Writer showcase #4
Lisa Petty
Links
Prologue:
"Look at that airplane! It's doing tricks in the
sky," Daddy hollered,
pointing
upward. The 6'5" Marine could easily become as
excited as a young boy.
I cupped my tiny hands around my eyes like binoculars to
shield them from
the brightness of the afternoon sun, and followed my
father's finger
towards an object in the blue sky.
"Uh oh..wait. It's not doing tricks." The plane
began doing spirals,
turning
wing over wing as it plummeted downward. "Oh man,
he's in trouble," Daddy
said with concern. "Oh my God, it's going to
crash!"
A loud humming sound, descending in a chromatic scale,
seemed to scream at
us just before theabrupt explosion. The vibration of the
ground and the
gigantic,
black, mushroom cloud that seemed to engulf the sun was
forever etched in
my memory.
"The pilot died, didn't he Daddy?" I
whimpered. He picked me up and held
me as I cried on his massive shoulder.
"No, no honey, the pilot parachuted out of the plane
before it crashed.
He's
fine, really," he whispered softly, trying to calm
me. But a five year old
is not so easily fooled.
" I didn't see a parachute, Daddy. Are you
sure?”
"I'm sure Emily, I'm sure,” he maintained, but
I could sense the
uncertainty
in his voice. His large, gentle hands were trembling. He
wasn't sure at
all.
After an hour or so had passed, my father just had to see
the crash site,
so he piled the family into the car for a drive.
There were tall trees everywhere in Charlotte, so Daddy
and I had not been
able tosee the plane actually hit the ground. It had
crashed in a baseball
field
about 3/4 of a mile off of the main road through
town. A crater-like hole
and
a mound of black dirt pressed halfway up the backstop. We
could see pieces
of burned and twisted metal scattered over the field. In
silence, we sat
there in the car just staring.
Later that evening, while my father was taking a shower
and my mother was
feeding my baby brother in his high chair, I happened to
hear the news on
the television set mention the crash. Quietly, I snuck
into the living
room.
"A cargo plane crashed today near a residential area
in Charlotte,” the
news anchor read. "Both the pilot and co-pilot were
killed in the crash.
Sacrificing
their own lives by staying on the plane and steering it
to a baseball
field,
they narrowly avoided a residential neighborhood.
Investigations are
ongoing,
and no cause for the crash has been determined as of
yet."
My heart sank. I held back the tears until I made it to
my bedroom. Two
people
had died. They hadn’t parachuted out as her Daddy
had promised.
Tears poured from my eyes like water from a faucet. I
opened the closet
door
and pushed my way through the clothes to the back corner.
Closing the door,
I slid slowly down the wall to the floor and began to
sob.
That night, I had a difficult time falling asleep.
Finally I drifted off
only
to dream I was a passenger in a small plane. To my left
was the pilot;
two small children were sleeping in the back. Suddenly
the plane began to
shudder violently. It was as though a giant hand was
reaching up from the
earth to pull the plane
from the sky. I tried to hold on, but the plane was
shaking from side to
side. The children awoke in a fright, screaming. The
gauges were spinning
and lights were flashing wildly. The pilot frantically
grabbed the radio.
"Mayday, mayday, This is F, one, four, four, niner!
We have an emergency!
We're going down! coordinates are..."
I tossed and turned in my bed. Hundreds of miles away in
Arizona, a private
plane crashed in the desert, killing a family of four.
CHAPTER ONE
She fumbled through the airline envelope looking for her
boarding pass. The
line was backing up behind her so the flight attendant
smiled and took
the entire envelope of papers from her.
“Here we go,” she said pulling out the boarding
pass. Flashing
a red lipstick smile, she handed the woman the rest of
her paperwork.
“Enjoy your
flight. And thank you for flying Conquest Airlines.”
“Conquest? Did you say Conquest Airlines? I’m
not flying Conquest,
this plane’s going to crash,” she said with
certainty, snatching back her
boarding pass and walking away from the boarding gate.
