The setting was as follows:
You are getting on a plane after waiting at the gate for a very long time. You are returning home. The flight attendant smiles at you as you are guided to your seat by the window. You stare down at the tarmac and eventually hear the buzzing of the engines. Pressure builds up behind you as the breaks prevent the plane from propelling itself forward to take off. Finally the breaks disengage and you are momentarily sucked deeper into your seat.
As the nose of the plane lifts you feel the tickle in your stomach. The feeling does not subside as you expected it would, because it is now being fed by the sudden realization that you are finally returning home. You wonder how your sister has changed, if your father has gone gray, if your dog will recognize you. You decline any beverage from the flight attendant because you would prefer not to have to use the restroom later. It will be a long flight.You are shaken awake and open your eyes to see worried faces all concentrating on a figure standing at the front of the plane. As the blur leaves your vision you recognize his uniform and know he is the captain. He too looks shaken.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I would ask of you not to panic. Such behavior would only waste precious time. I regretfully and with heavy heart inform you that I have lost all engine control, and the plane is going down."We are currently over the most jagged terrain of the flight, which means a make-shift landing will not likely be plausible. What I mean to say is, I can do nothing to prevent this plane from crashing. I have estimated that we have a little less than five minutes until impact. Again, do not panic, as the next thing I have to say is very important"
You look out the window nervously.
He is telling the truth.
"We have a safe on this plane, which has a storage compartment in it. This safe has been designed to withstand massive amounts of trauma. At this time the flight attendants are passing out to you pens and paper. Please take two minutes to tell the outside world whatever it is you may want to tell them, in the likely scenario that we do not survive this event.
We will collect the papers and place them in the safe to be recovered at some future date and distributed to whomever it is addressed to."
In our exercise our eyes were closed as this story was read to us. At this point in the story, we took two minutes to write our last words down on paper. This was mine:
It reads: "Remember that we can all be together again if we just have faith and never give up. I love you all and I will see you again soon." -(signature and a stick figure drawing)
The last words of this note are a reference to the lyrics of a song which I wrote for my late older sister, LeAnna. I still miss her and I feel like this is what she would have told me if she had only gotten the opportunity.
Ai miei amici (comprendete per favore): La vita è più di dolore.
