Once we were high above in the sky, the seatbelt sign went off and the flight attendants started to bring the refreshments tray around. I took out my book and started at the place where I left off; leaving the bookmark on the tray table I pulled down to place my cup of orange juice. I was just about to start when Dally cut me off “That bookmark! Where did you get it? I mean who gave it to you?” she exclaimed
“My best friend, she went to the Army in America and she gave me this bookmark when we were just 11 years old because—”
“because you loved reading and you didn’t want to ruin the pages of the book right?” Dally said, cutting me off mid-sentence.
“I knew you looked familiar Farah! I knew it! I can’t believe you still kept the bookmark I made you! Why have you never contacted me?” Dally exclaimed.

How could I be so stupid! It was Dally! Dally, the kid who always got picked on and couldn’t stand up for herself. We were best friends for years! We even decided that we would go to the same college when we were older. And we actually did! But we lost touch when Dally decided to join the Army. She didn’t have to go serve in the Army but she felt it was her call of duty. And so for about 5 years she spent her time training with other women who decided to give up their life to join the Army.

“Dally!!!!” I exclaimed “WOW! Your hair isn’t as long as before and you dyed it black too! I remember your long blonde hair always covering your eyes! Its like you’re a whole new person!” I said looking her up and down. “I couldn’t even recognize you!”
“I know! You’ve changed too! You look amazing with your long hair! The last time I saw you, your hair was so short people thought you were a guy! Its like fate that we met here” she said with the same bright smile. I looked at her face and I felt, for the first time in weeks, honestly happy. I wasn’t faking my smile. I was laughing and giggling and telling jokes. It was the best flight in the world. For a moment I even forgot about everything that was to happen to me. For a moment…
Dally fell asleep first. I wanted to wait for the food to come first then I told myself I would fall asleep. I had a nice…dinner? I didn’t really know what time it was but it was dark out so I assume it was dinner. Dally looked so sweet asleep. So peaceful. I remembered all the fun times we had when we were young. There was this one time that we spent one Christmas just going up to random people giving out gifts. Those were the good times…the memories.

After I finished, the flight attendant picked up the empty food tray. I plugged in my earphones and pressed the shuffle button, “My Love” by Justin Timberlake came on. I looked at Dally once again and then shut my eyes, my head leaning on Dally’s shoulder, bobbing slowly to the beat. Knowing that this was going to be a safe flight. Knowing that we would keep in touch forever and ever.

I woke up to screaming. Screams from all over. I unplugged my earphones and searched for Dally. She was nowhere to be seen. Her chair was filled with blood. I couldn’t believe what was happening. The pessimistic guy was in an armadillo position, his head burrowing into his legs. For a relatively overweight guy, he was pretty flexible. “Hey!! What’s going on? Where is my friend who sat here? What in the world is happening?” I whispered. He looked bewildered. “Someone hijacked the plane. Your friend? I’m not sure…she…I was asleep too when this happened. I’m more confused than you are.”

Hijacked. Someone hijacked the plane? Dally. The thought of her dead chilled my body. I mean we just caught up with each other. It was like old times. She was going to Dubai for some work and we were going to hang out again. Just like old times.

There was only one man, from what I could see. He wore a “Joker” mask, like the one in the movie The Dark Knight. I leaned in closer to the pessimistic guy who’s name was actually Mike, but before I could move any closer, the guy with a Joker mask came and pointed a gun at me.

“Don’t you dare move any closer, you got it lady?” He said in a box he held to near his mask’s mouth. It was some kind of auto-tune box because his voice turned all digital and sounded weird. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt. He even went to the extent of dying his hair colour a different colour, but his luxurious blond hair could be seen amongst his charcoal black hair.

Smart people. They had thought of everything. Covering their faces, covering their voices and even wearing clothes that covered almost their entire body. But how could they have gotten guns on board? And these weren’t ordinary guns, it was those huge ones. How could they possibly sneak them in?

Then another man came up to Joker Face man. And I instantly knew how they got their huge guns on board. There was a second guy! And he was wearing a captain’s outfit! Or a co-captain’s. It was an inside job. They had it all planned. The people on the ground must have thought that a captain or co pilot would never bring a gun on board. It was horrifying. If just they had checked before letting them board the plane! I would be relaxing with Dally and telling jokes. What could they possibly want to do? What could they possibly gain?


The captain looked at me, then grabbed at the gun that was pointed towards my forehead. He was wearing a mask that covered only half of his face. From the nose and up. His mask was charcoal black. It had reminded me of Batman’s mask. Except Batman was a good guy.

