The Safe Landing ©1997 David Boyne

"Ma'am. You do understand, that you've been in an accident?"

The woman was my daughter's age. I wondered what she had studied at University. I nodded. I said, "A plane crash."

"An accident," she said, "Such as this, can produce shock..." She hesitated, glanced at the papers in her hands.

"How many survivors were there?" I asked.

She looked around the small room. I did too; but we were the only two there. "Many came through it all right. Like you."

"Did the plane come apart?" I asked.

She smoothed a wrinkle in her blue suit. She must have worn it all of yesterday, then put it back on when the phone call came in the middle of her sleep. She made eye contact with me and said, "Shock is a natural response of the body."

"And mind."

"Well, yes. It's a protective response."

"Of course." I tried to smile. I don't think my face muscles worked properly.

This story will appear in Velocity Nine Stories of People In Motion Autumn 2008 Published by Green Flash Publishing

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