Flight K109 (#1 ¬ Aiello Racing Series )

Elliot Ilves

The weather is abysmal from Friday throughout the weekend. The air feels colder and the skies are a constant grey. The streets are slathered in rain and the animals are fidgety from being kept inside so long. The weather on Monday is the same.

"This weather is proper shit isn't it?" Mia asks pensively, she's looking out the window on the plane, which is somehow still taking off on time. The rain has stopped for the time being but the sky is still one big grey cloud.

"Yeah...." I say slowly, "there's always just a week of summer storms this time of year. Worse than the winter storms most of the time too."

"Wonderful." she mumbles

Everything today has gone smoothly for once. No ice cream mishaps or sprinting to our gate. We made it to our gate early and were some of the first people boarded. We've been sitting in out seats patiently waiting to take off for longer than we should be.

Maybe the weather isn't as forgiving as we thought it was.

I can see Mia fidgeting in her seat. She hasn't put on her headphones yet, something she only does once we're properly in the air, and I can see her frustration and boredom. It's a five hour flight, and we've already been on this plane half an hour without moving an inch.

"The weather will be better in Taranto." I say eventually, I don't really know if that helps but it's better than nothing I guess.

Mia doesn't say anything, she just closes her eyes and slumps back into her seat with a huff.

The plane starts moving a couple minutes later and we finally leave Tallinn in the distance behind us. The weather outside the windows is grey and ominous still and the temperature inside the cabin is far too low for late June.

Mia's been awfully quiet today too. She's usually the first one to tell me some random fact and start a conversation if it's too quiet but she's barely spoken a word today that hasn't been preceded by one of mine. It's strange, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the day at the beach. She wasn't very particular but I could tell something was bothering her then and something is definitely bothering her now, I'm just not sure if these two things are one in the same.

I want to be able to help her sort it out, but I don't bother her about it, all I can do is hope that she eventually trusts me enough to tell me on her own, until then I'm left in the dark.

We're more than halfway through the flight, it's been smooth sailing for the most part. I managed to convince Mia to play a couple card games and she seems to be in a better mood.

Before everything goes to shit.

The plane suddenly lurches downwards and we're all thrown forwards in our seats. All the cards on the tray go flying as the lights flicker in the cabin before stabilizing. The plane continues to shudder and we're all shaking in our seats. 

Mia turns to me, her eyes are wide and she's the most alert I've ever seen her be. She looks scared, and I can understand why.

One of the air hostesses comes onto the speakers

"We seem to be experiencing turbulence due to the weather being worse than expected. If weather persists we will be making an emergency landing at the Vienna international airport shortly."

Hushed whispers erupt through the cabin, I see some people do the sign of the cross and saying silent prayers as babies and toddlers start crying after being awoken from their naps.

The plane's shuddering gets worse and Mia grabs onto my wrist. She squeezes it hard, definitely leaving marks where her nails dig into my skin. I look down at her, I don't know how to comfort her in this situation, I'm fucking terrified myself to be honest.