I was sitting in a seat, a simple lap belt over me, I didn't know what this was, but I knew this was a memory, not one of mine, one of Ayla's.  there is a window to my right, I look out, and see a metal boom, and I look below it, there are lights, some solid, most white, or a shade of white.  but there was a lot of red.  all of the red lights were moving.

Those are people!  I thought to myself.  I wanted to look around more, but this was a memory, I could only see what Ayla saw, so I tried to think about all the things I needed to remember.  her eyes moved.  she looked into a mirror.

A seven year old's face stared back at me.  beautiful blue eyes, and strawberry blond hair.  she wore a yellow dress with purple dots all over it, and black shiny shoes.  Ayla stared at them for a while, I could barely see her face in the mirror, she was content, happy even.

A light flashed outside the window, and a man with a strange looking uniform walked by and quickly pulled a shade over the window.

"You don't need to see out there little one."  he said with a smile.  "we are coming into some turbulence, its nothing to be afraid of, but its going to be rough for a few minutes, okay.  show me how much of a big girl you can be, and try to hold in your feelings." 

I felt myself, Ayla, nod at his words.  her little hands grabbed the belt on the waist and pulled tighter.  The man sat down in a seat, buckled himself in, and grabbed a little black thing off the wall. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign, we are coming into some rough weather over ******* and we will be arriving at our destination just outside of the hour.  Please avoid moving around the cabin."

Damn her memories not keeping names.  we sat there for a few minutes, Ayla raised the blind on the window a little bit, and water droplets were sliding sideways across the window.  Wait, that's rain!  how fast is this thing moving to make rain look like its going sideways, and freeze on the boom outside the window.  A section of the boom moved and the ice broke free, but even I'm freaking out, 

The room we were in seemed to shake violently, and it felt like we fell, and then were pushed back up, and fell again.  my eyes didn't leave the boom outside the window, each time we fell, it shook, and moved, and then it started to twist.  it seemed to go on for a while, and I could no longer see the lights outside the window, once in a while, some would appear through the rain, but most were dark now.

The lights flickered inside the cabin, and then all of them went out.  Ayla's sight looked at the seat the man sat in before, he was still there, a device held to the side of his head.  he was talking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying, and then he turned ghostly pale.  and all the noise in the room stopped.

Ayla looked out the window just in time for me to witness a huge part of the boom twisting back and falling away from us, taking part of the boom with it.  I felt the fear well up inside her, I wanted to scream, although I don't know why, but even through her memory, I knew that what I had just seen was really bad.  the cabin rolled and I felt like I was lower than the person to my left. 

I could see lights now, they were bright, and flashing in sequence.  for some reason I knew this is where we were supposed to be, all the red and white lights were lined up, but I knew I shouldn't be seeing them out of this window.  I heard the sound of metal tearing again, this time it was from the other side of the room.  the lights weren't in my window now, and I felt a little better.

I heard the man in the little chair yell out.  "Put your head between your knees!  Brace for impact, Brace for impact!"  I felt my body contort, and my arms go against the seat in front of me.  I pushed as hard as I could with my elbows.  I heard the scraping of metal against a grinder, and then it felt like my whole body was slammed into the seatback. 

The window next to me broke, and I felt the room rolling, it was too fast to count.  I glanced to my right, and could no longer see a wall there.  the whole room broke up, and my little section, my seat, and the seat I was holding on to, separated from the rest of the room.  I looked toward it, while I was in this metal piece sliding.  it looked like a metal cigar, even the way the fire seemed to just smolder on the back.

Then there was a bright light, and the scene changed.  I was still a seven year old girl, but now I couldn't feel my legs.  my hands were touching two large wheels, and I was tugging on one, rocking myself back and forth, while listening to people drone on in front of me.  a wooden hammer hitting the man's desk in the center brought me out of my boredom, and blank thoughts.