“Listen Joker Face, forget trying to pick a fight with every single passenger. The boss will be mad if he finds out.” He said, “We don’t want more blood in the airplane.” He said with a slick smile, his eyes staring deep into my soul.

Suddenly a man from a few rows ahead of us lashed out and tried to pin the joker man down from behind. No one tried to help him out. Everyone was just telling, screaming, begging the man to come back so that he wouldn’t get hurt. There was no struggle either. The man was big built and yet he had difficulty trying to pin down his opponent.

The captain didn’t even flinch. He took his very own gun out and aimed at the man hanging at his friend’s neck. He gave another slick smile and shot the man down. He slowly brought his gun down and moved his friend out of the pool of blood

“You should have seen your face! It looked hilarious!” he said laughing out loud and imitating his friend. His friend wasn’t amused at all. “Great, now we have to take his body to one of the toilets.” He exclaimed, and with a hand extending towards his captain friend he whispered, “Help me will ya?”

That was what happened to Dally. I know that’s what happened to her. She had resisted and had probably gotten herself killed. People were screaming with the sight of the blood oozing out of the guy’s forehead. It was a perfect shot. These guys were trained. These guys were scary too; they didn’t even flinch for a second in taking a man’s life. It showed that they meant business. The captain was LAUGHING for God’s sake when he killed that poor man.

“WHAT WAS THAT GUN SHOT?” Shouted a man, he slammed the cockpit door shut “THERE IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ANY KILLING ON THIS GOD DAMN PLANE!” He exclaimed in a deep voice, hands in the air. “Sorry boss, but this guy just jumped out of nowhere and was attacking Ja- I mean Joker Face. ” he stopped himself, just in time. “I…I was just trying to shut this lady up” He said, his finger pointing directly at me. The guy that just came out of the cockpit looked at me and his eyes smiled. He was wearing a Spiderman mask. He was wearing a baggy t-shirt so I couldn’t see if he was built or just plain fat. He stroked my hair gently with his gun then shoved it right below my chin, forcing me to look directly at him in his beautiful emerald green eyes.

So there were three people now. They all wore superhero masks to cover their identities. Jokerman, Batman and now Spiderman? Was this a kid’s show?

“You have pretty eyes you know that?” He said, “Now do me a favor and shut your trap. Otherwise you might end up like that guy over there” he said pointing towards the lifeless body on the ground. “Clear it up boys! And make sure you don’t get too messed up as well. We have to look presentable when the ground people come in contact with us” he shouted

“Alright people!” he voice boomed loudly to everyone on board the plane “We are going to come in contact with the ground people and ask them for a ransom. If they really care about you pathetic people up here they will accept it right?” he smiled and looked at one of the children on board the plane “Otherwise the children will have to suffer” And he gave one of the most evil laughs I have ever heard and walked towards the cockpit. He slammed the door shut and the room erupted into tears and screams.

I couldn’t believe that me out of all people is lucky enough to be stuck in this type of situation. This type of thing only happens in books. And only to people who had actually done something wrong in life. I have never done anything bad in this life. I always stayed on the honest and good path. What did I do to deserve this? What have I done in my life that made me a victim to this horrifying scene?

Everyone was in shock. You could tell, no one was prepared. No one wanted to believe what had happened was really happening. Everyone was in a state of disbelief. Children were crying, women were screaming and men were trying to comfort anyone they could.

In a different perspective, we had all become one. We had all become a family. Mike, the overweight guy was comforting a child and mother seating in the row behind us, saying it’s going to be okay and everything is all right. I looked at Dally’s seat. She must have been the first one to sacrifice herself. That was Dally. She would give up her life for a stranger.


I remembered that the first time I met her; she crossed a bustling street with cars racing, to help and save a little kitten that was stuck in the rush hour. I had called her crazy and stupid but deep inside I envied her. She was such a risk-taker and her heart was so big!


And now I will never have the chance to tell her about how she saved my life when we were younger. I will never have the chance to hear her nerdy laugh again. I will never have the chance to see her beautiful emerald eyes again. This was personal. I was going to murder the man who had killed my best friend. I was going to do it even if it costs me my life. And that was final.

The men were in the cockpit, negotiating with the ground people about the ransom money. We could hear their voice shouting and demanding for more. The longer they took meant that the ground people couldn’t come up with the amount of money that the hijackers had wanted. The reason behind the hijacking was still unknown. If we didn’t looked so bad, you would have thought that we were still on our way to our destination. Everyone was in his or her seat. No one had the courage enough to move around. We were all too shocked. Only some people moved out of their way to comfort total strangers. People like Mike. I felt bad for calling him a pessimistic person and all the other names I called him in my head. He was actually a nice guy. He was talking to the little boy and playing games with him just so that the boy wouldn’t feel too scared.

