Rise of Calamity: Chapter 1

RISE OF CALAMITY

Chapter 1

“Now boarding Flight 15 to Athens, Greece. I repeat, Flight 15 is boarding to Athens, Greece. Please make your way to the terminal.” A young man sits in a seat, dazed, eyes glazed over, until a sound breaks him out of his trance. “Hey Anya, are you ready?” The young man looked over at the sound of the voice, seeing his friend. “Yeah, I’m sorry. We’ve been here for eight hours already, and I stopped paying attention a while ago.” The friend laughs and says, “ Ha! Me too, but it seems it is our time, so let's go!” Both men get up and start walking towards the terminal, where their teacher stands, attempting to rally the students. Amongst the crowd is a young woman who, after seeing the two, comes over. “Hi, Anya! Do you know where you are seated on the plane?” she says in an excited voice. “Yeah, I do… looks like I am in seat B3?” he says shyly, turning a faint tinge of pink. “Why? Where are you on the plane?” he says. “Ugh, I’m way in the back, I’m at…” She looks down at her ticket, “W4.” The tall boy smirks and looks at both of them, “Well, lucky for you, Adeline, I’ve got ticket B4!” Both the girl and the shy boy turn in surprise at him. The taller boy grins and says, “No need to beg me, love birds, I will so graciously exchange tickets with you.” He hands the ticket over to the girl, taking hers, and says, “Well, have fun but not too much fun!” The tall boy walks towards a person in the group behind the two. They are now starting to form an orderly line towards the terminal. “Well-” Anya starts flustered. Sighing, the girl says, “Just ignore him, let's go.” As the young boy turns and begins to walk, a small smile crawls onto both of their faces, and they continue to the line. “Okay, everyone!” yelled the teacher, “We all need to remember that the same expectations are expected on this plane as that are expected in class! Listen to all instructions from the flight attendants and be quiet so you can hear!” The teacher looks towards the semi-formed line and sighs, as she has been partially ignored, and says, “All right, anyone with a name beginning with A-C make your way to the front of the terminal.” The two friends look at each other. “I guess that must be us then,” said Anya. “I guess so. Let’s go then!” They both walk towards the line of students, lining up near the end. “You excited for this?” asked the girl. “Of course, I’ve been looking forward to this all year. I can’t wait to visit the Parthenon!” says the boy excitedly. The girl giggles and says, “I am not going to lie, I don’t know what that is, but now I am excited!” Eventually, after a few minutes of waiting, both students reach the terminal attendant, who says, “Please show me your passport and ticket.” She gives them a lazy once-over before nodding at them and letting them pass. They both board the plane and sit down in their respective seats. “Are you nervous about the flight? It is going to be a long one,” her voice shaking slightly. The boy shakes his head, “No, I’ve always been oddly at peace when I’m on planes. Why? Are you squeamish on planes?” Her voice shakily replies, “Uh-n-no, I’ve just never been on one before, I’m not scared or anything.” The girl looks away, puffing out her cheeks, and turning a scarlet red. The boy chuckles, allows her to recover her pride, and changes the subject. “Since we are going overseas, it is likely we will have to sleep for a part of the time, if that is of any comfort.” She sighs, “Yes, I suppose that will be nice. But you’ve been on planes before, is there any chance this is going to crash?” He looks over at her, noticing her quickening breath. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay. Look, I’ll be right here and I promise nothing bad will happe-” The intercom crackles on and begins speaking, “All passengers please stow all belongings above your head in the overhead storage, and all personal belongings under the seat in front of you. We will begin takeoff momentarily and arrive at Athens, Greece, at approximately 5:30 am.” Moments after the intercom crackled off, the hum of the plane started. The girl tensed at the sound of it. The boy, who is now beginning to panic, steels himself and says, “Here, I know it is a little weird, and it is totally okay for you to decline, but it always helped me when I was on my first plane ride to hold someone’s hand.” He offered his hand slowly and cautiously, and was snatched by her hand quickly. Both the boy and the girl were surprised by their actions and flushed red. They sat in silence as the plane slowly began to rumble to life.

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