A Stormy Night: Stories to Read by Firelight

Crash

Rudy checked his watch. He was on track to arrive at his destination on time, early even, and he relaxed some behind the control wheel.

The flight display flashed blue and green across his tired, sunken eyes and his dry mouth opened wide to yawn.

The empty night stretched out in front of the cockpit glass and sped by the craft, grey clouds becoming wisps of smoke against its slim metallic body.

Silence enveloped the small space, and Rudy felt himself drifting off while the autopilot guided him through the sky.

He propped his feet against the dashboard and found himself staring blankly into the displays, the colors blending into an ocean of ambiguous hues in his eyes when suddenly, something jolted the aircraft.

"What in the--"

SCREEECH!

Rudy had no time to finish his thought before he was blinded by a sheer white light that covered the clouds several miles in front of the craft.

Another jolt came, this up from the right, shifting him from his seat and onto the floorboards.

His shoulder connected with the edge of the wall and panic rushed through his veins.

Rudy managed to catch a glimpse of the flight monitor as a large, red shape appeared seemingly from nowhere.

The craft jolted again, this time, pointing sharply upward, into the intense light before him.

He found himself thrown to the back of the cockpit.

The G-Force was intense but he managed to crawl his way back into his seat before he disengaged the lock and brought himself closer to the control panel.

He firmly grasped the control wheel and yanked it back, leveling the aircraft slightly, but not stopping whatever force was causing the rocking.

Rudy's eyes scanned the overly lit buttons and switches on the dashboard before his hands flew across, flicking and depressing several of them in an attempt to steady the flight path.

He glanced back to the flight radar.

The blob had grown to encompass nearly the entire screen, and slowly, the color on the display darkened before fading out entirely.

Rudy brought a bare palm to the screen and tapped it, but it didn't respond.

He spun the dial attached to the side, but it had a similar lack of result.

Another loud screeching sound emanating from the sky outside and the craft steadied.

Rudy glanced out the cockpit window and watched as a large sheet of metal ripped from the exterior of the aircraft and flew under in loud ZIP!

His heart sank as the ship descended again and another sheet of metal ripped off in a screech, peeling up from the nose and smacking into the cockpit glass, cracking it in several places.

Rudy yanked back on the control wheels again, but there was zero effect.

The craft barrel rolled.

Rudy landed on the ceiling with a heavy thud and felt his head start to bleed.

The gravity kept him from moving.

After another role, Rudy found himself disoriented as he attempted to stand.

Suddenly, the craft leveled and headed straight for the light in front of it.

Rudy brought his hands up in front of his eyes as it grew and then faded with his hopes as the craft dove again immediately as they left the brightness behind.