An airport inconvenience

You head to the airport carrying your suitcase. "God it's heavy", you mutter to yourself. You see someone approaching you but they don't see you there and you quickly move out of the way to avoid them. That only gets you run into by someone else. "Idiots", you say to yourself getting up. You brush off the dirt that got on your jacket. "Gate 14. I need gate 14", you say. The airport is just like any other. It's unnaturally bright which hurts your eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen", a voice starts. "Really inclusive there bud", you say joking to yourself. "Because of weather complications, all flights scheduled from 8 am to 10 am have been canceled. If you would like to rebook your flight, please go to the assistance desk or go on our website and change it there. We apologize for the inconvenience. You get really annoyed at this. The forecast didn't say anything about bad weather and it's the sunniest it's been for a week.

You feel a tap on your shoulder which startles you. "Sorry to startle you but my manager wants me to ask everyone one question", the person says. You turn around and study them closely. The person was around 22, male, had short brown hair, was pretty short, and clearly by his shaking hands and the way he stood was nervous. "Shoot", you said to the stranger. "D-did you have a flight between 8 and 10 am that was canceled?", he asks you. "Yeah, I did. Do you know why? It's not like there was bad weather", you ask probably too aggressively. "W-we were wondering about that too. Nobody had radioed us and said anything about bad weather.", the nervous stranger. "So what is this about? I have someone I need to get to and they're waiting on me.", you said irritated. "I understand and we're working on getting everything sorted out", he said on the verge of tears.

"Hey, do you need a break?", you say concerned. "No. No, I'm ok", he says to you. "I'm a therapist. You're clearly under stress. I'll talk to your manager and tell him you need a break", you say to him. "He'd fire me no", he says tear streaming down his face. "I promise you'd be ok", you say leading him to a set of chairs and sitting him down. You walk over to the assistance desk and ask for the poor guy's manager. While the lady at the desk is getting you look over that him and see he's severely shaking and most likely crying too.

"Yes, how may I help you?', the very sleazy looking manager asks you. "Yes, your employee needs to be switched out and allowed a break. He's clearly very nervous and you are making him go out and talk to everyone in the airport.", you say annoyed at the manager. "Listen sweetheart, we aren't paying him for nothing. He was assigned a task and he's going to complete it.", he tells you. "He can't do it because he will have a breakdown probably from you torturing him", you say very angrily now. "Listen, I'm pretty sure you don't have any degrees in psychology so he's going to do his job", he tells you laughing. "As a matter of fact, I do have a degree. I have a master's in psychology and I'm a registered therapist.", You tell him triumphantly. "Well he's still going to do his job", the manager says upset. "If you aren't going to allow him to take a break then I'll do it for him", you say fiercely. "Knock yourself out", the manager says before turning around and going back into whatever hole he crawled out of. You walk back to where the employee was sitting and take the sheets he had in his hand. Before you start walking around you check to make sure he's ok and won't have a mental breakdown. "I'm ok. You don't have to do this", he says looking up. "It's no big deal. You're clearly stressed so I'll finish it for you.", you say reassuring him. "Thanks, stranger", he says looking down. "Don't worry about it", you say patting his shoulder.

After finishing, you return to him and give him the spares and a hundred dollar bill. "It's not much but I hope you have a good day", you say to him. He looks up at you, hugs you crying, and runs off to his post. Just then, a voice comes on through the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're happy to inform you that the flights from 8 am to 10 am can land and will accept the original passengers", the voice says. Cheering fills the room. "My flight is in half an hour", you hear someone say. "My flight has already passed", someone else said. You feel lucky that you arrived 2 hours early and that there was still an hour until your flight arrived. You go over, pick up your suitcase, and head to gate 14. You go through security and wait until your flight is called.

You're happy you didn't waste your money on first class and when it's called, you go and find your seat. It's honestly not much different than coach. The flight attendant approaches you and asks if you would like anything to eat and you refuse. The food is terrible on planes. "Ladies and gentlemen there will be some turbulence, please buckle your seatbelts," the pilot says. You buckle your seatbelt and start to think about the original cancelation of the flights. "Why would they cancel the flights if there wasn't any bad weather?", you wonder to yourself. All of a sudden you hear screams coming from the coach section. "Is there a hijacker? Someone dying? What's going on?", you ask yourself. "We have lost control of the plane. Everyone, please reach under your seats and gra-", the voice cut off as a gunshot was heard. Everyone was panicking now. "One. Two Three Four", an unfamiliar voice said. And then the plane went down.

"There were only 2 survivors. Flight 1347 was hijacked earlier today. There's some speculation that the hijacker was none other than the co-pilot. The only 2 survivors are in critical condition", you hear the reporter say. Slowly you crawl out of the rubble. The cameraman notices you and points you out to the crew. "Is there another survivor?", the reporter asks running toward you. You try standing up but the pain in your leg is too much. "Broken", you think to yourself. "Let's get them on a stretcher", you hear someone say before passing out.