God Loves Planes

     Snapping awake, I sat up in my seat, looking around the darkened interior of the plane. I could sense something was wrong, but I was still too asleep to know what. Except for the crying of a baby near the back of the plane everything was silent. I glanced out the window, noticing clouds below us, lightning slashing through the darkness in the distance.
     Rubbing my eyes, I noticed that all the passengers near me were sitting up, clutching at their armrests with fierce intensity. The plane shuddered and dipped before leveling off again, and at this I began to hear the lady next to me whispering.
     "Our Father, who art in Heaven..."
I slowly turned my head to stare at her, her lips moving, the words escaping like a soft breeeze through the trees. Her knuckles were white, her fingers on one hand wrapped tightly around the armrest and the other hand clutching the crucific around her neck. The plane jostled again and she began rubbing the small cross rapidly, her words rising in volume.
     "Hallowed be thy name..."
     Staring across the aisle, I noticed the couple on the other side of the plane holding hands tightly. She turned to him and whispered something. Despite the silence in the plane, I couldn't hear what she said...but I could read her lips well enough. I settled back in my seat, closing my eyes. I had traveled enough by plane to not let a little turbulence disturb me. Behind my closed eyes the face of the lady across the aisle popped into my mind, reminding me of home.
     I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling, the faint morning light bathing the white paint with a bluish haze. The alarm clock was buzzing painfully loud from its place on the night stand and I reached over and slammed it, perhaps a little too hard. Rolling over, I stared at the empty spot in bed next to me. Listening carefully, I could hear Andrea walking around the kitchen, already up and fixing breakfast. With a heavy sigh, I pulled myself from the warmth of the bed and pulled on my jeans and walked out to the kitchen, rubbing my face roughly with my hand, trying to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep.
     "Good morning, sweety," Andrea purred as I walked into the room, wrapping her arms around me and planting a kiss on my cheek. She smelled of perfume and shampoo, a sweet aroma that lifted my spirits as well as my eyebrows.
     "You're certainly happy this morning, dear. What's the special occasion?" I inquired.
     "I'm just enjoying you being here," she replied brightly. I smiled and poured myself a cup of coffee.
     "Oh?" I queried, nonchalant. "I was thinking of calling in dead and letting someone else deal with work."
     "Hon, you really need to go on this trip. You're the only one who knows the material, and I know that you're tired of dealing with it. Remember who always slept alone during your all night research sessions?"
     "Screw 'em. I need a few days to relax."
     "Bob," she said, her tone lowering. I turned and looked at her, her eyes piercing me. "You're going to go to Atlanta and do this presentation, like it or not."
     "Yes, dear." I was beaten and I knew it. "But you mark my words. This trip is going to kill me. I'm getting too old to be flying all over the country. I'm going to put in a request when I get back to be in charge of regional advertising rather than corporate relations."
     "One weekend in Atlanta will not kill you."
     "True. Fine...you got me. I'll go. But," I said, raising a finger at her, "if my trip sucks I'm going to be very pissed."
     She smiled and laughed at me, breaking the stern look on my face. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me again before looking up at my face.
     "Just remember, you can't scream at them no matter how much they ask for it."
     I grinned at her and disentangled myself from her arms, heading to the bedroom to get dressed and ready for work.
     When we had gotten to the airport I kissed her before climbing out of the car. I pulled my briefcase out after me, then grabbed my suitcase with my other hand. I slammed the door shut with my hip and looked through the glass, winking at Andrea. She mouthed the words 'I love you' at me...
     "On earth as it is in Heaven!" cried the lady next to me, snapping me out of my memories of home. The plane dropped, and this time people shrieked. Something didn't sound right, and I strained to hear over the din in the fuselage. Just as I was ready to give up, I heard it. The engines. The turbines seemed to be straining against the whipping wind now. Glancing out my window confirmed my thoughts; we had dropped into the storm.
     "May I have your attention? This is the captain. We are experiencing some mechanical difficulties and will be making an emergency landing in Houston for repairs. Arrangements will be made to get all passengers to their proper destinations as soon as the weather permits. Thank you."
     Mechanical difficulties? So that was the turbines whining like that. Must be a clogged fuel line or something. People began talking nervously to each other, never carrying the conversation further than a seat or two away from each other. The lady next to me began praying silently again.
     "Mechanical difficulties my ass," I heard the man behind me say to anyone within earshot. "The damn engine is out." I looked out my window, straining my neck to look towards the wing. It was too dark to see anything, but I stared anyway with morbid curiousity. I would see it the next time the lightning flashed, of that I was sure. No one ever wants to see that though.
     The lightning flashed again, this time near enough to the plane to cause my hair to stand on end. Sure enough, the engine had a thing trail of smoke emitting from the front of it. In the split second that the sky was illuminated I could see it, like a dark smudge across the white wing, getting erased in the night by the wind. Sighing, I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes again, taking a deep breath.
     I pulled a pen from my breast pocket along with a business card. I pulled down the tray and held the card in place, the plane shaking with the storm. My hands shook, too, though from fear or exhilaration I wasn't sure. The flight attendants started walking down the aisle, consoling women and children, smiling gently at the men. I caught the eye of one of the attendants and saw fear there, hiding behind the facade of bravery that they were paid to display. Looking back at the business card, I hastily scribbled 'Love you, Andie...hope you never get this. Was thinking of you till the end.' I recapped my pen and shoved them both into my breast pocket, patting them gently, reassuring myself that it wouldn't be like that.
     "Hail Mary, full of grace..."
     I turned to the lady next to me.
     "SHUT UP!" I snarled. She looked at me and cringed away, rubbing her cross faster. "God isn't going to save us. The plane is going down and we're going to die if it does. No higher being is going to make the earth open up and create a hole for us if we go hurtling down."
     "God will save us in His loving grace," she whispered, her eyes tearing up.
     "Sure, lady. God loves planes. God protects every craft that goes up. He watches over all of them from takeoff to landing. That's why so many planes have crashed, been hijacked, or exploded. God doesn't give a shit."
     "You're wrong...and you'll be sorry when we make it home alive."
     I glared at her a moment longer, then turned and watched the storm outside. The jostling of the plane seemed to lessen as she started in with her prayer again. I thought again of Andrea, waiting for me at home. I would definitely have to tell her about this. She'd think it was funny that I had a premonition about the plane not making it. Of course, she'd wait until after she was done crying, I hoped. The plane lurched downwards, sending startled screams towards the cockpit.
     "This is it," I whispered. "Most planes with engine troubles in bad storms like this don't make it. Hell, I lived a good life. Bring it on, come what may."
     "Once again, this is your captain," the disembodied voice crackled. "We've begun our descent and should be on the ground in five minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and make sure your trays are in the upright positions and stand by for further instructions from the crew in case of an emergency landing. Thank you, and see you on the ground."
     I snapped the tray in front of me back up and checked my seatbelt. The lady next to me began whispering her prayers and fell silent halfway through it. The entire cabin had fallen into silence once more. I looked out the window, closing my eyes and thought of Andrea. Then I did something I hadn't done since I was nine.
     I crossed myself and silently prayed that God did indeed love planes.