Ongoing Story II...

The loud speaker overhead crackles to life with a woman's voice announcing that Flight 2398 departing for Seattle is now taking passengers with special needs. He looks at the ticket to confirm that 2398 is his flight. He walks closer to the gate to be towards the front of the line. He does this because in the back of his mind he doesn't want to leave and if he is passed the ticket lady then it would be harder to turn around. He pauses, then steps out of line. He pats down his pockets. "Where the fuck.... My phone?" he thinks to himself. Frantic, he looks along his path away from the ticket gate scanning the floor. "Son of a bitch....." He goes back to the chair in which he sat looking at the other flights arriving and departing. No cell phone.

He finds a airport employer and asks if there is a customer service counter with a lost and found. The man says, "Ground level near the baggage claim." then points which direction he is to go. He scurries away at a fast pace but not running. He passes a few airport shops frantically looking for the baggage claim area. He looks at his watch and sees he has 15 minutes to board his plane. He passes the baggage claim and steps to the counter. Behind the counter, a lady in her mid 40's is talking on the phone. The man patiently waits as he eavesdrops on her conversation realizing that it's a personal call not a business call. The man dings the bell next to the computer.

She looks up and says "Give me a minute, hun."

He looks down at his watch again, 10 minutes. He looks up and tells the lady, "I don't have a minute to give you"

She looks at him with distain and says, "I'll help you in a moment."

He asks, "Has any body in the last half....." she interupts him, "I will be right with you in a moment!"

Over the intercom, "Final boarding for 2398 non stop to Seattle. "He interject, " Lady? That's my goddamn flight are you going to help me? Is there anybody else here that can help me?

The lady stares at him for 3 seconds then tells the person she is on the phone with to "Hold on.... What do you need sir?"

"Has anybody turned in a missing cell phone?' he asks.

She walks to the end of the counter, grabs a box filled with cell phones and says, "You'll have to look through here."

He brushes the lot of cell phones aside looking for his. Nothing.

"Fuck it!, he thinks to himself. Turns and runs to his gate. While running he remembers what was on his phone. Pictures from the last day with his daughter.

"Goddamn it!" he thinks.

As he nears the gate he notices the plane is moving away from the gate and the boarding door is shut.

"Stop! That's my flight!" he yells.

The gate person says that stopping the plane is impossible.

"Son of a bitch." he mumbles.

He hurries to the window to see the tail of the plane headed to the runway. He slumps in the chair. Out of his jacket pocket drops his cell phone. He looks down at the phone and sighs.

Just as he puts his hands over his face he hears a man say, "I think that plane is turning onto the runway." He looks up at the plane he was supposed to be on turning to line for takeoff. Out of the corner of his eye he see another passenger jet landing on the same runway from behind. He hears the engines of the landing plane whistle as they are pushed to full throttle. But the pilots attempts to avoid the plane on the ground are futile. The bottom om the landing plane smashes into the forward compartment of the plane on the ground. A huge fireball warms his face as the sound of twisting metal and the explosion rattle the windows in front of him.

"Holy God.... " he thinks.

He sits back into his seat as the sound of screaming people echo in his head.