"Boarding at gate 16" blasted on the loud speaker. Mara's flight. She collected her belongings and jumped up from the seat she was waiting in. The airport was not busy that day, there was only about 20 people waiting at her gate at most. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she walked to the back of the line at her gate. Within a minute, she was handing her ticket to the ticket agent.
"Hello, um" the ticket agent said as she glanced down at her ticket. "Hi, Mara. I hope you have a good flight."
She didn't hear her if she said anything else because Mara was already halfway down the jet bridge. As she crossed into the plane, a flight attendant stopped her.
"Hello. I just need to tell you there might be slight turbulence during the flight. Since Dianthri is so close today, the gravity of our planet and their planet might collide. There is a possibility of the plane getting, um, pulled into Dianthri. If you want to fly another day, feel free to do so." She said with a worried stare.
Mara just nodded and walked to her seat. She didn't know why they would still fly the planes today. Children from Colana know next to nothing about Dianthri. Learning about it has been forbidden. The only people who have information about is is the government. Mara tried to sort out how they would survive on Dianthri if they crashed. She came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be very easily.
The carry-on bag that she packed consisted of a book, pen and notebook, an apple, her phone, earbuds, and her wallet. She reached in and brought out her book. Mara got through the first three pages before the slight fear building up in her took hold. The orphan thought of all the scenarios that could possibly happen. The plane crashes. They get there safe. They don't arrive in London, but on Dianthri with nothing but their bags. They crash onto Dianthri. Their plane flips because of gravity disturbance.
She looked down, only to see herself drawing out what could happen in her notebook. As soon as she stopped her hands from moving the pen, She glanced up at the guy sitting next to her. She found his deep green eyes staring down at her pictures. He was quite plump, had blonde hair and wore a suit.
"Nervous?" He said with a deep voice.
"Just a bit." Mara replied and kept sketching just to make the situation less awkward.
He glanced between her and the drawing and said "Is this your first time on a plane?"
Mara looked up from her drawing, paused a minute then said, "No. Its just that today is the convergence, and that flight attendant looked so worried when she warned me about it."
"Oh, don't worry about that. She probably just said that to get us to buy something. My name is Brain by the way." He said as a smile lit up his face.
"Mara. Mine is Mara."
"Well, Mara, you seem to be quite the artist. Even if you are drawing this plane crashing."
A warm smile spread across her face.
"Thank you. Um, Brian? Would you be kind enough to give me the basics on Convergence Day? I haven't really been told much."
"Let's see...Dianthri orbits directly around the planet we live on. The People of the world without magic, Colana, have never been able to figure out how the two planets exist. Physics would suggest that it is nowhere near possible for planets to orbit very closely around each other. However, theory concludes that the planets are kept safe by the magic of Dianthri. Otherwise, seas would rise, disaster would strike, and Convergence Day would be the apocalypse. Convergence day is the twenty-four hours when the planets come so close together they can almost touch. Something that only happens every 20 years. That's about all I know. Well, I think I'm going to take a little nap" he said with a yawn. "Was up early this morning"
Mara nodded as he started to doze off. The plane began to rumble under her feet. They were taking off. As the plane Ascended, she realized how tired she was herself. She was too excited to get good sleep the night before. She shut her eyes and listened to the rumble of the engine as sleep took her.
~~~
Mara awoke to red lights flashing and the flight attendant repeating "Pull the mask that has just fallen from the ceiling over your head. Then help children. There was been a gravity disturbance. We are getting pulled into Dainthri." Her voice sounded strained, as if she knew something very bad was about to happen. Brian started shaking Mara. He pointed to the mask hanging from the ceiling. "Put it on!" He shouted. It was only then that she realized what was happening. They were crashing. She acted on a calm panic. Two seconds later the mask was over her head. Another second and she glanced out the window. They were falling down. Right to the forest below. Then she remembered. The back. They can to go the back of the plane. She remembered hearing somewhere that the chance of survival is higher there. She immediately grabbed her bag, unfastened her seat belt and shouted to Brian "Come with me! We are going to go to the back so we are safer!"
His face broke into even more panic than it was already in. "No! I am staying here. I am staying in my seat belt!"
"Please!"
He shook his head so violently that it looked mechanical. "No, Mara! I'm sorry, but I want to stay here."
Despair fell over her as she replied "I'm sorry." She didn't know why she said sorry. She just felt like she need to say it. Mara turned, and pushed aside the thought that he will not be safe. Is not safe. She made her way down the isle as quickly as she could. In about the middle of the isle, to the left of her, sat a man and a woman. The woman looked a bit like Mara. She had dark brown hair and eyes and very pale skin. The man sitting next to her had golden eyes with flecks of green. His hair was a light shade of auburn. They both looked horribly sad when they looked upon Mara. They looked like people she would be close to in better circumstances, the thought. She shook the unsettling feeling that she knew them from her head and continued on. She halted as she laid her eyes on the flight attendant from before. She was pretty. Her hair was a dark reddish-brown and her eyes were ocean blue. She was sitting in the flight attendant seat at the back of the plane with her seat belt fastened tightly around her. Her eyes met Mara's and she whispered "Welcome to Dianthri." And she shut her eyes and leaned back in her seat. Mara walked to her, oblivious to the chaos around her. She sat next to her and thought this is the end. A pop sounded in her ears as they took a nose dive into the forest of Dianthri.