Spiderman came out of the cockpit after being in there for almost an hour. We had all talked about their names and we decided that we would call the men by their mask. One even pointed out that it was ironic that superheroes are the ones who are kidnapping us and asking for a ransom. The kids didn’t want to believe that their beloved superheroes would betray them but after a scolding from their mothers and fathers they thought otherwise. I was sure of one thing. If we all get out of here alive, we would all need therapy, especially the children. Viewing a killing that happened right in front of you can scar a person. That is IF we got out of here alive.

We all didn’t know where we were. We definitely weren’t going to land, that was for sure and definitely not anywhere remotely near Dubai. We didn’t even know how long the plane was going to last. I mean, flying for a long time wastes fuel right? And I’m not an airplane freak but you have to top up the fuel once its low and that happens outside right? There could never be a way to top up the fuel inside the airplane, unless there was this secret compartment that no one knew about. So that means that someone is going to have to go out and do it. It won’t be one of them, that’s for sure. Unless we all die a horrific death together. As long as the murderer that killed Dally died with me, I would be happy.

Spiderman closed the door to the cockpit and pulled his gun out. He was holding a camera in his hand. “See these people here Detective Brandy? These people will die last. These kids, however, will be the first to go,” He said with a chuckle “You know why? Because all children do is prevent their mothers and fathers from doing anything. Like helping to serve the Army.”


“Now you have about an hour to…”take in” what we had to say. I’ll contact you again in an hour’s time. And you had better give me everything I asked for. Otherwise this will be the last time you see these people.” He laughed once again and then threw the camera on the floor. He started to jump and stomp on it until the camera was left to bits
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain calm. As you can see we have everything under control. Now we—“
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US? WHY HIJACK THIS PLANE?” a young woman in her twenties shouted at Spiderman “Why…why put the children through all of this?” she ended in a whisper. Spiderman walked up to her, his gun at his side. I wanted to grab at it and shoot him in the head. But Batman and Joker Face were too close behind him so I didn’t want to risk it. Not when I could have a perfect chance in the future. I wanted them to pay. I wanted Dally’s and that man’s life to be avenged. And if no one was going to do it, I was going to.

The young woman had switched places when everything was going haywire, and was cuddling up with the man who sat in the row next to me. I was sitting in the seat that Dally had been murdered in so I could see exactly what was happening. Spidey went up to her and wiped her tears away with the gun he used to kill that man. The woman flinched as the nozzle of the gun touched her oval-ish face.

“You have guts little lady, don’t you?” He said his speech slurring “‘why?’ You ask? It’s simple. Just like I said. All children do is prevent their parents from going to the Army. I had a child, little baby girl. It wasn’t planned but it happened. I told my parents that I didn’t want the baby; instead I wanted to go and serve in the Army. Help my people. You know what my parents did? They told everyone. Posted it on Facebook even. I was all around the Internet. People started cursing me, ‘how could I give up my own child to serve in the Army?’ people said.”

“But its true! Why would you want to join the Army when you have a perfect reason to stay at home? After all, what’s the point of serving in the Army when you have no one to come back to? I mean there will be people like me, where I thank you for your duties but that’s about it. No one would go to the extent to provide with you a family you can share your laughter and tears with.”


“You annoying piece of—“ He stopped himself “JOINING THE ARMY WAS MY DREAM. I HAD ALWAYS WANTED TO SERVE THE SOIL THAT I LIVED ON. WHAT RIGHT DO OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TO QUESTION MY INTENTIONS? A CHILD COULD NEVER BE BORN IF THERE WERE NO SOLDIERS AROUND PROTECTING THE COUNTRY! SO WHAT IF I WANTED TO GIVE UP MY CHILD? ATLEAST SHE WILL KNOW THAT ONE OF HER PARENTS WAS SUCCESSFUL AND CAN BOAST TO OTHERS ABOUT IT. PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND AT ALL! “ He said, voice booming over the constant crying of a baby boy “Do you honestly think you could give birth to that annoying boy of yours if the soldiers wasn’t there to protect you and your pathetic little life?” He said pointing at the baby the young woman was clutching.

“What type of person are you? You helped to serve our country and yet here you stand pointing a gun at the one thing you’re suppose to be protecting.” she whispered “what happened to you? Why would you do something like this? Why?”

