An airplane flew through a cloudless sky over fields and pastures.

Inside the cabin, Ourias was seated closest to the aisle, with one of his legs pulled up into his seat. He rested his head against his knee, cradled in his arm. His jacket was pulled around his shoulders, the sleeves hanging by his sides. He was sleeping.

Next to him, a woman sat by the window, reading a book; and a young boy sat in between them, playing with an arrangement of toys.

The boy lifted a miniature horse, turning in his chair as he made it gallop over the back of his seat. The plane rumbled, and the boy grabbed the armrest between him and Ourias to steady himself.

When the plane steadied, the boy shifted, grabbing Ourias' arm as he twisted around to sit on his knees.

Ourias was suddenly sitting in the backseat of a car, awake. Next to him was the young boy, holding a stuffed horse in his arms as he looked out the window.

The woman sat in the passenger seat, speaking to the faceless man in the driver's seat.

The boy sat up quickly, pointing out the window as he looked back at the woman with a wide smile. "Mom, look! There are fat horses outside!"

The woman turned to look at the window before smiling back at the boy. "That's a really good guess, sweetie, but those are cows."

"What are cows?"

The woman was about to answer but Ourias fell backwards through the seat, plummeting through the a sky blue void before landing in the grass yard behind a suburban home.

The faceless man was there again, sitting on the porch while the boy ran around the yard with a shadow in the vague shape of a dog. The boy threw the ball, and cackled as the creature bounded through the grass after it.

Ourias pushed himself up just as the dog ran through his chest, as though Ourias wasn't solid.

Ourias stumbled back to his feet, just barely regaining his balance before the ground beneath him vanished and, again, he fell.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

This time Ourias managed to catch himself, climbing to the feet of an stone angel that stood over a grave.

The boy was there again, holding the woman's hand as she set a bouquet in front of a grave further away.

Ourias suddenly jerked his arm away from the boy, nearly falling out of his seat with a strangled gasp.

The boy stared at him, holding his own hand closer to him. The woman stopped reading, turning to look at Ourias. "Are you alright?"

Ourias was nodding before he even spoke. "Yeah," He stood up, "yeah, I'm good. Just, you know," Ourias gestured down the aisle. "Yeah." He hurried away, towards the restroom at the back of the cabin.

He pulled his jacket closer as he went, pushing his arms through the sleeves.

And the bathroom was occupied.

Ourias dropped his head against the wall across from the bathroom, covering his face with a sigh. A nearby flight attendant glanced over at him from where they were arranging a cart.

They stopped, approaching him slowly. "Sir?"

When Ourias didn't answer, they reached out to touch his shoulder, and he jerked away from the contact, pulling at the hem of his jacket.

"Sorry," The attendant pulled their hand back. "Is everything alright?"

Ourias nodded, gesturing towards the bathroom, "Just waiting." His smile was thin.

"Are you sure that's it? You seem anxious. I can get you some water."

Ourias opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again to speak. "...Water would be nice."

The flight attendant smiled, walking back to their cart. They picked up a water bottle, walking back and offering it to Ourias.

Ourias took it carefully, without touching their hand.

The attendant glanced around, before gesturing behind them. "You can hang out back here for a few minutes if you think it'll help." They shrugged. "I used to get really anxious when I first started flying, too."

Ourias nodded, yet again, looking down at the bottle in his hands. "Thank you."

"Of course." They took their cart, rolling it out into the cabin.

Characters:

Ourias:

6'3", 200lbs. A tall Greek man with unkempt curly hair and vitiligo concentrated around his hands and eyes. Has a moth tattoo with the moon phases and two thin bands on his forearm, and a dragonfly down his back(wings over his shoulder blades). Fashion is comfortable, leaning towards punk or goth.