An excerpt from Another Chance

Here is an excerpt from Another Chance:

      Ninety minutes into the flight, Jay was getting slightly anxious herself. She started to feel restless and realized she needed to use the restroom. Rising from her seat, she glimpsed something outside the window that caught her attention. Kneeling in her seat, faced pressed against the window, Jay wanted to see exactly what this was.

     One of the flight attendants approached her. “Ma’am, is everything all right.”

     “I’m not sure. I thought I saw a flash of light near the wing,” Jay explained.

“Maybe it was just my imagination,” she continued.

     The attendant walked away and Jay continued to the restroom. She stayed  there a while just to regroup. As Jay exited, something else caught her eye. The flight attendants were rushing about and huddling in a group. Unbeknown to the attendants in the rear, Jay overheard a portion of their conversation.

     “We can’t alarm the passengers. We have to remain calm,” said one.

     “What is going on?” Jay thought to herself.

     Standing in the doorway with a bewildered look on her face, she was curious about what had just transpired. As Jay cautiously returned to her seat, she carefully looked out the windows as she passed by them, not wanting to cause suspicion. She started thinking about what she had just overheard and what she thought she had witnessed outside her window. She felt she needed to investigate further. Most of the passengers were asleep or reading and were oblivious to what was going on.

     One of the flight attendants rushed up behind Jay, “Excuse me, please. I need to get by you.” Jay just stood, again bewildered.

     “That’s it. Something is wrong, and I want to know what is happening,” Jay said out of frustration to herself. She looked around and got the attention of one of the female attendants who quickly approached.

     “Yes, ma’am. Is there something I can help you with?”

      Jay stood and stared a few seconds with a scowl on her face and responded, “Look, not that I was eavesdropping, but I overheard a conversation between you and your co-workers. I was almost run over by another one as I was about to take my seat, and I saw a light flash outside my window.  I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now,” Jay firmly demanded.

     The flight attendant was rendered speechless; she tried to calm down Jay but suddenly there was a shift in the plane. Jay and the attendant fell on the floor of the plane. Something was horribly wrong.  Lightning had struck the right wing of the airplane. As they were collecting themselves and regaining their footing, the other attendants rushed toward the cockpit.

     “Ma’am please sit down and strap on your seat belt,” the attendant said to Jay, rushing away. No sooner had she said that, the lights came on for everyone to strap into their seats.   The other passengers started to panic.

     “Oh my GOD! We’re all going to die,” screamed one.

     “Everyone please take your seats and put your seat belts on,” cautioned the attendant.

     Jay looked out her window again and saw that the wing was on fire; cold chills went over her body. She got the attention of the attendant she had just spoken with to make her aware of the situation. The attendant took off to alert the pilot.