“Because I was almost killed by the people I swore to protect. THEY WERE SO DIGUSTED BY ME THAT I COULDN’T EVEN LEAVE MY HOUSE WITHOUT GETTING EGGED. MY CAR HAD TO GO TO THE REPAIR SHOP MORE THAN 3 TIMES EVERY WEEK. I WAS LOOKED DOWN UPON. SO I STOPPED. I LEFT MY ARMY POST AND CAME HOME TO LOOK AFTER MY CHILD. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? OF COURSE YOU DON’T. I’LL TELL YOU. WHEN SOMETHING WENT WRONG THEY FREAKING CALLED ME TO COME BACK AND FIGHT. I TOLD THEM THAT I HAD A CHILD AND MY FAMILY FORBADE ME TO DO SO BUT THEN THEY INSULTED ME AGAIN. NOW WHAT DO I DO? THE PUBLIC CALLS ME A TRAITOR BECAUSE I ABANDONED MY CHILD AND THE ARMY CALLS A TRAITOR BECAUSE I BETRAYED MY COUNTRY.” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Army? Maybe…He had bumped into Dally once or twice. Maybe he even spoke to Dally. She always had the skill of running for long distances maybe she had been noticed by him…yeah she would have remembered some distinct detail and he must’ve killed her incase we got out of here.

He coughed a little bit and in a slur he continued “Now you know exactly why I am doing this. The real reason behind all this planning. I don’t care if I die today but I hope that America rots. I hope that the people will be killed and the Army doesn’t have enough people to protect the country. I hope that one of you lives and tells the tale so that the country can think about its decisions its made in the past and repent. I hope the entire country feels guilty for the mistake that they created.”

He pointed the gun at her temple on her forehead and shot her. He looked at the man who was holding her now lifeless body, “You might be next if you don’t control that child!” He looked at his watch and made his way back into the cockpit. He turned the intercom on so that the entire plane could hear the agreement between the two people. The radio buzzed and buzzed, searching for a signal. It hadn’t been an hour. He didn’t give them enough time. The most he gave them was half an hour. I don’t think that was enough time to gather the money. But this was America; they WILL come to our rescue right?

The intercom shut off and Spidey came out once again. He brought out the trolley filled with refreshments and threw all the drinks on the floor. He pushed it towards the middle of the aisle and was bending to get something. It was my chance. It was now or never.

I reached for his gun and quickly tugged at it. At first I thought I had it in my hands but it was just a fantasy. The gun was secured in his belt and no one could get it. This was the end for me. I couldn’t avenge Dally or the other guy. I couldn’t bring justice and help save all these people here on board. I probably just killed all of them indirectly.

Spiderman stopped what he was doing and turned to face me. His face was just centimetres away from mine. His hand went to his mask and he started to remove the mask off of his face. Spiderman was actually a Spiderwoman! And it wasn’t just any woman.

The leader behind all this chaos was Dally. What? Was this a dream? How…how could Dally…be the…no…it can’t be…can it?

She was the one who had planned everything. She was the one who had brutally murdered not one but 2 people on this plane. She was the one with the child.

I was outraged. She sat next to me. She made jokes and told me happy stories about her life. She actually ate off the same dessert plate that I ate. Dally. My best friend. The same best friend that helped me when I went through my first break-up. The same best friend that helped me when I had fights with my parents. The same best friend that was so bad at lying. That same best friend was standing centimetres away from me. Gun in hand and smile on her face.

“Shocked? Huh Farah?” She exclaimed “Amazing isn’t it? You thought I was dead. Did it never occur to you that I was the mastermind behind this? Of course not, you always thought I was too stupid to think up of something as brilliant as this.”

“Dally. I…I…I never thought you…you…you were stupid. I always looked…looked up to you. I wanted to…to…to be like you. I…envied you most of the…the times.” She stood up and pointed her gun at me. I stared at her like a lost child. She slowly let her gun down and came closer towards my face. “Let’s play a game shall we? Hmm How about a card game? That would be simple enough right? I’m sure little Farah can handle it?” She took out a pair of cards in her right pocket and placed it on the trolley that was now bare of refreshments. She waved me over opposite of her so that we could play a game.


“Don’t be shy now Farah, I’ll teach you how to play this game,” she said, with a hint of sarcasm.” She pulled the deck of cards out of the box. I walked over to the trolley, stumbling halfway. She began shuffling the cards and then placed them to her left. “This is how we play the game okay? We take turns drawing a card or cards, that’s right you can draw as many cards as you want, but every time you draw one you have to place it on the table faced up. Once the player has placed it faced up, the same player shuffles the deck of cards and gives it to the other player for the drawing of their card. The aim of the game is to never get the Ace of Spades. You get it and you and all your little friends die a horrible death. Happy?” She asked

“But didn’t the ground people say they will give you the money? Aren’t these people’s lives already saved?” Panic in my voice. Even I could hear it.

