Flying by air has always been a luxury, it has a huge amount of sophistication attached to it. However after an incident that occurred last December, I get paranoid at the thought of entering an aeroplane.
My family and I were taking a flight from one city to the other within the country. All the passengers were carrying lots of luggage. It was indeed the holiday season and people were going home. One man however, caught my attention. He was unusually tall, had a grey beard and was wearing sunglasses in the airport. Strange, I thought. What made it even more peculiar was that he had checked in without any luggage or hand baggage. My brother remarked that he was the perfect example of an efficient traveller. He seemed to have a very composed nature yet he kept glancing at his cell phone.
I reminded myself that I should not bother about strangers as it was none of my business. Upon entering the plane, I found my seat and immediately dug my head into a book. Our flight was already late by 2 hours and I was exhausted. Minutes afterwards, I realised that the stranger at the airport was sitting across the aisle, beside me. A lean man came along and the air-hostess was urging him to leave. He changed the topic by telling her that he was the mechanic and he was just checking to ensure that there were no problems at the last minute. Whilst talking, he coolly dropped a small canvas bag near my seat. The stranger beside me leaned sideways and picked up the bag discreetly. I was very confused on seeing all this. The man turned to leave and it seemed like he was looking for something. When he caught sight of the stranger sitting beside me, he gave a nod and made a quick exit.
I was very suspicious of this entire incident. My fingers went numb and I knew something was not right. I began to pretend like I was listening to music with headphones on. I found it very difficult to sit still. I HAD to find out what that bag contained. Like always, everyone was requested to switch off their phones during the security drill. Fifteen minutes later that man’s phone rang very loudly. The air-hostess politely explained to him why he should switch off his phone. He tried to argue with her but I guess he did not want to attract a lot of attention so he agreed. He kept looking around the aircraft and I kept getting more nervous. I got very casually and went towards the washroom. When I caught sight of the air-hostess, I told her about the bag and about everything I had already seen. I insisted they do something, quickly. The co-pilot went up to the man and asked to examine the bag. That man was so foolish, he tried to run. But where could he go?!
The pilot announced that the plane would land at the nearest airport due to unforeseen conditions. On landing, I saw that the police were there already and they arrested the man. I was quite relieved.
I came to know from the following day’s newspaper that the man was a hires assassin. He planned to murder somebody, the newspaper did not mention whom. I felt proud of myself for acting quickly but for sometime after that incident, I always carried that feeling of guilt in me – the feeling that made me think that the stranger knew it was me who complained and that someday, he would seek revenge....