A lil something I wrote before bed last night: "TERMINAL" It’s late in the evening around 11:30 on a Saturday night, on this Decembers eve, the temperature outside the airline terminal is a frigid minus eight degrees below zero, with the wind chill factor. Inside the airplane terminal in Belgium, Thomas Winsford, is oblivious to it all, communicating back and forth with his wife back home in America; she is due to give birth to their first child any day now, and Tom cannot wait to get back home, missing the birth of his firstborn, is a nightmare he has been having for the last three weeks. Tom, a successful vice president in marketing for J.L. Triton L.L.C., has finally sealed the deal on the biggest merger, in his company’s history; and could not wait to get back to America, and leave the memories of sleepless and lonely nights in Europe behind. Tom’s wife Becky, has had Tom on the phone for at least three hours, and did not seem to be running out of steam anytime soon, while Tom has been wandering around the terminal with his cell phone attached to his ears; making him oblivious to everything around him, to avoid missing his flight, he set the alarm on his watch to alert him when it was his time to board his flight Between his wife venting about her own personal anxieties, and Tom’s nerves, they had both made for a volatile combination, and Tom decides to end the call and relieve himself in the bathroom. Finally, feeling a bit better, while on the toilet, Tom decides to read the texts he had missed from his colleagues and partners at the firm, during the duration of the three and a half hour call with his wife. The door to the bathroom abruptly opens and who ever enters, occupies the stall adjacent to Tom’s, Tom, oblivious too it all, pays little attention, and continues his business. Whoever is in the stall next to Tom, is obviously in great discomfort, and has no problem making it known, by exploiting vulgarities, moaning and groaning, finally getting Tom’s attention. Tom feeling compelled to assist him, asks if there is anything he can do, the unknown man answers by saying yes, that he had ran out of toilet paper and asked if Tom could hand him some under the bathroom stall, Tom agrees and reaches down; to hand him some. As Tom reaches under with the toilet paper, his hand is grasped tightly and squeezed with immense force, too tightly for him to retract, he starts to scream and bang on the stall, almost forcing him off his seat. Tom is finally released, and all he can hear is a maddening chuckle coming from the stall next door, tom tries his hardest to compose himself as he is yelling and calling whoever was in the other stall obscenities. While Tom reaches down to grab his pants, pictures are tossed from the adjacent stall to Tom’s feet, of his wedding, his home, kitchen, bedroom, and lastly; of his wife sleeping in bed, appearing to be in the later stage of her pregnancy. Gasping for air, and falling back to his seat, he runs his hands from his forehead to the back of his neck and sighs for a moment, and then without warning a fit of rage comes over him and he tries to open the door of the stall but it won’t open, he looks under the door and notices someone is standing on the other side. Tom falls back on the seat again, and in a rage asks aloud what they want. After a moment of silence, he is responded to by a deep and raspy sinister tone, that for starters, if Tom ever wanted to see his wife again, he must hand over his cell phone; or his wife would be dead by sunrise. Without hesitation Tom stands up, but is told to sit down, and toss it under the door, Tom does as he is told. Tom could hear whoever it was on the other side pressing numbers on his phone, Tom yells out, asking what they are looking for, but is only answered by silence. After about thirty seconds or so, the phone is tossed back to Tom, but this time the battery was removed and SIM card. Tom then asks what now, and he could hear the door open and the stall next door slams shut, the toilet seat creaks, as whoever it was sits on it, he then tells Tom he is about to hand him a briefcase, he is told not to open it, if he does a device will go off and his wife will be killed, he is also told not to contact the police or any authorities or his wife will be killed. Tom is ordered to board the plane as planned and to carry on just as he would normally, to not draw any suspicion to himself or attention, or his wife will be killed; and if he arouses suspicion for any reason, and if the briefcase is taken or confiscated for any reason, his wife will be killed. Tom is told that once he lands at LAX airport he is to go straight to the men’s room adjacent the Coffee House by gate 13 and retrieve a black cell phone wrapped in cellophane from the men’s bathrooms garbage can, once he retrieves it, he is to dial the call button and await further instructions, if he does not comply; his wife will be killed. Tom unsure if he should speak, waits for a moment, then again asks why, the man in the stall simply retorts by saying, fate has no boundaries, and tells him to count to two hundred, and then he can exit the stall and go on about his business, he is told that if he leaves one moment sooner, his wife