Red House (English version)

Prologue

A new day was about to dawn when the stewardesses of British Airlines flight JJ7354, which had left Hong Kong International Airport, China, at midnight, and with two hundred and ninety-two passengers heading to London, began to close the windows as the plane was now preparing to fly over the Atlantic Ocean along with the first rays of sun. It was a standard procedure to prevent passengers flying internationally for the first time from experiencing any type of confusion with the "sudden" time zone change. They patiently went through each row, making sure that all passengers were comfortable and had their seat belts properly buckled. The morning was calm and everything was running in absolute peace. The young flight attendant with blond hair paid special attention to a child sitting in the middle row alongside his grandmother. He was a little boy who appeared to be in the prime of his five years old and, visibly snowy, he constantly clung to his teddy bear looking for some security as his grandmother was practically unconscious – and running an intense risk of drowning in her own drool. – sleeping in the armchair in the hallway. The girl kindly noticed the little one's discomfort and quickly went to meet him:

"- Are you okay, little mate?
He did not answer. He just looked at her and nodded, continuing to hold on to the teddy bear dressed as a sailor.
"- Is that right? Okay. I will believe you. And about this old captain? Is he alright? What is his name?
"-Gordon
"- Nice to meet you, Captain Gordon! My name is Ellen. I have a dear friend named Gordon as well. He works at the port.
"- Oh! So he 'drives' a boat??
"- Not exactly. He works as a ship engineer
The little boy looked at the girl, a little confused and without understanding what she meant by that. He just gave a slight smile and went back to focusing on his stuffed friend.
"- I'll bring you and the captain some chocolate for being so brave, okay? Can you eat chocolate?
He nodded positively and she could swear she saw every fear of his face being 'burned' by the brightness in his eyes when he heard her say chocolate
"- And the captain?
"- He doesn't like it very much because it makes him itch all over. So I always eat the ones my grandmother gives him because he doesn't like them.
"- Alright my love. I will be back in a moment
The flight attendant headed towards the kitchen and her footsteps were practically all that could be heard during the silent flight. The silence was so loud it was as if they could hear the tide breaking against the rocks of the Cornwall beaches eleven thousand feet below them. She gets in the small metallic kitchen and opens some drawers in search of that chocolate and only finds one with caramel and nuts left aside by a dieter. The chocolate slips from her fingers and falls to the floor along with her phone sliping out the pocket. In a quick juggle, she balances the two and turns on the device's screen. A message notification from her mother wanting to know what time she would arrive. "I should arrive around 9 xx. I have some news..." A slight euphoria accompanied by butterflies in her stomach takes over her for a few moments before continuing. "Well, here I go." Send. The difference in time zone at that moment makes her a little calmer because the message will probably only be answered for a few hours, so she takes a breath and puts the cell phone back in her pocket. She leans over to close the locker but before she can, a terrible bang occurs, interrupting the sleep of the passengers and the prior peace on that flight place to the most complete terror and despair. People start to scream without understanding what had just happened while oxygen masks fall from the ceiling. Desperate mothers go against the rules and put the masks on the children first instead of them. A lovely lady dressed in a lilac hijab rocks from back to front while fervently threshing her string of prayers and some desperate voices ask for forgiveness as the noise of the turbine begins to become unbearable.The other three stewardesses leave desperately, holding on to the seats and luggage compartments, to try to calm the others and prepare them for the impact position. Having difficulty staying upright and calming people in the pandemonium of despair that had turned the flight around in the last seconds, one of them decided to go to the cockpit to try to find out what happened since none of the pilots had said anything, not even in the speaker and much less on the direct line of the crew. She reaches the cockpit door and knocks desperately but there's no response back. The only thing she can hear, besides her own thoughts telling herself that the worst has happened, are the alarms screaming "stall stall stall" over and over again. Hearing that, a chill runs down her spine. She knows what's coming. "Father,please..no. No. Let me stay a little longer.."
The rest of the crew tries to calm the passengers who are now certain of the end and just cling to their respective creeds, last requests, mental confusion and regrets. The blonde girl, still with the chocolate in her hands, tries to look for the little boy. And what seemed easy minutes ago now seems like a needle-in-a-haystack situation; people run from one side to the other, throwing themselves on top of each other, babies in arms are frightened by the noise and cry nonstop, the aircraft is losing lift and depressurizing every second. Suddenly she feels a small hand grab her uniform and then hold it around her waist as if the existence of the next few years depended on that last hug. She looks at him tenderly. His small black eyes, like the terrifying and beautiful darkness outside, stare into hers, terrified and looking for some comfort. In the depth of that gaze she can only feel as if she were looking into an abyss and the abyss looked back. For two nanoseconds everything around stops. The uproar dies down. Her muscles become less rigid, her mental screen becomes less confusing and an almost heavenly peace is established in her heart, as if at that moment all the questions in her life had been answered by an angel holding a teddy bear dressed as a sailor.Suddenly the dark abyss in the little one's eyes transforms into a familiar light blue ocean into which she was dredged exactly two years ago and brings with it all the memories that they lived together and all the ones that she is now morbidly certain they will no longer live.
She hand the chocolate to the little boy and then closes her eyes tightly. A thick tear runs down her face and the last thing she does is put her right hand on her stomach. "I love you". Suddenly, everything goes dark.

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