Wingspan by Chris Bohjalian

Author:Chris Bohjalian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2019-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee,

All through the night.

Guardian angels, God will send thee,

All through the night.

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,

Hill and dale in slumber sleeping…

EMILY is completely overcome and needs to gather herself before continuing.

I, my loved ones’ watch am keeping,

All through the night.

All through the night.

The baby’s cries slow and disappear by mid-song.

KAREN (A little shaky.): That was…pretty.

EMILY: You ever had a close call on a plane?

KAREN: As in a near crash?

EMILY: Uh-huh.

KAREN: Plenty of go-arounds. Plenty of bad landings. Once an air pocket must have sent us down a thousand feet in seconds. But no. Not really.

EMILY: I did.

KAREN: Seriously? How close?

EMILY: I was on a flight that stalled in a snowstorm going into Cleveland last winter. Twin-engine turboprop. Everything got caked in ice and we stalled completely. The pilot was practically my age and he panicked. Instead of pointing the nose down to get air flowing over the wings again, for the longest time he kept trying to climb. And that wasn’t going to happen. Obviously. Finally, the first officer, a woman who was also practically my age, took over and knew what to do. She pushed the nose down to get air moving over the wings and applied full power. It worked.

KAREN: And what were you doing? As this was happening?

EMILY: My job. I was the only flight attendant on that little plane. I was in my horrible Sharon Stone seat, and I reminded everyone that I wanted their gear stowed. I told the people in the exit rows to be calm and be ready. And I told everyone to get their heads down and to brace. I still hear my voice in my head: Brace, brace, brace.

KAREN: And you landed safely.

EMILY: The TSA computer-modeled the flight because it was such a nightmarish near crash. I’ve watched the simulation a couple of times. The first time I watched it, I threw up into the trash can beside my computer. Literally. I got nauseous. I got sick. But the morning after that flight? I flew. I checked out of the hotel, met the crew, went to the airport, and took off. We had a new pilot. And I had four turns that day: Cleveland–New York–Charlotte–Philly–Burlington. All uneventful. When we landed safely, I swore to myself I would tell Vladimir to go fuck himself.

KAREN: But you didn’t.

EMILY: No. I didn’t. (Beat.) There were others, weren’t there? Or there will be. Other girls.

KAREN: What do I know? (Beat.)

EMILY: You know enough. I’m gonna do it.

KAREN: Confront him?

EMILY: See him. If I can do this, I can face him. I can make sure he lives with what he did, too.

KAREN: After London?

EMILY (Nodding.): Yeah. Right after London.

Pause as KAREN digests this. She looks out the window, sees something and smiles.

KAREN: Switch seats.

EMILY: What?

KAREN: Switch seats. Look out the window.

EMILY is perplexed, but she obeys, and they switch seats so EMILY has the window seat.

Then EMILY leans forward, angles herself so she can see out the window, and almost presses herself against the glass like a child.

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