*********************
It was the perfect night to sleep so deeply. The sliding
glass door was
ajar, and a cool summer breeze was whisking the aroma of
a fresh rain
shower
throughout the bedroom. The drapes were softly dancing
and waving. Emily
was covered only by a freshly washed sheet, and Bill was
snoring softly
beside her. But even in her peaceful slumber, she was
aware of the rain,
gently pounding on the back patio.
Suddenly, the water began to beat down harder and harder
in much larger
drops. It splashed in on the ceramic tile and began to
puddle. The breeze
picked
up, sending the white, sheer curtains flailing in all
directions. They
tipped over the bed table, knocking the last sip of wine
to the floor. Two
crystal goblets shattered into a thousand slivers.
Bill seemed oblivious, but Emily leaped to her knees at
the harsh
awakening. She tried to wipe the sleep from her emerald
eyes, and still in
a daze, made her way to the sliding glass door. The rain
pounded her, as
the wind wrapped her saturated nightgown tightly around
her slender body.
She fought the curtains and her drenched auburn hair as
she managed to get
the door closed. Then, she heard it--- the faint hum of
an airplane engine
in the distance. Fear like no other over took her.
It was coming.
“You’re being ridiculous,” she whispered
to herself. It didn’t help.
Petrified, she quickly crawled across the tile floor and
sat against the
wall adjacent to her bed. Pulling her knees to her chin,
and holding
herself in a ball, she began to rock back and forth. The
engine hum was
getting louder and closer. Louder. Closer. Louder.
Closer.
“Keep going..... Don’t stop here, just keep
going. .....Oh, God, it’s
getting so loud, it’s going to crash on me, I know
it..... Oh God!”
The force of the impact blew out all of the windows in
the house.
Emily braced herself against the wall as glass, fire, and
household
items flew passed her from the kitchen, through the
bedroom and out of the
area where the sliding glass door used to be. She could
see the neighbors
houses,
outside in the cul de sac, burning. The roof of her car
was engulfed in
flames and
metal and debris were on fire all over the street.
Emily smelled the
unmistakable vestige of burning flesh. She felt nauseous.
"Bill!! Bill!! GET UP! How can you sleep through
this!!!Get up!"
She shook him, practically rolling him off of the bed.
“What? What? I’m up, I’m up,” he said
in a start. Emily didn't answer.
“What?” he asked again.
Disoriented, Emily looked around the room as her sleepy
eyes
tried to focus. The rain was splattering lightly on the
tile and the drapes
were moving softly. Tiny droplets of water raced each
other to the bottom
of the glass door.
“Em, you okay?” Sensing her confusion,
Bill gently rubbed the back of his
hand across her cheek. She was soaking wet--sweat.
“I don’t....I guess......yeah, I’m
okay.”
“Bad dream?” he asked.
“Yeah, um.. I guess so.”
“Come here,” he said reaching out for her.
Emily slipped back under the sheet and cuddled up next to
his warm body.
She knew he was whispering some sort of words of comfort,
but she couldn’t
hear him. Her thoughts were on her dream. This type
of dream had been
reoccurring since her childhood. Although it
had yet to manifest itself,
Emily knew it would. She knew how she would leave this
earth. She didn’t
know when, but she knew how-- A plane crash; But not a
plane she would be
on-- A plane she would be under.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Morning, Mrs. London,” he said as he rolled
over and kissed her forehead.
“Oh,” she uttered lazily as she stretched her
arms and legs and
tried to focus her sleepy eyes. “Morning.” She
kissed him gently
and they wrapped their arms around each other embracing.
“Ew, morning breath.”
“Me too,” he chuckled. “Race you for the
toothpaste?”
As he bounded from the bed and dashed into the bathroom,
she giggled and
bundled up all the covers and pillows around her, getting
even more cozy.
“Fooled ya, Bill,” she called out. He poked his
head out of the
bathroom door.
