Hello!

This is a short story I wrote, based off the song At the Bottom of Everything, by the artist Bright Eyes.





In a large passenger plane, Halia Lorayne sat, slouched idly in her window-side seat. She brushed aside a strand of hair from her face, and thoughtfully stared out the window at the sky. It was blue that day; a rich, bright shade of blue that made it quite difficult to discern where it and ocean met. The plane was moving over the Pacific Ocean, and there was nothing to be seen except sky and water. Her first few trips over the largest ocean in the world had left her fascinated and in awe. It amazed her to see how big the Pacific actually was. Sure, she knew it was big before, but never really realized how big until she had flown over it. But now, the awe was gone. She had been over and back so many times big was simply how it was.

She sighed and turned her attention from the sky to the man seated beside her. He appeared to be asleep at the moment, his head tilted back over the top of his chair in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. She thought he was a decently handsome looking person. His face was thin and bony, with high, sunken cheek bones, and a hooked nose that reminded Halia of a hawk. His eyes were sunk deep into their sockets, and behind those closed lids were some of the most brilliant green eyes she had ever seen.

For a while, she had tried to start conversations with him, but after what seemed like hours on the plane the only time she had really heard him talk was when he ordered his Bloody Mary. Her eyes wandered down to his thin, bony hands. They were quite delicate looking, almost like a girl's. On his right ring finger was a thin, white-gold ring. While it looked quite simple and mediocre at first glance, at closer inspection Halia realized that it was a very pretty ring.

Holding her hand close to the window, she lovingly examined the ring on her own finger, a was a small band of gold with a beautiful ruby in the center. In the light the red gem sparkled wonderfully. She had been engaged for nearly seven months now, and could hardly wait for the upcoming wedding. Work frequently brought her fiancé overseas, so she didn't see him as much as she would like. He was, however, the primary reason for her trip today, and she was looking forward to being with him again.

The man beside her sat up and stretched the best he could in what space he had, and began cracking his knuckles. Halia turned to him and asked, “Are you married?” it sounded quite forced and random, and she grimaced slightly upon saying it. He gave her a small nod and a slight smile, then leaned back and closed his eyes again.

She sighed quietly to herself, and looked around for some way to preoccupy herself for the remainder of the trip. There were a few magazines stuffed into a back pocket of the seat in front of her, and she pulled one out and began to idly flip through it. She settled on an arduous article about some third world country whose name she couldn't even pronounce. Her thoughts kept wandering, and she became increasingly bored and despondent.

Suddenly, the plane's engines became much louder than before, and began to sputter on and off before finally shutting off all together. As the plane began to rapidly lose altitude, the pilot's voice came over the intercom, saying “Oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry!”

Almost everyone on the plane was in a panic. Some were screaming in terror, while others just clung to each other with shut eyes.

Halia turned to man in the seat beside her, and screamed, “Where are we going?!”

He turned toward her, and she noticed he was crying. He put one of his bony hands on her shoulder, and said, “We're going to a party. It's a birthday party. It's your birthday party. Happy Birthday darling, we love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much.” Then he hugged her, and began to sing into her ear.

At first, she tried to push him off, convinced his mind had snapped under the pressure, but suddenly she felt comforted. She didn't know whether it was the warmth of his embrace, the calm, steadiness of his voice as he sang, or something else entirely, but what she did know was that she felt at peace.

Above the chaos, the words of his song rang in her ear,

While my mother waters plants
My father loads his guns
He says death will give us back to god
Just like this setting sun is returned to this lonesome ocean

She smiled as she returned the hug, and silently wept on his shoulder,

Just then, the plane splashed into the deep blue sea.

It was a wonderful splash.






Any comments or criticism is welcome, please let me know what you think. :orcgrin:

This might sound strange but.. it was absurd, in a good way. I´m not sure what to say really, but I liked it. The only criticism I can think of is that it went a bit too fast when the engines stopped working, I think that would have deserved more room than just two lines.. but maybe that was part of the "randomness" of it all..

Haven't heard this song unfortunately, which album is it from?

Thanks for the comment.

Saying it's absurd doesn't sound that strange to me, I was told by someone else it was disturbing...

I know what you mean about more time between the engine failure and when they hit the water, but I ran out of things to add. Any suggestions?

The song is from the CD I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. I probably should add that it's more of a story then a song... I guess. He just talks for the first 50 seconds or so before singing.

I think this is the first time I've seen some of your work. Over all, I'd say you're off to a great start.


I have nothing else to say other then what Maedhros said. So, um keep up the good work! ;)

I also have to agree that the story was a bit bizarre and disturbing... but I'm also guessing that this is what you were going for...

The overall effect was really strong, as I think most people can relate to the woman, and how her situation next to this strange man and the circumstances surrounding them both are so uncomfortable.

It was well done... I finished wondering if the man was the reason for the plan crash (which is why he was quite the whole time... nervous... waiting) or if fate just affected everyone, making even the most unsocial people reach out in their time of need...

Well... anyway, good stuff. Not a warm and fuzzy story, that is for sure. ;)