Excerpt: What Just Happened?

Chapter 1

For most people looking out of an airplane window is a sign of joy. Or of curiosity. Or even of fear, a focused stare at the trembling wing attached to the side of the plane, as if staring at it will prevent it from the dreaded breaking or tearing away from the plane. To Tamara Fields this was not the case. Although she stared out of the window like any other passenger on board of the plane, her staring was different. Most of the time, when people find themselves on board of an airplane, they are off to do something they look forward to. They will finally go on that holiday they have been planning for at least a year. Or they will be on board on their return from that holiday, which had been fun, but there really is no place like home. In a sense that flight back could be considered to be almost as exciting as the flight they first experienced. How did the plants do in their absence? Did the neighbors take good care of Mr. Pinky the cat?

Of course there are the business suits, who spend the entire flight rattling away on their laptops. Men and women who do this for a living. Who are on the red eye flights on a weekly basis. Perhaps to them the only excitement they feel is the victory of a job well done, or the nerves before an important meeting.

But Tamara looked down at the blanket of different shades of green and wished she could stay right there. On the plane. The houses and cars below got smaller and smaller as the airplane rose up higher into the sky, wisps of cloud at times obscuring her sight. As if she could see anything recognizable from this height. As if she could see the Christmas decorations. But when she closed her eyes, she could still see it all. Feel it all. Experience it all. Both worlds. Home. And the place she had just left.

But for how long can a person keep their eyes shut?