“Oh Dally Dally Dally. Poor poor Dally. Listen to yourself. I pity you. You can do nothing to stop me. See my pals over there?” She said pointing towards Batman and Joker Face. “They will kill at any time I ask them to. And plus, we can kill all of you because we asked them to drop the money and a car in an isolated place so that we could get away before they have enough time to catch us. I am not stupid Farah. After I take the money I can just run and run and they will never find me ever again. So enough talking…Let’s play?”

“Okay Dally, but you have to promise me that you won’t hurt anyone if I win.” A little chuckle… “Okay Farah”

It wasn’t what I was expecting but it was better than nothing. She had to keep to her word. After all she is, well was, a sergeant

“Who starts Dally? Me or you?” I asked

“Well we do want a fair game…how about we play rock, paper, scissors? The person who is the loser gets to go first.” She held out her hand in a form of a rock. I nodded my head and did the same.

“Rock! Paper! Scissors!” we both said. I had closed my eye because I was too scared to see if I had won or lost. “Okay Farah I’ll start first. Since rock beats scissors.” She looked at the deck of cards and pulled out two cards. She placed them down on the table without even hesitating. Both of them wasn’t the Ace of Spades.

She took the deck of cards in her hands and gave it a little shuffle. Then she placed it directly in front of me so I could make my move.

“Your turn dear Farah” she said with a smile

I placed my hand on the deck of cards. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. I can’t pick the Ace of Spades. If I do then it would be the end of me. I think I’ll pick only 1 card, just to play safe. I pulled the card from the top and without even looking at it placed it faced up on the table. The Queen. Thank God it wasn’t the Ace of Spades.

“This is boring, how about we take it up a notch? Now the minimum number of cards you can take is 5. And…lets not only take from the top. We can choose whether we want to take a card from the middle or end…Yes?” She gave me the deck of cards. I took them in my hand and began shuffling them. 5 cards were a lot. It increased the chances of getting an Ace of Spades even though we could pick where we wanted to pick the card from. I finished shuffling them and placed them right in front of her.

She flattened the deck in that fancy way most people do. She then slowly picked her 5 cards. One by one she would place them face up, all not the Ace of Spades. She even had the guts to pick another 5 on top of the 5 she had already picked. And none of them was the Ace of Spades! So in total she had picked 10 cards and not one of them was the Ace of Spades. She was surely cheating. Either that or she just had pure luck. She shuffled the deck again and then placed it in front of me “Your turn Farah, remember, 5 cards minimum.”

I looked at the deck of cards before me. I was absolutely terrified. I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. My head was spinning.

In my head, I turned around and Dally was sitting next to me. My iPod was turned off, guess it must have drained its battery. Dally was reading my book and listening to her own iPod. She saw me waking up and took off her own earphones. “Morning sleepy head. We are just about to reach Dubai. You missed breakfast but don’t worry I saved you a muffin.” She said with a smile. I looked into her beautiful emerald green eyes. I sat back upright in my seat and looked at the muffin that Dally had saved for me.

I kept playing that scene over and over again in my head. Wishing that it were true. Wishing that I could wake up and this would all just be a horrible dream. But the reality was that I was still stuck in this God forsaken plane with countless lives on the line. Playing a game that could decide my life and everyone else’s.

I laid down the cards the same way Dally had done it; in those fancy ways people do it. I didn’t know how many cards I was going to take. I think I’ll just stick with 5 cards… The less cards I get, the less the chances I get of getting the Ace of Spades…

I pulled out my first and second card in the middle of the deck. Then placed them faced up on the table opposite her cards. Both of them were clean. Now for the other 3 cards. I was terrified of the outcome. But for some reason I was relaxed. I picked out my next 2 cards knowing that they would come out clean. I placed them faced up and moved over to get my last and final card.

“No no no Farah, you’ve lost. Can’t take another card.” She said pointing down at the two cards I had just drawn. There it was, the unlucky card. The Ace of Spades. The card that decided my fate and everyone else’s. I closed my eyes and waited for the gunshot. I had already accepted my fate. It was never meant to be. If I struggled now, all these innocent people would be killed because of me.

I opened one of my eyes to see her shuffling the cards again. “Let’s play one more time? We have lots of time and I don’t want to be bored.” She placed the deck in the middle of the trolley and extended her arm towards me “Rock, Paper, Scissors?”

I extended my arm towards her. It was shaking like crazy. I couldn’t stop.
“Rock! Paper! Scissors!” we both said. This time I managed the courage to keep my eyes open. She had played “Paper” and I went with the “Rock”. I had lost. Lost. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe I should just stop. If she wasn’t going to kill me, the anticipation was going to kill me.

