Ten Minutes

1:00

[ I know that the last chapter was written in past tense, but from now on I will be writing in present tense because I think it will be much easier to understand. Sorry for the confusion. ]

[ minute one ]

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SO MANY THOUGHTS were running through my mind that I had no idea what to think when I looked out the window and saw only ocean for miles.

I can't remember what the man had said, whether he had said an engine had failed or whether he had said the plane was running out of fuel, I can't remember.

The reality that I was living in was currently muddled with panic and sheer disbelief, leaving me to sit there with wide eyes as the chaos around me continued to grow with every passing minute.

Ten minutes—that's what they had said. That we had ten minutes to call our loved ones and tell them what was happening. Ten minutes to process that we were about to leave this earth that we live in. Ten minutes before we die.

Suddenly, something switched inside of me and my instincts kicked in, causing me to rip open my old, worn-out backpack and rummage through it to find my cellphone as quickly as possible.

"No, no, no, no, please, no," I mutter, on the verge of tears as my cellphone refuses to turn on. Why did you forget to charge it?

"Here," I snap my head up, only to find the same freckled girl from before, her porcelain cheeks glimmering with tears as she reaches out her hand to offer me her cellphone.

"Thank you," I rush out, wasting no time in accepting the phone from her and dialing my mother's familiar number. However, I find myself hesitating over the call button, my breaths suddenly becoming uneven and harsh.

She'll want to know what happened to her son; I have to call her. Why can't I just press the button?

I stare at the phone in my hands, my chest heaving up and down as unintentional tears spring to my eyes. And, in a desperate attempt to spare my mother the terror of this situation, I quickly send her a text instead; my fingers flying over the buttons as the hopefully comforting message plays out on the screen.

I don't tell her everything. I don't tell her that the plane is about to crash, or that I am trapped on it with only ten minutes to live. Instead, I tell her that I love her and that I miss her and that I will always miss her.

Because I know that I will never be able to say those things to her again.

***