General Fiction, Short Fiction

Assumed Position by T.L. Tomljanovic

literallystories2014

The seatbelt light clicked on and Tess checked her latch, her eyes flicking to Jake’s lap—unbuckled, of course. He got the aisle seat. She was in the middle. A stranger sat by the window.

The captain crackled on the intercom. “We’re experiencing a bit of turbulence, folks. Please remain seated as we begin our descent.”

She tried gripping the armrests, but both were taken. Chewing on a hangnail, Tess pulled out the safety guide. But, without her glasses, the instructions were a blur.

Jake looked up from Netflix. “It’s like you’ve never been on a plane before.”

“I’m just—”

Jake shushed her. “Just joking, sweetie.”

He stood and muscled his way to the toilet, winking at the flight attendant.

Fantasizing for a moment about pantsing him, Tess shoved the guide back into the seat pocket and snapped her tray into its upright position She kind of hoped the plane crashed. Not a fiery crash where everyone died, mind you, maybe just an emergency landing in which Jake threw up his lunch or broke an ankle on his way back to his seat and missed out on the rest of the ski season. She glanced down at his empty seat, the prong and buckle belts twisting like snakes.

She lifted the armrest and shimmied over. Her stomach lurched and for a split second, she was convinced it was at her own audacity until a baby’s shriek and startled gasps filled recycled air already choking on body odor and the tomatoey beef ravioli tray dinners served an hour prior.

The plane had dipped.

It dropped again and the flight attendant jostled elbows aside as she ran down the aisle. Her voice increasing in octaves as she yelled, “Return to your seats. Return to your seats!”

Threading the seatbelt between her fingers as an anchor, Tess risked a peek down the aisle. Jake was halfway between the toilets and her.

Seconds later he was there screaming at her to “Move!” He slammed back into his seat, almost crushing her in his haste. Tess quickly clicked her seatbelt together while Jake fumbled with his.

“Dreamliner, my ass. I didn’t pay this much to get jerked around by—”

The plane nosedived. Oxygen masks dropped. Tess’s hair tickled her face as it floated up in a cloud. Window seat’s declaration paper and pen levitated. Jack floated up too. Everything slowed down as if they were underwater. A sea of arms and hands scrambled for air. Tess put her mask on first.

Everything dropped at once breaking the spell, and the cabin rattled violently as it levelled out. Rectangular farmers’ fields of yellow and green sharped into focus through the cabin window. The captain’s voice cut through the roar of the engines and people yelling. “We are making an emergency landing. Brace for impact! Brace for impact!”

Window seat assumed the position. Jake assumed the position. Tess straightened her spine. As the plane crashed through cornfields, she shifted Jake’s missing prong from under her thigh to a more comfortable position.

T.L. Tomljanovic

Image: Blue airline seats with just a glimpse of the windows from Pixabay.com

Published by literallystories2014

25 thoughts on “Assumed Position by T.L. Tomljanovic”

  2. Tatiana

    Welcome back!

    I refuse to fly. This fine story underscores why I feel that way. Even though it’s a harrowing predicament, Tess’s attitude contains dark humor. For some reason cornfields attract falling planes the same way trailer parks beckon tornadoes.

    Leila

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  4. I Don’t fly much anymore and though I’ve never been a particularly nervous passenger this story is the sort of thing that would pop into your memeory just as the wheels start to move. EEk – Well done – Thank you – Diane

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  6. Perhaps not ideal foreign holiday reading. But a really great cumupance (sp?) story. Great incidental detail (eg. the floating hair) and a wonderfully cool last sentence. Thank you.

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  8. Yes, the awful situation of being involved in an aircraft crash landing is gut gripping. In this story, it is Tess who wished for the experience along with hurting Jake. Effectively feeling calm about poor Jake chances of survival floating about the diving aircraft.
    Careful, ‘for what you wish for’, was loud and clear.

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  11. Hi Tatiana,

    I think the MC purposely hid that bit of the belt.
    Seat belts on planes are a bit futile I reckon. If it explodes, goes on fire with a squillion gallons of aviation fuel, plunges into the sea or a mountain or nosedives into some concrete, what help will the width of three inches of material do??
    There isn’t much to this but it’s brilliantly done. I do like that her potential last thoughts were to lessen the boyfriends chances of surviving by removing the safety guaranteed (HAH!!) by that wee bit of material.

    Very enjoyable!!

    All the very best.

    Hugh

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  12. Short and to the point. Jake and Tess and the Plane. Dark humour right from the beginning “Chewing on a hangnail, Tess pulled out the security guide.”

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