“Guess you start this time.” She shuffled the cards one last time and placed it in front of me. “Go on then, pick your five cards” she said. “OH! WAIT! Let’s make it more fun? How about we pick the 5 cards first and then put them down on the table without taking a peak at them?” She exclaimed.

“So I take out 5 cards first then put them down one by one without taking a look at them?” I asked and she nodded in return. I held the deck in my left palm and slowly pulled out 5 cards I was going to use without breaking the deck. I held the 5 cards close to my heart. Praying to God that there was no Ace of Spades in my hand. I slowly placed the deck on the trolley and placed my first card down. It was clean, the second one too. The third and fourth was clean as well.

I knew the fifth one was the Ace of Spades, because I had lifted it up a bit and the person behind me had hinted that I had the card by scratching my feet. It wasn’t planned but I understood what he had said. I was going to lose. I think I’m just going to place the card and let her take my life. It would be easy and the others would be safe. I placed the card faced down on the trolley. “Farah, you’re suppose to put it--”

Suddenly the airplane jerked. It felt like being in a car accident. It felt like another plane had crashed into us. But of course that wasn’t it. I had already seen my hand. I was doomed for. I had the Ace of Spades. There was nothing I could do. The intercom buzzed and the robot voice boomed, “We are having trouble because of the weather boss. But don’t worry, you relax, we’ll get out of this in a few minutes.” The intercom buzzed out and Dally looked at me. “Well, let’s end this game shall we? Place your card face up Farah,” She said


I looked down at my hand with the card faced down. I slowly turned it right side up.

Safe. It wasn’t the Ace of Spades. Everyone was shocked. The man who had hinted that it was actually Ace of Spades even apologized because he had made a mistake. In reality I was actually doomed. I actually had the Ace of Spades. But the moment the intercom buzzed on and Dally turned around to face the cockpit in case those fools came around, I switched my card with the card on the very top of the deck. It could have gotten me killed but it was worth it. I took the deck of cards back and shuffled them, leaving the Ace of Spades at the top of the deck. I placed the deck in front of her and watched.

She laid the cards down in a line and started picking her 5 cards. She picked 2 of her cards in the middle of the line and 2 more at the end of the line. The last card was taken near the front, where the Ace of Spades was. I couldn’t see if she had picked it or not but I started praying like mad.

She placed her first card and her second one, both clean. She took a deep breath and placed her third and fourth, again clean. She finally placed her last card. And amazingly enough she got it clean yet again. I honestly thought she would have gotten the Ace of Spades. Now the worrying thing was that the card was back there and I didn’t know where it was. If I get it the second time, there would be no chances for me to take another card. She took the deck of cards and shuffled them thoroughly. Then she placed it in front of me and smiled.

I looked at the deck of cards and kept on praying. I held the deck on my left palm and picked up 5 cards at random. I took one from the top, bottom, middle and anywhere else. I placed the first card and without looking placed the second one too. Both clean. I placed the third, fourth and fifth in the same manner. All clean. I shuffled the deck of cards again and placed it in front of her. The cards were getting lesser and lesser. The chance of getting an Ace of Spades was very very high now.

She placed the deck of cards on her right palm and took out 5 cards in the same manner as I did. Then she placed the deck of cards down and took yet another card. Meaning she had a total of 6 cards. She placed her first, second and third almost instantaneously. All clean. She whiffed up a smile and placed her remaining 3 cards in the same manner. All clean. Again. She shuffled the deck of cards and placed it in front of me.
My mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe it! All six cards were clean! I held the deck on my left palm and took out 5 cards, again, at random. I placed the deck down and held my cards close to my heart. I copied Dally and placed my first three cards instantaneously. All clean. I placed the other remaining of my cards in the same way. Instantaneously. I gave her a smile and felt myself starting to laugh. I felt like the weight of the earth was lifted off my shoulders.

“Why are you laughing Farah? You’ve lost. The Ace of Spades was in your hand; you placed it on the trolley. You just lost your life.” Dally said confused.

To be honest, even I didn’t know why I was laughing. I just lost all hope I guess. I couldn’t take it anymore, and when the game ended everything just fell into place. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Dally took the gun out of her belt and aimed it at me. She stood up and I didn’t even bother to wait for the gunshot. I lunged at her. I jumped on her and tried to pin her down. Apparently that was the cue because when I had pounced on her, men and woman started struggling with her accomplices. There was shouting and screaming and guns flaring in all directions.