“Yewel get yowers, Emmy,” he said with his
toothbrush in his
mouth. “An ven yew do, yewl be soowie!”
Tossing the toothbrush into the sink, he leaped to the
edge of the bed,
grabbing
up all the ends of the blankets and pulling them off.
“Nooooooooo” she laughed, holding on to a last
little piece of
the corner with all her might. She was quickly losing
this tug of war
match.
“It’s cold, it’s cold! Don’t Bill--
you stop that right now! Don’t!”
But he didn’t stop until all the covers were off.
She sat
defeated, but grinning in the middle of the bare bed,
naked.
“Now, cung to pahpah!” he said playfully.
“Ahhhh!” she laughed hysterically as he
slobbered foamy toothpaste
all over her body. Just then, the phone rang, bringing
their playfulness
to an abrupt halt.
“Must be someone who doesn’t know we’re
newlyweds,” Emily
said with a scowl.
The phone rang again. “Let it ring,” she
begged.
“I can’t, Em. It might be important.” He
quickly swallowed what
was left in his mouth, making an repulsive
face.“Hello? Yeah... oh, hi
John, what’s up?
He covered the
mouthpiece with his palm. “It’s John.”
“It’s John,” she said turning up her nose
and mocking him
under her breath. John England; Bill’s business
partner in London-England
Investigations Inc. From Emily’s point of view, he
was incapable of leaving
Bill alone
for ten minutes without concocting some excuse to
monopolize his time. She
wasn’t sure if she liked him or not. He was so
sarcastic most the time. She
certainly didn’t appreciate his work interruptions,
but she figured they
didn’t get to be the top investigations firm in the
country with idle time
on their hands. Wiping most of the
peppermint blobs from her face with a bed sheet, she
slunk into the
bathroom,
shoving the door closed. As she sat down on the john, she
giggled to
herself
appreciating the fact that John and the toilet shared the
same name. She
could still hear Bill on the phone:
“Alright, see if Grace can get me on the next flight
out tomorrow.Conquest
is usually good about making quick, reservations.”
“NOOOO!” Emily screamed, jumping up from the
commode, and barreling out
of the bathroom. “Not Conquest!”
“Um, John, ....I, uh, I’ll call you right
back.”
Emily stood before him with such pleading, green eyes.
She was quite
beautiful,
even though her wavy, waist-long , strawberry-blonde hair
had yet to be
combed.
Bill was, as usual, enchanted.
“Is there something you’d like to share with
your new, not to mention
gorgeous and sexy husband? I know you can’t stand
the thought of me leaving
you, my darling bride, but it’s really an
emergency.”
Emily went back to the bathroom and began putting
toothpaste on her
toothbrush.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what’s
wrong?” Bill called to her.
“There’s not too much to tell,” she began
leaning over the sink. Tears
began welling up in her eyes as she stared at herself in
the mirror. “I
dreamt I was standing line to board a plane. A stewardess
took
my boarding pass and thanked me for flying Conquest. I
took back the
boarding
pass and told her I wasn’t flying that airline
because it was going
to crash. That’s it.”;
“Oh,”Bill said chuckling. “A dream? This
is about a dream? Honey, a dream
is just a dream, sweetheart. Why, it’s nothing to
get all upset about. It’s
just a crazy, nonsense...your brain is working
overtime.”
She spun around as if to attack him, but suddenly calmed
herself and said
in a sedated tone.”If you love me, you won’t
fly on Conquest Airlines
for awhile.”
Bill looked at her as though she had asked for the moon.
“You can’t
be serious, Emily...really?”
“Please, Bill.” She ran to him wrapping herself
around him tightly.
“Please......”
Bill let out a long drawn out sigh.
“This is ridiculous.”
Then he felt her warm tears on his back.
He couldn’t believe how strongly she was reacting to
this.
“Okay, my love, you win.....So, how do you suggest I
get to Chicago in time
to save the Murchison
account?”
