As I casually seated myself into the first-class airplane seat surrounded by
what appeared to me to be other individuals bound for Bosnia, I reclined my
seat back and placed my single bag I had taken aboard with me underneath my
seat.
"Going to Bosnia, dear?" An elderly woman caught my attention and I quickly
turned around.
"Why, yes. Are you? Or are you getting off at-"
"No, no, I am going. My son was stationed out in Bosnia, and I need to go
out and see him. I am traveling with my husband," the woman patted the
shoulder of an older man, eyes twinkeling. "He is in a hospital- something
about the bomb striking mearby."
"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that." Turning back into my previous position, I
reached beside me and pulled out my Quest Laptop, when a man of about twenty-
five dragged my eyes away. He seemed to be headed towards the rear of the
plane. He reminded me of- no. No, it just couldn't have been. That's not
possible. If Jonny wanted to come to Bosnia, the way through the Red Cross was
on one of the commercial planes, spotting for the airfare. He would have taken
the dragonfly. I began to miss my home once again, and wondered how my family
was. Though I couldn't help glancing back every so often once he surprised me
by seating himself only a few isles away. His hair was blonder than anyone-
other than Jonny- I had ever seen. I could just make out the piercing blue
eyes and pearl white teeth I knew from somewhere......
"Hi. Um...is this row..." I looked down at my airplane stub. Great. This guy
'll burp his way to Bosnia. As I seated myself next to an overweight slob, I
turned away, in hopes to avoid his garlic breath. That was when someone caught
my eye- her fire-red hair calmly lay along her back, and I could have sworn it
was Jessie. It couldn't have been- she was probably in that big office of hers
trying to find a cure for the common cold. But I couldn't help wondering......
The whole flight to Bosnia I was stuck next to a drunken John Candy. Relieved
the second we landed from our flight, I promptly stood up, snatched my things
and rushed off the plane, though I couldn't help noticing a pair of green eyes
following me.
That couldn't have been Jonny, I thought to myself. Get it out of your head,
Bannon! That's just not him! Maybe you and he were going to be a couple, but
that was then, anyway. Just stop fooling yourself and screwing up your mind,
okay!?!
The moment I stepped out of the plane I noticed a group of people standing
around two large vans with the words, "American Red Cross" painted on the
side. This must be my ride, I thought as I walked onto the second of the two
vans. As the van began to leave the runway to the ombing site many people,
skinny and without any nourishment stole my heart. I so badly wanted to help
the poor, ragged people, and I tried to block them out and set my mind on my
priorities. Once we got to the bombing site, it was worse than I could ever
have imagined. Dead bodies and bleeding people were scattered everywhere, and
a small shack was set up amist it all with a large red cross plastered on it.
Assuming that was where I was to be stationed, I, along with about twenty
others, left the van and greeted Mrs.Dole at the front of the shack.
"Thank you, thank you all," she smiled. "You have no idea what this means to
these people. But you must be careful, there have been many air raids around
here lately, and- oh, no. EVERYBODY INTO THE SHACK!" I whipped around as the
sound of enemy Japanese fighter engines whirled throughout the air. As we all
piled into the shack, I lay low and covered my head, bullets raining from the
sky like metal raindropps. I don't know exactly what happened- I remember
screams, then the smell of burnt flesh, smoke, and the shack catching fire as
the sound of the engines faded.
"What...happened?" As I looked around, all I could see was thick, black
smoke, then the feeling of two powerful arms around me, carrying me away. I
tried hard not to breathe in the poisoness fumes, and as I was pulled out of
the shack, it began to rain a stinging liquid that felt like hot acid. Looking
back at where I lay a few moments prior, all I saw waere the once-shabby walls
as dust, and dead bodies scattered around. I was covered with blood, and the
person who brought me out- I couldn't see who he was, helped me to stand amist
it all. Somehow I was certain I had felt those hands before....
"It's okay," his voice whispered. "We'll get away from here." He helped me
walk away from the sight by just a few feet, then we stopped and he took his
brown, heavy coat and placed it around me. "It'll get cold fast," he sighed.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes," I replied slowly. I was shaken, but alright. "Are they all..."
"Dead? Yeah, I think so. I'm surprised we got out. Everyone was dead- I knew
that, but I saw you move so I was sure you weren't. I can't believe this
happened."
"Yeah, me, neither. And it looks like we're about on our own."
"I know it. The blast tore up just about everything I had. Even my
communicator-"
"Your what? You have a communicator?"
"I did...but this is all that's left of it." The man, face blood-stained and
dirt smeared across it, reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a few
wires."
"Man- these look like the kinds of wires that Benton used to put together-"
"What? Benton? Do you mean Benton Quest? How do you know him?"
"The question right now is where did you get your hands on one of his
communicators? Oh- government type-guy, right?"
"No, I've had it since I was fifteen. That's when my dad upgraded it into an
ever more sophisticated communicator." As he placed his arm around me I felt
what I had been longing all these years. Gazing up into his eyes, I could
identify immidietly who I was looking at.
"Jonny? Jonny, it's me. Jonny, it's me!"
I knew who I was looking at right away. I didn't think that it could have
been- but it was. My God it was her! It was Jess! After all that time, I saved
her in Bosnia!
"Jessie? Jess, is that you?"
"I think so! Jonny, I missed you!"
"Me, too! I can't believe this!"
"Looks like you saved me again." I bear-hugged Jessie, and she reached down
into her pocket and pulled out an old communicator.
"I've been carrying it around with me llike a good-luck charm. Ever since
you upgraded, it hasn't worked!" She pulled out a nail-file, unscrewed the
back, and stuck in the two wires somehow. It worked! We actually contacted the
compound all that ways away- I didn't think it was possible, other than the
slight possibility that a satelite could have been passing overhead.
After I got hold of the compound, relief overcame me. And now to think that
Jonny and I might have had a second chance! that is- untill I looked down at
his hand...
"Jonny? You got married?"
"Well, yeah. It was kinda' a sudden-elopement thing. Katie and I..."
"That's, well, great!" I managed to forge out a smile, though that was all I
could do. I fell asleep there, right in his arms, untill the roaring sound of
the dragonfly overhead awoke me. For the first time in years, I was going
home.
1997 Katie "Jessie" A.
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