5: The People Who Fell
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
22, December 2014. 6:18 PM
True to her word, Carla lets out a yelp.
It isn’t as loud or as hysterical as Aspen thought it would be but it holds just a much fear and surprise. This time, the attendant doesn’t shoot them a disapproving frown. She doesn’t shoot anyone who is screaming a disapproving frown. She just stands at the front of the plane, her posture frozen.
Aspen buries her face in her hands. She is suddenly glad for her conversation with her parents the previous night. She is glad she remembered to tell them she loves them.
She can hear couples, parents, children, friends all saying the same thing. She can hear a few babies crying in the midst of all the chaos. She can hear the soles of people’s shoes hurriedly slapping and clicking against the carpeted walkway. She can hear her head spinning and her thoughts running around uncontrollably. It feels like she is in the eye of some storm. A storm darker than any other one she’d ever encountered. She is at the edge, about to be sucked into the whirlwind and the destructive chaos. But storms don’t last forever. And this one is about to end soon.
“The boats!” a man in uniform shouts breathlessly. “They’re punctured! All of them!”
The noise gets louder but it doesn’t make a difference to Aspen. The noise was already there. She’d already lost all hope of staying alive. They are crashing into the middle of the Atlantic; there is no way anyone will survive.
Aspen takes her face out of her hands and looks to Carla who is in her previous position. Her breathing is quick and shallow. Aspen nudges her and says, “Well, we’ll get swim together so that’s good news.”
Carla looks up and lets out a laugh but this one is much weaker, shakier, unstable. “Do you think we’ll find any crabs there?”
She shakes her head no, “They’re usually near the shore,” she tells her. “But maybe we’ll find some at the bottom. It’s a possibility.”
“Maybe.”
Aspen feels discomfited for the first time since the beginning of the flight. She squirms slightly in her seat. “I just need the bathroom,” she says quickly before getting up.
As she is walking there, she has to pass by the man from the airport. She hesitates for a few moments then turns back to him and tells him, “At least you won’t have to miss your friend anymore.”
The man shakes his head and his lips curl upwards ever so slightly. Aspen keeps walking to the bathroom without another word. There, she splashes her face and her vision hazes momentarily before focusing again. When she looks in the mirror, her face is pale like the time she stayed out for too long in the snow. Aspen cracks a smile at that.
She returns back and sits down. Aspen and Carla are both silent, staring forward solemnly but the tension isn’t as strong, almost string-like now.
“We won’t get to meet the snobby guy and see if he’s really snobby.”
“We won’t get to see Peter’s play.”
“We won’t get to go crabbing then eat the crabs.”
“We won’t get to hopefully, not destroy your apartment.”
Then they laugh. And this laugh is genuine and happy not fake or sad.
“But we ate fettuccini.”
“And we drank champagne and coke.”
“And we talked a lot. About crabs.”
“And we laughed a lot. About nothing in particular.”
“And we were emotionless crabs.”
“And we had wrong descriptions of other people.”
“And I love you.”
“And I love you, too.”
“And we’re going to die soon.”
They look at each other and a smile is already there.
“And it’s alright.”
Maybe Aspen didn’t change the world or go to the moon or become the first female ruler of a country but she likes her life. Just like she likes Amsterdam or her hotel’s café or observing people. And Aspen doesn’t wish that she was late. She doesn’t wish that she missed her flight. She doesn’t want to change any part of the life she lived so far. Aspen Klaremonte is happy with her life.
Ok, this is the end of it and despite this being a very short journey, thank you all so very much because it was all amazing and yeah. I hope that you enjoyed this story and the small 5 chapter of Aspen and Carla and the emotionless crab. However there is actually an epilogue which I'm a bit apprehensive about and may need some editing so this won't be the last of everything
Also, this is dedicated to Mariam because she is amazing and a constant inspiration and got me into a Fairouz phase which I have grown obssessed with { I actually have Kifak Enta on repeat right now}
- Tasneem
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