Dreams Unleashed (30 page)

The takeoff was a little rough, due to the storm that had moved in. The sky was dark. We had some turbulence during the flight, but it wasn't horrible. Being in a Boeing 717 commuter jet was much better than being in a prop plane.

"So what are you doing in Portland?" the blond woman next to me asked.

"Just going down for a day trip," I replied, giving no information.

"I'm going down for a meeting..." she offered, trying to generate conversation.

"And who do you work for?" I asked, obliging.

"Microsoft. I direct sales for a new product line," she replied, boasting.

She's doing well at Microsoft
, I thought, looking at her.

Blondie was about my age and height, but she looked a little anorexic. She quite obviously had some plastic surgery help with her bosom, as I could see the outline of her ribs, below her size D. Blondie wore enormous diamonds in her engagement and wedding rings, a diamond bracelet, and though I couldn't tell for certain, I was sure her clothes came from an expensive designer.

She continued, "I do well there, but I have a two-year-old daughter, and I wish I didn't have to travel so much, so I could spend more time with her. Right now, I think she spends more time with the nanny than with me."

"Oh, that's sad," I said sincerely, looking at her.

"I know. It took four series of in-vitro fertilization before it took, and now that I have her, it's just
so much work
! I don't know what I'd do without the nanny," she said, perplexed.

For twenty minutes, Blondie continued exposing her personal information, telling me how her husband wasn't that interested in sex since she had their child and how difficult her team at Microsoft was to deal with. I tuned out, being ill-equipped to lend compassion to this woman who was my antithesis. I realized that we hadn't even exchanged names. It was only a fifty-minute flight, but she was quickly exhausting me.

Forty minutes into the flight, we started bouncing all over the sky. Other passengers near me were visibly disturbed, as was Blondie; I could tell from her white knuckles as she gripped our joint armrest. It was the worst turbulence I had ever been in. I knew it was pretty bad by the silence from the pilot and copilot. I rode the swells. My neighbor abruptly stopped talking, which I was grateful for.

Our plane was not only dropping altitude from time to time, but it was listing and pitching, seemingly uncontrollably. I watched out the window, and as I did so, our jet took a direct hit from lightning---right on the wing---close to my window. It blinded me and lighted up the inside of the plane. I immediately felt energy move through the wing and into the cabin; I had never felt anything like that before. At that same moment, thunder overcame every other sound, including the jet engines; I could feel the deep sound resonate in my chest. My seatmate grabbed my arm and squeezed, cutting her faux nails into my flesh. Immediately after the lightening hit, the pitching became more radical. Passengers panicked, huddling close to their seatmates out of fear. My seatmate was pushing her shoulder against mine, and she held onto my arm for dear life. Her foot was pushed up on the seat in front of her, trying to stabilize her skinny frame from the lurching.

Not long after the strike, the pilot came over the speaker, saying, "Yes folks, we were just hit by lightning, but we've checked out all our systems, and everything is operational. We are continuing into Portland. Since we're still in turbulence, stay seated."

"Turbulence?" one passenger behind us shouted incredulously.

We were still jumping all over the sky, and I thought my blond companion was going to barf all over me.

As our jet was on approach for Portland airport, we were still lurching up and down. Just before the wheels touched down, the jet suddenly pitched, starting to turn sideways, one wing up and one wing down, and we began to twist, as though we would cartwheel sideways.

The cabin filled with the terror of people praying, screaming, and crying. Luggage large and small tumbled from the overhead bins and was thrown all over the cabin. I dodged someone's purse and turned to look out my window. The wing was about to hit the tarmac.

I was surprised that I felt no fear.

Instead, I felt an inexplicable sense of peace. I knew that we would not live through the crash, and in a nanosecond I remembered flashes from my life with Armond, Elinor, Dad, Aunt Saundra, and others. Falling in love in São Paulo...Elinor's birth...sailing the San Juans in the
Woohoo
...kayaking with Orcas...the Red Sea restaurant...swing dancing at Glen Echo park...skiing....

Then I remembered Armond's last words. "The Herkimer," he'd said. "Believe...." And I reached up to feel the crystal hanging from the chain around my neck.

About the Author

The Prophecies series you're reading was born just after I survived a near-crash in a passenger jet. Thankfully, I lived to write this trilogy; I hope you will agree. Nearly all of the technologies, conditions, and places in my books are real. The characters and their actions are fictional. I wrote The Prophecies because I had something to say. It is my hope that you will have something to say once you read it. I have written a dystopian world, but when you read the third and final book, you'll realize that The Prophecies is about hope. I think all stories should be about hope.

Thank you for reading my stories.

Linda

The Prophecies Book Series

Ann Torgeson's adventures continue in Guardian of Time

Book Two of The Prophecies

Click here to purchase Guardian of Time

Guardian of Time synopsis:

It's the near future, and society is government-controlled. Technology tracks everyone, personal privacy does not exist, and even food supplies are being monitored. The hope for freedom lies in the operations of an underground organization, GOG, which fights against worldwide oppression. Their most powerful weapon is Ann Torgeson, a paranormally-gifted operative, who unseals The Prophecies with her powers. With the government doggedly pursuing her, she goes underground, fleeing the Pacific Northwest, but not before leaving three murders, one suicide, and an explosion behind her. Will she and her companions survive to change the world, after everything twists and turns upside down?

To view insider's tidbits of The Prophecies, read an interview with the author, and ask questions about the series, visit:

LindaHawley.com

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