Hit the deck
“Ladies and gentlemen, we don’t want to alarm you but if you hear a lound bang please do not be frightened.” Of course, all heads pop up, eyes follow the flight attendant nervously. A set of tweezers in her hand, her gaze focused on a chair in the middle of the plane. Located almost directly above the wint.
She’s on a mission, set on neutralizing the threat in the aircraft. The owner of this threat, however, has no intention on parting with it. The attendant puts on her softest, sweetest smile, for a second hiding the electrician’s tool behind her back. She doesn’t want to scare the target, who is part of a small group.
“Sir, the pilot made it very clear that it is not okay for you to have brought this object unto the plane,” she says. The oldest man grumbles, they walked on without any problem earlier. The plane has taken off already without a problem!
“We know sir,” the attendant continues. “But we don’t even know how you got on with it. And as you can see it is really about to pop because of the pressure.”
“Can’t you store it somewhere until we land?” the man asks, trying to defuse a dificult situation. The owner of the target looks like she’s about to show her true temper. The attendant shakes her head, showing the tweezers.
“That won’t help sir,” she tries once more. “It can explode anywhere. I really have to cut it.”
The surrounding rows of seats put their fingers in their ears, lean away from the three chairs, physically and mentally preparing themselves for the explosion that will most likely happen.
The bang is indeed quite loud, shock shows on faces of people further away who sticks up their alarmed faces. The flight attendant makes a calming gestuer towards them. There is nothing to worry about anymore.
The little girl’s face doesn’t show shock or fear, it shows sadness and anger over the fate of her beautiful – helium filled – balloon. Which can no long er be showed to her friends back home…