle.  As the fire got closer, they finally got enough slack so that Angie could crawl out of the seat.  After she tried to stand, Angie discovered that her legs would not hold her.  "Honey, I need you to find me some sticks or something.  And some rags I can use to wrap my legs.  Can you do that, Sweety?"

    "I'll try."   With that, she began to wander amid the rubble, picking through looking for what Angie has asked for.  Several times she picked up what she thought were rags only to discover that they were clothing still containing people, or at least parts.  She would scream and drop them, shaking and crying.  At one point, she recognized the gray material of her mother's dress.  "Mommy!" she exclaimed and ran to the pile of rubble.  "Mommy!" she yelled again relieved to have found her mother.  She pulled at the cloth, and succeeded at pulling the destroyed remains of her mother from the pile.  She screamed and sat down hard, trying to put both of her fists into her mouth.  Again she screamed and began to cry violently.  Her horror had reached a peak no person should have to deal with.  Hearing this, Angie struggled toward her, pulling herself on her elbows.  She crawled up beside her and reached around her, cradling her as best she could, turning her head away from the grisly scene.

    "Mommy has had to go away.  That is not your mommy.  Yes, it is the part of her that you could see, but the best part, the part you love and that loves you is not here.  She had no choice, you see.  God called her, and she had to go.  What you see here is what she doesn’t need anymore.  She would probably be happier if she could have stayed here with you, but she is still happy where she is.  And she is not in any pain.  So, even though it hurts that she is gone, put this out of your mind.  What you see here is what your mother and all the other people left behind on their journey to a better place."  She patted Sarah on the back until her sobs were softer.  "We have to try to go now.  We have to try to get down off this mountain and back to civilization.  Can you help me now?"  Sarah didn't say anything, but she got up and resumed her search.  She now dug through the litter silently.  She was in a slight state of shock and the blood and gore seemed not to phase her any longer.

    Finally, she had found two pieces of metal and an arm full of loose cloth.  She and Angie first wrapped the metal with rags, and then wrapped her legs with the metal rods helping to support them.  Next Angie sent her after two more longer pieces of metal she could use as crutches.  After a few minutes Sarah returned with several pieces and they fashioned two serviceable crutches.  Helping her to her feet, Sarah clung to Angie fearful of getting out of touching distance.  Together the hobbled away from the carnage and into the darkness of the forest.

    After several hours, Angie had grown extremely tired and was in a great deal of pain.  "Let's rest here a while."  They sat between some rocks and Sarah was asleep almost before she had sat completely.  It was a fitful sleep, her body jerked and shuddered all through the night.  In the morning when she awoke.  She found Angie still asleep.  She stood and looked around.  They were at the edge of a small clearing, and Sarah could see some berry bushes scattered about.  She went to gather some to eat.  After a few minutes, she came across a bear cub.

    "Hi there little bear." she said.. the small bear bleated and began to run away.  Sarah chased the cub until she heard from the other side of the clearing the fierce growl of an adult bear, and saw it running towards her.  She screamed and turned to run back to Angie.  The bear chased her, gaining rapidly until she got to where Angie was struggling to her feet.  The bear saw Angie.. reared up on her hind legs, and howled as if she had been shot.  She turned and ran as fast as she could, roaring as if in pain, until she was out of sight in the woods across from the clearing.

    "It's okay now." Angie told Sarah who was clinging to her side.  "That was just a momma bear protecting her cub.  She won't bother us again."  And with that, the pair began moving down the slope of the mountain again.

    After hours, they were tired, thirsty and hungry.  They heard the welcome sound of rushing water and made their way to the edge of a stream.  There they drank the cold water and rested a while.  Sarah found more berries and gathered some for them both to eat.  It wasn't much but at this point anything was welcome.

    After several more hours, they came into another clearing just as a group of a dozen or so men entered from the other side.  "Look, Angie!  People!  Hey!"  Called Sarah.

    Angie eased herself to the ground.  "Go to them, Sweetie.  Run to them now." and she pushed Sarah in the direction of the approaching search party.  Sarah ran to them, yelling as she ran.

    "Help us.  Over here." she yelled as she ran.  Two of the men ran toward her.

    The first to arrive knelt down and put his hands on her arms.  "Are you okay?  Are you from this area?"

    "We were in a plane.  I think it crashed.  I was in the bathroom and it shook really hard and stuff.  When I came out, I was in the woods and everybody was gone.  All except Angie.  She helped me get here.  She ran off a bear and everything.  She's hurt though.  Can you help me with her?"

    The man stood up and waved to several others.  "Over here! This way."  They began to backtrack the direction Sarah had come from.  They finally reached where Angie lay on the ground.  One of the men bent over her and checked her pulse.  He studied her briefly and looked up shaking his head.

    "How did you get her here?" he asked Sarah.

    "We walked.  We walked most of the night, and all day today.  We must'a walked a thousand miles.  And there was this bear I found.  And it's mommy chased me, but Angie scared it away.  And she told me what berries I could eat and which ones I couldn’t eat."

    The man bent over Angie looked up at the other men.  He stood and pulled one of them aside.  After a few minutes they came back over to Sarah.  "You said the two of you walked here?  Are you sure of that, Honey?"

    "Yes, we made crutches for Angie and it was hard for her, but we walked for hours.  Is she asleep now?  I know she is very tired."

    "Uh, yes, she's asleep now.  Why don't you go with this man here.  He will get you something to eat and drink.  We'll take care of Angie for you."

    "Okay, but don't wake her up.  I know she needs her rest."

    "We won't honey.  We'll take good care of her."  When Sarah was out of site, they put Angie's body on a stretcher and covered her face.  "She's been dead for hours.  I'd say she was killed instantly in the crash."  The men stood staring at the body in disbelief, but no one could offer a better explanation than the story told by Sarah.