Brandon was not the only one who saw it. He was just the only one whose belief could not be shaken by the men in suits who talked to everyone who had been on the flight.
They tried to convince him he didn’t see it, or that it was some small plane with the sun glinting off the windshield, or a flock of geese.
He knew it wasn’t any of that. Still, he did as the men told him. He did not talk to anyone about it. He tried not to think about it anymore.
Strange as it may seem, he had really forgotten about the whole thing by the time he’d grown up. Then he saw it again. This time it was not alone.
In 250 words or less, tell us a story incorporating the elements in the picture. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.
Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.
Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, March 26th, 2013.
On Wednesday morning, we will open voting to the public with an online poll for the best writing entry accompanying the photo. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday.
On Friday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature. Best of luck to you all in your writing!
Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms.
These long international flights had become tiresome. Every since he was a small lad, Brandon would always request a window seat so he could gaze out at the sky in hopes of seeing something he had seen as a child. Now his frequent trips to the bathroom made his preferred seating an obstacle course as he squeezed by passengers to get to his seat. Finally seated, he turned to gaze out the window.
There it was, same as before only this time there were two of them and they were on a direct course toward him. Yet Brandon could not say a word to warn anyone. He was paralyzed. Not with fear or for that matter wonder. He was literally paralyzed as he watched helplessly until the two objects merged into one right before he was plunged into blackness.
~~~
“It happens on these long flights sometimes,” The senor flight attendant told his younger coworker who was visibly shaken from discovering her first dead passenger. “The long hours of sitting, stasis, blood clot to the pulmonary artery,” He continued. Sally dried her eyes and said a silent prayer for passenger Brandon Browning. Brandon Browning, the latest victim of a silent killer. She hoped his last moments where not painful. He certainly looked peaceful, sitting there silently facing the window for most of the flight. He had only taken his eyes away from the window once.. “I wonder what he saw out there,” she wondered to herself.
Tia Mante really enjoyed traveling. In the few years since her retirement from the public school system, she was finally able to see more of the world that she only dreamed about as a teacher. She had tried to instill understanding and wonder through a generation’s worth of social studies classes, but her students didn’t always seem to care.
As a little girl growing up on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, Tia felt that travel was special. The tourists who visited her natal region came for the beaches, the nearby mountains and cavern exploration. You have to appreciate bats if you want to explore the caverns, she thought. Her memories of seeing the bats emerge in the evenings even now made her shiver.
Now she boarded the plane for her dream trip to Europe. Tia Monte’s eyes twinkled like diamonds. She thought of the many children who had passed through her primary school classes. How many of them eventually became inspired to travel? How many of them grew bored of seeing the world only through television and the Internet, and decided to explore it in person?
As Tia reached her row over the wing, she was intrigued by the boy in the window seat. Contentment took hold as she looked at the young man who intently studied the world outside the airplane. A “solterona”, she never had children of her own. Tia Mante smiled. It’s never too late for a new pupil or a new friend.
Brandon gazed out the window, frozen in shock at what he saw beyond the pane of glass. The plane sat on the tarmac after hastily loading the passengers lucky enough to make it to the gate in time. The flight attendant sealed the door just in time, moments before the zombie horde overtook the last available sanctuary.
As the jet engines whirred to life, the force of their exhaust toppled many of the undead like grass blades before a hurricane. An occasional spray of crimson painted the runway as a few determined zombies clinging to the wings were sucked into the engines.
There were no pre-flight instructions; everyone knew there were far greater risks than an unfastened seat belt. As the 747 taxied down the runway, nobody spoke, not even the pilot. What could he tell them? Give an estimated arrival time to an unknown destination? No place was safe anymore, except there, inside the body of the giant silver bird.
As the plane rose into the air, bound for destinations unknown, a scream shattered the silence. A flight attendant emerged from first class, stumbling and holding a gushing wound on her shoulder. A second flight attendant followed closely on her heels, her gaping mouth covered with fresh blood, milky eyes hungrily seeking another bite.
It wasn’t fear that caused Brandon’s heart to pound and sent chills running down his spine. How could he have forgotten the last time he saw creatures from legend appeared and magically vanish? The government had tried to convince everyone on the airplane that it had been an experimental jet, but Brandon hadn’t believed it. Still, the experience sank into the recesses of his mind until it only existed as a childish fantasy.
Brandon leaned into the window, excitement building within. Instead of one, five dragons flew in perfect formation, their large leathery wings beating slowly. Five sets of eyes looked at him, examining his soul. Voices echoed in Brandon’s mind, calling him. The tantalizing pull left him breathless, filled with anticipation and desire.
“Come with us.”
To soar with dragons, the very thought made his heart race. But how could he? He had no wings. Only in dreams had he dared such a thing.
“You are a child of dragon blood, dragon kin. Come to us.”
If only Brandon could fly. If only he could sit astride the lead dragon and touch those golden scales. Eyes squeezed tight, Brandon pictured himself gliding on the dragon’s back. His skin began to tingle.
Wind lashed at Brandon’s face. He reached for the chair in front of him only to feel scales and hear the rhythmic flapping of great leathery wings. The disorientation passed. Eyes opened, Brandon basked in the glory of flight.
“Welcome home dragon kin. Welcome to your inheritance.”
Title: THEIR Wing Man
He wondered if his dream of two weeks ago was really a dream.
His role as wingman was to protect the leader of the formation, and to warn him of any immediate danger.
Twenty years ago, he saw the same craft. Men in dark suits told everyone on the plane to ignore what they saw and regard it as just the sun shining off another plane. He had not given it much thought until the dream two weeks ago. Was it a dream? He could not explain the strange burn on his arm; it was a circle with a shadow circle.
They were ordered to arm their missiles. Despite his gut feelings, the new attack instrumentation glowed on his faceplate.
If these were truly alien spacecraft, they must know what we are preparing to do. It is wrong. It is so wrong. They are here to warn us of the meteor, which will wipe out most of our human race. They have constructed an Earth Annex and populated it from the seed of our own people.
Three times I have been taken on board one of these spacecraft. I witnessed what they were doing with us. They allowed me to view the earth annex. They showed me the meteor heading to earth. Now, I understand why I was chosen. We have family there.
They want me to intervene, and they want me to do it right now.
“Stand down commander…stand down…abort…abort. God help us all…abort.”