Emily let out a huge giggle of relief and wiped the tears
from her eyes.
“Bus, train, car, boat, hot air balloon, bicycle,
skateboard? Or,
here’s a thought: another airline perhaps?” she
sniffled. “No,
wait, I know: You’re a successful businessman.
I’ll make you a
business proposition that you can’t possibly
refuse.”
“I’m listening,” he responded
suspiciously.
“You promise to for-go your ride on Conquest, and
I’ll give you
the best ride of your life.” She held her arms
and wriggled around
like a belly dancer.
Bill couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a
shrewd business woman,
Mrs. London. I have no choice but to accept your terms
and conditions.”
He didn’t even think about returning John’s
call for a couple of hours.
CHAPTER TWO
" Tower, this is Conquest Airlines flight 489
requesting clearance for
take-off."
"Roger, flight 489, you're cleared for takeoff on
runway 6 South. Have a
nice one."
"Thank you tower, we'll certainly give it our best.
This is 489 out.”
The Captain eased the throttle forward, and checked his
instruments.
“I hope this is an uneventful run, Rich. I had one
helluva night last
night."
"Saw Dottie again?”
“Yeah, and my wife saw Dottie, too. On top of me!
“Ah hah hah, well, Steve, what can I tell ya? You
know it was bound
tohappen... Wait a minute.....what the hell is
that?"
“Jesus Christ, Rich, did you feel that? What the
hell is...”
"Number 3 engine is on fire!!! Oh shit!!!Abort,
ABORT!........”
****************************
Emily streaked to the phone leaving water droplets
everywhere.
“Hello?”
“Emmy, turn on channel nine, quick!” her mom
yelled in her wet
ear.
“Okay, hold on, mom. You got me out of the
shower.”
She put the phone down on the unmade bed and picked up
the remote from the
floor.
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to
bring you this special
report. Here now is Tom Sawyer in Washington."
"Conquest Airlines Flight 489 has crashed on
take-off at the Dallas-Fort
Worth airport. One hundred and thirty-four people were
onboard the
aircraft.
Fifty-four are confirmed dead, and an unknown number of
injured have been
taken to local hospitals. We go now to Mike McLean on the
scene in Dallas,
Mike?"
"Yes Tom. As you can see behind me this is one heck
of a disaster..."
Emily’s eyes welled up.
“Emmy, Emmy, are you there?” she heard in a
little chipmunk voice.
Picking up the phone, she was still in somewhat of a
trance, fixated on the
t.v.
“Yeah, mom?”
“Didn’t you dream about a Conquest Airlines
crash about a month
ago?
“Yeah mom, I did. Hey can I watch this and
I’ll call you back in
a bit?”
“Sure. I thought you might want to.”
“Thanks, mom. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Emily pushed the reset button and dialed Bill’s
office.
“Grace, he didn’t go on Conquest did he?”
“No ma’am. He could have. He almost did, but he
changed his mind
at the last minute. Said something about a silly, dumb
promise. I got him
out on American.”
Emily let out an incredibly long sigh. “Thank
God,” she whispered.
“Mrs. London, is everything alright?”
“Everything’s great. Well, not great. I
don’t know what it
is. A Conquest airplane just crashed on the runway in
Dallas. There’s
a lot of injuries and some deaths. They just showed it on
television.
“Oh, God,” Grace said in a shaky voice.
“John, Mr. England----
He went out on Conquest. He told Bill they could get
there two hours sooner
if they flew Conquest. Bill reluctantly refused, but John
went ahead.”
“Oh...well....Grace, there are plenty of Conquest
flights. I’m
sure John is already in Chicago. Don’t worry.”
But Emily WAS worried.
She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“He had a layover in Dallas, Mrs. London. I’ve
got to find
out. I’ll call you if I hear anything.”
“Okay, Grace. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.
Thanks.”
Call waiting beeped. Emily clicked over.
“Hello?”
