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Trudy, heart in throat, only nodded.
The woman patted her hand. “Just lean back. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. In with the serenity, out with the fear—slowly.”
Trudy did as the woman told her, partly as a way to thank her for her kindness to a stranger and partly because she hoped the advice would work.
And it did—to a point. She kept her eyes closed, deep breathing, until there was an announcement that they’d reached cruising altitude, whatever the hell that meant. Her breath came a little easier, but her heart continued to pound at an accelerated rate. She turned to look at her savior. “Thanks for that. I probably would have totally lost it if it weren’t for you.” Trudy managed a smile.
The woman smiled back. “It’s okay, sweetie. It wasn’t that long ago I was in your shoes.” She chuckled. “Didn’t get on a plane until I was sixty-two. That’s when my son got the job in Chicago, at Leo Burnett. That’s a big ad agency. He’s a brilliant designer and Pittsburgh just got too small for him.” She took out a roll of Lifesavers and offered one to Trudy. “I’m Lizzie, by the way.”
Trudy took a Lifesaver and popped it into her mouth. “Trudy. I’m going to see my son, too.”
“This your first trip to Chicago?”
Trudy nodded. They continued to chat about where their sons lived in the city, about what Trudy should see while she was there, about the ages of their sons and their marriages. Lizzie was delighted to learn that Sam had a husband. Her son, Ryan, did too. Both couples had dogs.
Lizzie, thankfully, never asked about the reason Trudy was making the trip. Trudy supposed she simply assumed she missed her son and wanted to see him, as Lizzie herself did.
Toward the last twenty minutes or so of the flight, Trudy actually experienced her body letting go of tension, not completely, but the stress from the flight markedly abated. She closed her eyes for what she thought would be a moment.
She’s in the woods and Jeb tramps through the soft padding of fallen leaves and dirt ahead of her. The moon shines down, giving a sort of silver glow to everything, as if these moments were filmed in black and white by some old-time director from the 1940s.
“Jeb, honey, wait up!” Trudy calls in what she thinks of as a loud voice, a shout in the empty darkness. But what comes out is just above a whisper, barely audible to her own ears.
Jeb obviously doesn’t hear. He quickens his pace.
And then Trudy opens her mouth to scream, yet no sound emerges.
Hands emerge from the shadows, from behind the barks of trees lining the path. They snatch Jeb away, right off his feet. There one moment and gone the next…
Trudy stops in her tracks, stunned and terrified. She jumps at the boom of a firework in the distance. It’s like thunder.
She waits, hoping Jeb will return. Hoping something will happen so she can intervene and save him from what she knows will be decades of missing-in-action.
But he never does.
And as Trudy stands, still as a statue, the sky lightens from dark blue, to gray, to orange, until finally—full daylight.
She can’t move.
At last someonedoesemerge from the woods. But it’s not Jeb.
It’s Chris Sgro. He’s smiling. In his hands, he holds out a honeydew melon. But there’s a knife stuck in it and blood seeps from the ‘wound.’
Trudy screams and screams.
The impact of landing jolted her awake all at once. She struggled to get herself in a more upright position, disoriented and a little nauseated. The sky outside was milky white.
Lizzie looked at her with a little fear, but more concern. “Bad dream, hon?”
Trudy sighed, grateful to be back in reality, even if it was on a plane. “Yes. A doozie.” She wasn’t about to go into detail.
“You screamed a bit there. A weird moan, kinda muffled, but alarming all the same.” Lizzy patted her hand. “You’re back amongst the living now—and safe.”
Trudy wished that were true. Oh, how she wished it.
The plane taxied toward the gate, and at last, they stopped. There was an announcement about the weather in Chicago and how passengers could now take their phones out of airplane mode and use them. Trudy did so, shooting Sam a quick text—I’m here!
Her only thought:soon, I’ll be reunited with Sam. The thought was both welcome and terrifying. She wished there was a happier reason for her travel. Could she be the mother she wanted to be? The one who could make everything all right?