I got pulled off of Dally; by the man who had hinted that the card I had was the death card. He shouted that I should go try to land the plane or try to get the captain to do it. I nodded in return and dashed towards the cockpit. Only to be stopped by Batman. I threw a punch as hard as I could in Batman’s face, aiming his nose for more effect. Batman winced in pain and grabbed his gun from his belt. He shot. Then a woman pinned Batman down and pried the gun away from his hand. I didn’t waste a second and I went inside the cockpit.

I had never seen so many buttons in all of my life. There was one for emergency and another one for back-up emergency. I just couldn’t think straight. My right arm was sore like hell. I couldn’t move it. I skimmed through the keys and buttons. That was when I felt a tug on my shirt. I knew I was dead. It had to be Dally. She was going to kill me. She was going to take over the plane and kill everyone. I waited and waited but the gunshot never came. Then my shirt got tugged again. I waited and waited and finally turned around. There was no one there. I was hallucinating. I looked down at my feet and saw the captain, taped and badly beaten. He had taken quite a beating before giving up. I peeled the tape away quickly and started asking him to land the plane.

He just looked at me and said the fatal words “You have to land it.” He waited for that to sink in before continuing, “I can’t land this plane, they busted my hands. They’re useless now. So you have to land the plane. Just follow my orders and we will be safe.” I nodded and faced the controls again. “Okay what…what…do you want me…me…to do?” I muttered. I stared back at him and couldn’t believe the situation I was in “Okay first close the door and lock it” he watched as I went over to the door and locked it shut. “Okay now sit in the seat and call ground support. Tell them you want to clear the ground for landing. They will ask you for details but just say that this is a hijack situation.” I pulled the headset over my head and started to press the button for ground support. I told them exactly what the captain told me to say.

“THEY GAVE ME PERMISSION CAPTAIN!!” I screamed over the roaring that was in the passenger cabins. “Okay now I want you to press the A/P button.” I pried my eyes off the thousand buttons in the cockpit and just stared dumbstruck at the captain “Right. Um the grey button that is next to that red one” I followed his head to where he had pointed. I was just about to press the button when the captain screamed, “WAIT. Okay, once you press that button the plane will be in your control. That means you’ll be in total control. Understand?” I nodded “Then make sure that you head back to the seat as soon as possible after pressing the button and pull the wheel up. Understood?” I nodded again in response. I got myself ready. My hands were shaking and my right hand was killing me with pain.

I looked over at my shoulder and found blood. My own blood. Batman must have shot me when we were battling and I only noticed it now. I focused and pressed the button and rushed back to my seat, but in the midst of thing my injured shoulder bumped into one of the controls. I cried out in pain as the control stabbed me in my open wound. I didn’t waste anytime though. I pulled my shoulder out of harm’s way and dashed to the seat. The plane was already heading towards the sea. I pulled the wheel towards me and just hoped for the best. “OPEN YOUR EYES! AND STEP ON THE PEDAL!” I did as I was told and opened them to see the clear blue sky. I couldn’t see anything below me. It was terrifying but at least we were not dead yet.

The headset and the captain were yelling out orders but I couldn’t concentrate. I had lost a lot of blood. “SHUT UP” I exclaimed. “WHAT DO I DO NOW? TO LAND THE PLANE?” I asked the captain. “Okay first see if there is a runway, hand me the headset let me communicate with them. It would be easier. I dashed to the captain and put the headset on him then dashed back to my seat, hands glued to the wheel. I have never run so fast in my life. I looked out the window and was so thankful that the weather was clear and sunny. If it had been raining, then it would have been all the more problem.

“Alright, we are going to start to land. I want you to check the fuel first, what do you see? The fuel tank is above the wheel,” the captain said calmly. “Okay…okay the fuel is near the end…like it’s umm…almost empty,” I muttered to him. I looked at him with a sorry face. He gave a smile that exclaimed that we were going to get through this.

“Okay fine let’s move on…make sure you turn the landing gear down. That’s the button on the right hand side near that gear.” I moved over to the button he was talking about “NO NO NO not that one the one above it” I pushed the button and then the screen showed that the landing gear was activated. It showed the wheels of the plane descending from its compartment. “Okay now you have to turn on the flaps so you can get a better view of the landing area. To do this, just flip the switch directly above you.” I opened the safety case “Yes that’s it now just flip the switch” I flipped the switch and the screen showed the flaps at each wing opening and closing.

“Okay, this is going good. Now we have to land short because we are out of fuel, so you see the number on the runway?” I nodded in response “Its number 18”
“What you’re going to do is make sure that you distance the plane from the aircraft’s nose.”
“What? You want me to do what to what?”
“Just make sure that you can always see the number and slowly release the pedal so that you can start to descend. Apply back pressure to the control wheel! And continue to do just that.” The captain said.

