AM | DREAMING?
LUKE
Then, the sharp ding of the oxygen masks deployed, dropping from the panel above with a mechanical clatter.
My eyes widened, and my hands went clammy as | reached up to grab the mask hanging in front of me. My
fingers fumbled with it, the cold plastic foreign against my skin. | took a deep breath, feeling the rubber band
stretch tight against my face.
Beside me, Josh stared in shock, his face pale, the panic plain in his eyes. "This... can't be good," he stammered,
voice breaking for the first time. | signaled for him to get the fucking mask on and watched as he fumbled with
the straps.
Before | could respond, a flight attendant rushed down the aisle, clutching at the overhead compartments as the
jet dipped again, this tharder, jostling us in our seats. The alarms blared-
a frantic, piercing noise that cut through the cabin like a knife. Passengers around us started murmuring, their
voices trembling with fear, their wide eyes mirroring the terror that | felt pulsing in my chest.
| closed my eyes, fighting against the waves of panic and trying to steady my breathing. Images flashed through
my mind in a chaotic swirl-my family, the locker room, the early morning sun on the field. But then, one image
rose above all the rest, steady and clear: Jess. | could see her perfectly in my mind, her soft and light laugh
echoing in my ears, drowning out the alarms and the chaos around me. | pictured her curled up besidein
bed, the morning light spilling across her Blonde hair, her hand tracing lazy circles on my chest as she smiled up
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtat me, her eyes bright and full of warmth. It was a those simple, quiet mornings with her, those stolen moments
that were ours alone.
| forced myself to breathe, to focus on that memory of Jess, clinging to it as if it were a lifeline. But then the jet
jolted sharply, my eyes snapping open as we pitched downward, the world tilting in a way that made my
stomach lurch. "Hold on!" |
shouted, my voice cracking with a panic | couldn't hide. Josh's hand shot out, grabbing the armrest between us in
a white-knuckled grip.
The plane groaned as it fought against the wind, the engines straining like they were about to die. The alarms
wailed louder and louder, the din almost unbearable. | gritted
my teeth, clenching the seat so hard my fingers went numb. "It can't end like this," | muttered under my breath,
desperation clawing at my chest. "Not here. Not now... | just got you back..."
All | could think of was Jess, of the future we hadn't even had a chance to build. The thought of never holding her
again, of never telling her just how much she meant to me-
that was a darkness | couldn't bear. And suddenly, in the middle of that chaos, my fears and regrets hitlike a
punch to the gut.
I'd never really told her, not the way she deserved to hear it. Sure, we'd said "I love you" a hundred times, but I'd
never really let her in, never let her see all the parts of myself that | kept guarded. And now, all | could think
about was how much | wanted to give her everythin to see her smile, to hear her
AMTDELAMING?
288 Vouchers
laugh, to just... be with her, fully, completely.
"Jess," | whispered, clutching the mask tighter to my face as if saying her ncould somehow pullthrough
this storm. It was the only thing groundingthe only thing keepingfrom completely losing it.
But then the plane dropped again, a sickening plunge that left my stomach somewhere above us.
My vision blurred, and | could barely make out the panicked faces around me. Josh's hand clenched tighter, and
his breathing was harsh, matching my own. I reached out for a fleeting second, grasping his shoulder as if that
would keep us steady.
And then-silence. An eerie,
suffocating stillness, the kind of quiet
that feels like the world is holdingrits
breath {as barely ware of my own
healtbeat, pounding in my ears like a
f
drum. | don't remember when my
eyes slipped shut, but darkness crept
in, my grip loosened, and my mind
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overwhelming sense of calm.
In that final moment before
everything faded, | felt only the echo
'
of Jess's laughter, soft and mn
comforting, f{jieg thé §pace where
f&arhadbite lived. Her love was my
anchor, a warmth wrapping around
And then, as if in a dream, | felt mys
her love, the one bright thing that
could guidethrough any storm,
And then, there was nothing: Hen
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