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Georgina waved anxiously from her cattle class seat, attempting to attract the attention of the flight attendant. Her son had been sick again, this time however he had chosen to forego the wax-paper bag and threw up over his clean denim overalls instead.
She jabbed the service button persistently but the stewardess seemed more interested in gossiping with her co-worker. Nuts to the lit seatbelt sign, she wasn’t having her Tommy arrive in a new country looking like this. She pushed a napkin into his hand and nudged him off to the bathroom. “Go clean yourself up.” The stewardess glanced at the breach, scanned for her supervisor and turned back to her conversation.


Behind Georgina a gaunt young man tested his red-haired neighbour with salacious looks. Cleverly she ambushed him, starting the conversation before he could think of his line, “So what do you do?” she clichéd.

“I’m an architect,” (he wasn’t) “I just did the new archery centre for the Olympics,” (he didn’t). Kurt had discovered through tough experience that there is an age at which being a musician goes from being the ultimate aphrodisiac to more or less telling women you beg for coins on the boardwalk. That age was roughly three years ago.
“Really?” she toyed, “So what have you got in store for us?”
She would play along, liars might make bad partners but they were excellent for conversation.

Kurt moved closer as if about to confide a secret. He knew that if he could keep it together just long enough to move along to the next topic he was in.

The red-haired woman would never discover the Olympic Archery layout. Kurt was interrupted by the captain’s voice, louder, much louder than usual and urgent.

◊◊◊

It would have been beautiful if anyone had seen it, the plane spiralled downwards through the sky leaving a double helix of white smoke in its wake. Later the black box would reveal a single torn wire. This was of little importance to the people on board.There was no screaming. The passengers sat in unnatural silence, the perverse serenity of impending death. The impact broke the spell. The wing struck first wrenching a chunk of fuselage with it. The remainder tore through the undergrowth unhindered. The slide seemed to last forever, the scrub gave way to saplings, the wreck levelled these without effort. Eventually the aircraft found a worthy opponent, a great mahogany. It struck hard. The fore section of the fuselage collapsed like a concertina. The aft tore free and carouselled to a stop.

Georgina woke with a cough, her first thought to cover her mouth, then reality set in. The cabin was hazy but she could still make out the bodies, slumped in their seats, hanging from their seatbelts like marionettes. The two seats behind her were empty, those and the one beside her, Tommy’s.
She unclipped her seatbelt gazed toward the rear, the toilet was gone, half the blessed plane was gone. She had to find him, had to know that he wasn’t… her thoughts cut short, she couldn’t think it.

She made for the exit but her legs gave way beneath her in agony twisting into ghastly angles on the floor. She dragged herself to the exit. It flew out with a bang as if by magic. Strong arms reached in, dragging her through the portal and expertly to a waiting stretcher. The arms pulled tight straps across her chest and waist, locking her in place. She was being carried away. “Wait! Tommy, my boy, he’s still… “ They ignored her, their route was as set as a railroad. She struggled against the straps of the stretcher, trying to free herself. She felt the cold steel of a needle pierce her thigh, watched the clear liquid flow into her vein, then there was nothing.

◊◊◊

Kurt played with the saline drip, watching the veins of his arm swell with each squeeze, Colorado State Supply – isotonic solution. He and the redhead Amanda had made it out with a few cuts and bruises. They watched the medics stretcher Georgina’s limp body in. The doors slammed shut and the helicopter’s engine grunted to life. Amanda couldn’t help grabbing Kurt’s arm as they took off, she would not fly by choice again.
Georgina awoke shortly after the helicopter landed. The three were packed into the tiny hospital’s only room, bed to bed. She called the doctor over.
“My boy, Tommy, where is he?”
“I’m sorry.“ The doctor placed a hand on her shoulder, “There was nobody else. The smoke took them.”
She jerked free of his hand.
“No, he’s still out there, I can feel him. A mother knows.”
“Ms Kendal the aviation service will be here next week to clear the site. Is there a relative or friend you would like to call to help you make arrangements.”
“Just stuff off!” she barked, tears streamed down her face in anger.
The doctor stiffened his back, slapped a pamphlet on the nightstand beside her and walked to the next bed. “You two may go, take it easy for the next couple of days.”
They clambered out of the beds and made for the door, Georgia grabbed Kurts arm hard as he passed, stopping him in his tracks. “Promise me, promise me that you’ll find him, he’s still up there!”
“Um I’ll do what I can.” Kurt freed himself from her grip and continued to the hall.

“So when do we leave”
“What?”
“To find her boy”
“What are you talking about, we’re not going anywhere, she’s lost it.”
“You said you would help her.”
“I said I’d do what I can which is absolutely fucking nothing, you heard the doc, The kid’s dead.” She gave him a cold stare and walked away.
“Wait. Stop. Sorry. So suppose you do go off on this nonsense errand, how are we going to find the crash?”
“See that peak, the trees are greener, closer together, it’s a man made forest. That’s where the plane hit. More importantly can you steal a car?”
He was impressed.
“My dad was a mechanic,” (he wasn’t), “I think I can manage it” (he could).
They walked through the hospital carpark side by side. Kurt didn’t know why he was going along with this. She hadn’t exactly inspired him but like many aimless men he went along, This was as good a thing to do as any other.
He tore a strip from his shirt and began to feed it through the window of a ford Taurus.
“What are you doing?” she pulled him away.
“What, you said…”
“We need four wheel drive… and GPS unless you know where you’re going”.
She directed him to a great behemoth of a vehicle. The nameplate read “Doctor”.
He caught the lock nub on the first try. They unhooked the bonnet and studied the ignition. Amanda caught his eye and he laughed.
“What’s so funny?’
“I’m just impressed I’ve got Lil’ Miss Business Suit stealing cars”
She giggled, then chastised herself and gave him a practised glare.

◊◊◊

The trail was long and winding. It was starting to get dark. Dark meant cold; they would need to find him soon. At the end of the trail they continued on foot.
“This shining armour shit is tough.” Kurt Panted.
“The worthwhile shit always is” Amanda replied.

◊◊◊

It was midnight when they found it. A child’s fort built of luggage. There was a moat of clothing, in Tommy’s mind as vital for his survival as the haphazard shelter it protected. Kurt knelt down and extended his hand into the fort. A hand grasped his, he was alive.