"Award to ********* ****** in the amount of 5% of the *********** Airline's annual income for the remainder of her natural life, and the CEOs personal responsibility of the, now, orphaned girl's well being."  a man at the desk next to me started to stand, and the man at the desk started talking again.  "Her father was the head Steward on that flight, and her mother was the pilot, the shoddy maintenance was the cause of the catastrophe, and the loss of 375 lives, of which she is the only survivor.  your choices made her an orphan, and now, you will make sure she is cared for, for the remainder of her days.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I woke up in a cold sweat, and sat upright in my bed.  I saw glimpses of these events when I touched her spirit, but I never thought of something like this.  and what did the person mean by flight.  was that building, in the air?  I've only ever seen the gnomish hovercraft in the air, and they all use some type of a gas to make themselves light.  this structure didn't look like it had any of that, or even a way to use it.

I went to the restroom, and walked back next to my bed, picked up my leg, and plopped myself back into bed, my face landing on my pillow, I felt myself drift off to sleep again.

I opened my eyes, and sat up in bed.  I looked into a mirror, and knew I was in another one of Ayla's memories.  she had the same strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes, but they didn't seem naïve anymore, they were cold and analytical, much like the Ayla I knew today, she looked to be about the age I am now.  I used my arms to push myself over to the side of my bed.  the chair wasn't there, for some reason I knew it should have been.  A cursory look around the room, and I found it next to the door to the bathroom.

I rolled myself onto the floor, and started pulling myself toward the bathroom.  I climbed onto the porcelain throne, and relived myself, took my nightgown, and small clothes off, and climbed into the tub, filled it while I was in it, and took a bath, washed my hair, and then drained the tub, then worked my way back into the room with a towel holding my wet hair, and one around me.

My chair was outside the narrow door, and I pulled myself up into it, then rolled around to gather what I would need for the day, then got dressed.  as I was finishing, the caretaker came in, and finished with my hair, putting it up in a tight bun, not once saying a word to me.  for some reason I knew this was the normal thing for Ayla to go through.

As I was leaving the house, the caretaker finally said something to her.  "Don't forget you have a date with your boyfriend tonight.  You best be back on time."  although the caretaker sounded excited, Ayla only felt dread, as though the boyfriend was neither her choice or idea.

I blinked, and the sun was down.  I knew it was the same day though.  A handsome man, a little younger than Ayla was pushing the wheel chair.  he picked her up, and put her in the passenger side of a fast looking vehicle, with only two seats.  he set her wheelchair back on the curb, and got in.  Ayla didn't say anything, as though this was normal.  the car didn't look like it had any place to put it anyway.  what kind of guy would take a paraplegic out in a car without enough room for her wheel chair.

"I have a surprise for you tonight.  I think you will really like it; I know I will."  the boy said.

"I highly doubt I will enjoy anything you, or your father have planned."  it was the first words I had heard Ayla speak in the memories I had been watching the last two nights.  I rode in the car for what seemed like an hour, and he finally stopped in a flat area, there were no lights nearby.

"So, do you know where you are at?"  he asked.

"Yes, dipshit.  I'm in the same spot I lost use of my legs, Runway 27 at your daddy's airport."  I felt her say.

"Wrong.  you are at the spot you should have died ten years ago.  and tonight, I'm going to make sure it really happens."  before Ayla could do or say anything, I felt a heavy pressure on the side of her head, and then nothing.  when she came to, she was bound and gagged, a rope holding her body above a wood chipper.

"I wanted to make sure you were awake for this.  I wanted to know if it was true you couldn't move your legs.   Now, we will both find out."  the boy's voice was filled with malice, as I heard the machine below me turn on, and gain speed.  when my toes were hit by the fast spinning blades, I wanted to black out, but I couldn't.  I felt everything again.  heard everything again, and I couldn't wake up.  finally the light that was Ayla, before I knew her, faded.  but not before the chipper had taken its portion, and I woke up.

The light was on in my room, Ayla, Papa, Carol, Andy, and Lilly were in my room.  Ayla was kneeled next to my bed, and Lilly kept petting my hand, I guess trying to sooth me.

"Goodness girl, you woke up the whole house with your screaming.  I've never heard you like that before.  What has you so afraid?"  Papa asked me.

"Papa, some things aren't mine to tell.  I'm okay now.  just go back to sleep."  I said.

"Can't do that, Booger, its time to get to work again."  Papa said with a cheeky grin.