will be killed. The man exits the stall, steps in front of the mirror, composes himself, turns off the lights and tells Tom to begin counting; and the man vanishes off into the terminal like a ghost, Tom starts counting. Tom is now completely besides himself, so to be on the safe side, Tom counts to three hundred and then decides to leave the stall, he approaches the sink, washes his hands, then starts to wash his face, while doing so, he stops and looks in the mirror and starts screaming into it; calling himself a coward and starts pulling his hair, and punching himself in the head, a younger boy comes in, walks over to Tom, tugs on his jacket and asks him if he is alright. Tom immediately stops his rant and starts to compose himself, kneels down to the boy, puts his hands on his shoulders and tells him that he is a famous actor in America, and he was just rehearsing for a major role, the boy looking unconvinced; shrugs his shoulders, laughs, and tells Tom that he has never heard of him, and the boy walks off into the same stall that Tom just exited, Tom just stares off and mumbles under his breath. Suddenly, Tom’s wristwatch goes off, alerting him to board his flight, snapping him back into reality, once again he looks into the mirror, this time fantasizing about him and his wife Becky, holding their newborn son; he passionately stares into the mirror saying, I can do this, I can do this, then exits the men’s room and heads for the gate. As normal as Tom desperately tries to appear; he cannot stop sweating profusely, a habit he has under stressful conditions, but under such circumstances as these, he is sweating twice, if not three times more than normal and has just passed an undercover security agent, that has picked up on him. Tom has no idea that at any moment his cover may be blown and how his whole life could take a dramatic turn for the worse, with or without even knowing what is in the briefcase that he is unwillingly carrying. As Tom approaches the security terminal, he notices extra personal approaching as well, Tom becomes even more anxious and feels faint. Finally making to the scanner, a TSA agent signals Tom to come forward, Tom agrees and approaches the agents, they ask him if he is alright, and if it is custom for him to sweat so profusely. Tom retorts quickly by stating he has an immense fear of flying, and sweats this much each time he flies, unfortunately for Tom; they are not buying it. A supervisor comes forward and asks Tom to follow him, he is lead to a small stainless steel table, with handcuffs attaches to it and a set of steel chairs, in an enclosed room with cameras in every corner, and it is now Tom, the TSA supervisor and a younger TSA agent as well. Tom immediately asks if it is a crime for sweating and for having an immense fear of flying, he is the then told no it is not, but is rebutted from statements from the boy in the bathroom, and camera footage monitoring him using the phone only 30 minutes before, looking happy and rested, compared to a disgruntled and sweaty mess right now; and without a proper explanation, it looks like a good reason to be a bit concerned, as his job requires him to be, then the supervisor finishes scolding Tom, and sits back in his chair, and asks Tom to explain himself. Tom’s mother had a life-threatening phobia for flying, and was educated in the likes of it, through his father to made every attempt possible to break it but to no avail; this gave Tom and educated and merited explanation to a cause and effect of a class 1 phobia of fear of flying fortified with a medical explanation to fortify it, giving the supervisor no choice but to cut him some slack. The supervisor and agent leave the room in silence, and within minutes he is escorted to another room and asked to take his shoes off and remove all the contents on his person, and to place his briefcase on the table, he cooperates, and is then asked to perform several exercises, once completed he sits back down. The attendant asks him if that is the only luggage he has, Tom says no, that he has 3 bags checked in luggage; they take his bag claim tickets, scan it, and return the tickets back to him. The supervisor re-appears and asks Tom what is the contents in the briefcase, Tom hesitant to reply, just stares off into space, the supervisor repeats himself, Tom looks at the clock, then turns to the supervisor, wipes the sweat from his brow tells him its empty, the Supervisor begins to laugh, asking Tom if he thinks he is an idiot. Tom tells him it is his lucky suitcase and he will not fly without it, quick thinking was Tom’s strong point. The supervisor demands his officers to open it, but finds it unlocked, they ask Tom for the key, and Tom tells them, he never carries it, because its unlocked, they are not amused, so it is x-rayed and appears empty, they order it unlocked and when opened it is bare, to Tom and the agents surprise it is unused with the manufacturer’s warranty manual still inside, one agent mumbles the words weird, they slam it shut give it back to Tom, apologize and send him off on his way to catch his flight.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 14:00:59 +0000
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