Short Story: Black Box From Hell

[ed - This entry is one of the Top 12 Popular Vote Finalists for English Language Entries]

I’m in hell. And he was a frequent flier.

I don’t fall in love too easily but when I do, I can get pretty intense. I never knew what he did for a living. Probably what Edward Norton did in “Fight Club” or whatever it was that George Clooney did in “Up In The Air”. Something corrupt like that. Not that I cared if he did something corrupt for a living, he was good-looking. All I knew was that he requested kosher meals, liked window seats, preferred pulp fictions over in-flight entertainment, and flew to the same destinations every once in a while: New York, Bangkok, Nairobi, Geneva, Vienna, Beirut, and Santiago. He knew me by “Femke” and I called him “Mr. Contini” until he insisted I call him “Daniel”.

I welcome him on board every time. I was always super-friendly to passengers—especially when I’ve had my Xanax.

One day he flew to a different destination: Fiji. And this time he wasn’t alone. He had a companion with him who he introduced to me as “Justin”. My hands were trembling hard. When I managed to grab for my strip of Xanax, it was empty. It didn’t bother me so much that he was gay. What bothered me was that happy, innocent, love-sick look on Justin’s stupid little face. So I snapped.

Airport security’s less stringent with flight attendants. I always got away with bringing my Swiss Army knife on board. I always knew I’d need it someday. Day like this.

The pilots were naughty and never locked the cockpit door. I walked in and locked the door behind me. Aircraft was on autopilot: the co-pilot was sleeping and the pilot was daydreaming. Slit the pilot’s throat and before the half-dead bastard could wake the co-pilot, I did the same to him. Watched them bleed to death. And then I pressed a bunch of random buttons.

I never meant to kill everyone else on board. I was just feeling a little suicidal.

As I said, I’m in hell right now. Literally. God’s pretty angry at me for what I did.

By miamalik, on September 18th, 2010

This posting is published on Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2010