It was easier said than done though. The controls confused me and my shoulder was on fire. There was shouting in the passenger cabin. They had found out that we were landing the plane and they were outraged. A few gunshots were let out before the booming on the captain’s door started. It must have been the pilot or co-pilot. What was the difference anyways? I kept looking forward at the number. I was so scared that I might just land nozzle first and kill myself and almost half the people onboard.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Gunshots blasted through the captain’s door. I pushed my head down so that I wouldn’t get hurt again. Then the booming got louder and eventually the door couldn’t take it anymore. It broke down. I heard it. I was too afraid to look back at the person. I just stared at the runway, the number 18.

At the edge of my eye on my left, a gun was pointing at my temple. The nozzle was on my temple and I felt the heat of the gun as well. I had to land the plane. I had to land the plane if it was the last thing I did. “Get out now” It was Dally. I knew it… “GET OUT OF THE SEAT FARAH!” She pointed the gun at my left shoulder and pulled the trigger. The bullet penetrated my skin and probably broke my bone. The pain was unbearable. I wanted to let go of the wheel but I couldn’t budge. I needed time.

“Dally please…please don’t do…do…do this. What about all the times we had when we…we…we were best friends? What about the…the…the time we had the…the…the time when we gave out presents to…to random strangers? What about those good old times?” She pushed the nozzle of the gun deep into my fresh wound “Don’t try to sweet talk me Farah, you know I don’t work like that.”

She moved the gun back to my forehead “Now, I’ll tell you one last time before a bullet goes through that big head of yours. Get. Off. The. Seat. NOW!” I wanted to move but I was too afraid. I was literally scared shocked. “That’s it Farah. Say goodbye to your life.” I closed my eyes. Hands still on the wheel I waited. I heard her pull the trigger and her shoving the nozzle into my left temple harshly. I waited for the pain. I waited for those few seconds where you witness your entire life flash before your eyes. Then I heard a scream.

“PULL THE WHEEL BACK UP, WE ARE GOING TO—“
Immediately I pulled the wheel back up, amazed that my arms were able to work even after what it had gone through. But something told me that I shouldn’t pull it all the way back so I listened. I pulled it far enough so that we wouldn’t crash into the ground. “SLOWLY APPLY LESS PRESSURE TO THE--” the captain was doing amazing. He must have noticed that Dally had used all her bullets and so he pounced on her. They were fighting to the death now. The captain didn’t let go of her and made sure that I wouldn’t get hurt.


“JUST CONTINUE. DON’T WORRY I’LL BE OKAY JUST FLY THIS BABY TO SAFETY.” He said with a smile. He shoved a punch up Dally’s nose. She lost her balance and fell on the floor. She tried to get back up but my landing was so awful and bumpy that she fell again.

I didn’t land very smoothly. I scraped the ground and then bounced off of it. “QUICK..QUICK…PULL THE WHEEL TOWARDS YOU.” I pulled with all the strength I had left. The plane was too powerful and I was running out of road. I was going to go in the grassy area but I never stopped pulling.

Then the plane came to a stop. The passenger cabin erupted with cheers and they started to open the doors. The Police, SWAT, FBI, CIS, everyone was there. I had never felt so safe. I had never felt like such a hero. It was an amazing feeling. I looked at Dally and her team being arrested in front of me. The paramedics came in and tended to the captain and I. “Good Job, can’t wait to see you take up the pilot course” the captain joked with me. I smiled at him and laughed saying “If there is more shouting in the pilot course, you can forget about it, Captain” The captain gave a small chuckle before passing out.

I closed my eyes. The pain was gone now. I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t hear anything. But I wasn’t scared. My life flashed before my eyes. I saw my mother and father, saw my first teacher and school then it moved on to the years I spent in middle school, high school and college with Dally. Then I moved on to the places I had been. The people, friends that I regretted meeting every time. The feelings I had felt. I moved on to my career life as a travel agent. Not having a place to call home. Always scared that the next thing that showed up in my e-mail was another “You’re Moving!” letter. Always scared that the next call would be my last in the country. The hurt that I would have to re-live again every time I moved to a new place. The pain, sorrow I would have to go through. I saw everything. I was thankful for everything that happened. I was at peace all the time. I just didn’t know it.

I opened my eyes for the very last time and saw the clear blue sky again. I heard the police and felt them trying to carry me off of the seat. The best way to die is with happy memories in your head.

I closed my eyes and smiled at the memories.