hi all😃Here is an OS written by my sister..I'm posting it here on her behalf..
hope you guys like it...😳
It had been just another day at work for Ananya when she set out for work at 7 in the morning. Like every day, she was dropped at the airport and the ground staff welcomed her with morning greetings and some greeted her with whatever' kind of expressions. She smiled at all of them and reached the flight coordinator's office only to be met by one person she had come to detest at the first meeting itself; it was Akash.
He sat there twiddling thumbs and ready to pounce on her with another accusation, maybe. She didn't care.
"First officer, here's your schedule for the day..go through it" the flight coordinator handed her a printed sheet. An involuntary "oh no!!" escaped her lips when she saw it.
"What's the matter officer?" the coordinator asked.
"Umm..nothing I was just.." she gave him a sheepish smile. The truth was, her first trip of the day was going to be with Mr. Grumpy' Akash and she wasn't too thrilled about it. Ananya chose to be quiet about this matter but to her surprise Akash voiced his concern.
"Sir, you've put me on the same flight with this lady? This must be some mistake..Can you get it rectified please.." Akash spoke in a gentle but firm manner with only a hint of annoyance.
"That's not possible I'm afraid, the flight will be taking off in half an hour..so you two have a nice flight to Jaipur" the coordinator wished them and left the place stating that he had an urgent phone call to attend.
Ananya dreaded the next three hours she was going to spend with this guy, cooped up in a tiny cockpit and forced to hear his chauvinistic opinions about all women in particular.
Half an hour passed like years and finally they were seated next to each other, each one purposely looking in other direction. Permission was granted for take-off and they were airborne in seconds.
Natasha came into the cabin with a wrapped package for Akash and Ananya ignored her. "This is for you Akash..my daddy specially brought it from US..It's the finest champagne available..don't share it with anyone else ok, it's only for you" she squeaked.
Ananya well recognized that the barb in her words was directed at Ananya herself.
"How do you stand that girl? Isn't she little too much?" she couldn't help remarking and regretted her words the next second.
"Why? Are you jealous?" Akash flashed a know-it-all' smile for her. "Of course I'm not.." she said.
She swore in her mind to not speak a louder word in this cabin until they safely landed in Jaipur. But she was forced to.
An hour had passed since they had taken off from Delhi airport and they were flying over a dense forest when tragedy struck. An eagle flying without a care in the world, collided with the man made machine which put a full stop to his carefree wandering and sucked his carcass inside.
A bird hit is one of the most feared dangers for an aircraft and it was only the third flight Ananya was flying. The left side engine of the airplane had caught fire and slowly the smoke would take over the entire aircraft sending passengers into fear. She had to do something! She had to land safely, like NOW..
"Captain Akash, the engine is on fire!! What do we do?" she spoke up in alarm.
Before he could answer, they heard a commotion outside the cockpit. As they looked, the cockpit's door was forced open and a burly man wearing a mask and a thick overcoat entered the cabin.
"Turn the flight towards Kashmir..Quick!!" he warned them with a pistol and opened his coat to reveal the ammunition inside. He was a suicide bomber!!
"If you play the fool with me, I'm going to blow up the plane..so do what I say, you two!!" he threatened them.
Could anything go more wrong? Anaya thought. No perhaps..They were going to die anyway and this guy was trying to kill them before their fate; call it serendipity.
While Ananya battled with her thoughts, Akash had stood up from his seat chucking his headphone down, she noticed it only now..
What was he doing? As she saw he gripped the intruder's collar by one hand and overpowered him by throwing him onto the floor.
"What the hell are you doing Akash? We'll all die if the bomb.." she couldn't complete her words.
"The bomb is fake and we are safe..At least we are safe until we crash" Akash told her.
"How do you..? Umm never mind" she thought the better of her question. Something else awaited her with immediate need. Akash had managed to get the gun away from the terrorist as well and with the help of a rope supplied by the cabin crew, the miscreant was tied up and was made to crouch in a distant corner.
The engine was going to burst anytime soon and a precious lot of time had been wasted already. Ananya closed her eyes with exasperation and suddenly a newspaper report her father had read to her once, came to her mind.
Long ago, in US a pilot had landed an aero plane in the river, thereby thwarting a potential tragedy and saving the lives of all people inside the plane. That was it!!
But her heart sank when she realized they had to find a water body first, that too large enough to host a plane..
She looked outside and saw something blue in the distance, the Arabian Sea!! The coast that lined Gujarat and the nearby areas..yes yes!!!
For the next few minutes, Ananya forgot to breathe as she explained her plan of action to Akash and they prepared everyone for an emergency landing. The passengers had been shaken already by the fake suicide bomber and some of them prayed to various gods to save their lives.
Fifteen minutes later, there was uproar inside the plane as they broke the surface of the water and landed in the sea with a loud bang. The engine had burst but there was no damage as the water had cooled the fire successfully. The nearest airport authorities had been contacted and help arrived to ferry the soaked passengers to safety of the land.
After they bid everyone good bye, the two former enemies walked beside each other towards the temporary accommodation they were allotted for the rest of the day.
"Captain, how did-"
"You-"
Both spoke at same time and smiled in unison. "Ladies first" Akash announced.
"Okay, so how did you know it was a fake bomb? I mean how could you be so sure about it?" Ananya asked.
"I served five years in the Indian Army, flying fighter jets and defusing some bombs along the way.." He spoke casually not in a boastful manner.
"And you landed the plane with so much confidence..What if your plan had backfired first officer? We could have died mid air.. but I appreciate your presence of mind..great job" he praised her.
"Thank you captain..I simply couldn't die.. You know I have a family whom I'm answerable to" Ananya summed up her feeling in one sentence.
"You think it's only you who has a family and others don't?" he said mischievously.
Surely some things would never change but something did change today. She looked at him and realized that he was not the arrogant or chauvinistic brute she had thought him to be. It was going to be a long flight back home and this time she was glad she had Akash with her.
"Friends?" she offered her hand and he shook it. And they walked towards the hotel.
Thank you for reading😳
comment:
p_commentcount