“Hi gorgeous.”
“Bill, where are you?”
“At the airport. I just wanted to tell you I love
you.”
“Honey, I love you too,” she said with a
urgency. “ Listen. A Conquest
Airlines plane crashed a
few moments ago in Dallas”
“What? Oh God, that’s awful honey, it’s
your dream. Don’t
worry, I’m not flying Conque...Oh Jesus!” Bill
glanced down at
his wristwatch. “John, he, he...Damn it, he should
be in Dallas right
now.”
“I know Bill, I called Grace. She’s going to
see what she can find
out.”
“Em, I can’t leave now. I’ve got to find
out. I’m going
back to the office. I’ll call you from there.”
“I love you, Bill.”
Emily hung up the phone. She shrunk to the floor like a
little girl and
curled
up in a ball.
“Why?” she thought. “ If I’m going to
have these damn
dreams, why can’t I get enough information to DO
something. I hate this.
I just hate it.”
This page is for writers. It is a place for writer's to get help with writing, publishing, and much more.
Undergraduate Writing Center University of Texas
Apostrophes
One of the greatest problems facing humanity today is the emergence of the rogue apostrophe. A rogue apostrophe is an apostrophe (one of these: ') that appears when it doesn't belong. Where do you use apostrophes? Apostrophes are used for two main reasons in English.
1. An apostrophe replaces a missing letter or letters. For example, the apostrophe in "don't" takes the place of the missing "o" in "do not." Words like "don't," "isn't," and "I'll" are called contractions.
2. Apostrophes are also used to show ownership. They make words possessive. For example, the phrase "Carl's dog" means "the dog belonging to Carl."
How to make a word possessive depends on whether the word is singular or plural. singular words: add 's. Carl's dog, the woman's pencil, Bevo's food
Note: Even if a singular word ends with an s, add 's to the end to show possession: Charles's book
plural words: o if the plural word ends with s, add ' (apostrophe alone): the teachers' lounge, the Andersons ' apartment if the plural word does not end with s, add 's: the children's cat.Common places where rogue apostrophes appear:
1. Sometimes people put apostrophes into words that end with s.
For example, often writers add apostrophes to plural words that are not possessive.
incorrect: The bug's sing and dance on the lawn.
correct: The bugs sing and dance on the lawn.Just because a word ends with an s does not mean it needs an apostrophe. Make sure that you only use apostrophes to show possession and in contractions.
2 . Some words always cause apostrophe trouble. This group includes his, hers, its, and theirs. These words are called possessive pronouns; they are pronouns with possession built into them already, so they do not need apostrophes.
incorrect: The dog plays with it's toy.
correct: The dog plays with its toy.
incorrect: The baby is their's.
correct: The baby is theirs.
This is a difficult thing to remember; many writers make apostrophe mistakes like these in freewriting and first drafts. It is important to check your apostrophes before turning in a paper. Especially tricky words: *it's/its* These two words mean different things.
It's, with the apostrophe, is a contraction. It means "it is," and the apostrophe stands for the missing "i."
Its, without the apostrophe, is a possessive pronoun. For example, in "The bird fell out of its nest," its means "the bird's."
If you don't know which to use, try substituting "it is" in the place of it's/its. If you can use "it is", then it's is the right choice. Otherwise, use its.
incorrect: The dog plays with it is toy.
correct: The dog plays with its toy.*who's/whose*This pair is similar to it's/its. Who's, with an apostrophe, means "who is." ex: My friend John, who's a great dancer, is coming to the party.
Whose, without an apostrophe, is a possessive pronoun. ex: My friend John, whose mother is a doctor, is studying medicine. In the sentence above, whose refers to John; John's mother is a doctor. If you are unsure about which to use, substitute "who is" for who's/whose. If "who is" fits, use who's; if not, use whose.
incorrect: My friend John, who is mother is a doctor, is studying medicine.
correct: My friend John, whose mother is a doctor, is studying medicine.