Frank had been working hard over the past few months. Anna knew he needed a break, and they desperately needed time together. Over the past week, Anna had gathered several brochures for exotic vacations in the hopes of redeeming lost time and renewing Frank’s mental strength.
She planned to present them to him tonight after dinner. One of the trips she would suggest was to Argentina. She had never traveled out of the country and though they weren’t old, they certainly weren’t spring chickens either. She yearned to experience other cultures and hoped this would be the beginning of several new adventures with Frank.
“Besides,” she thought, “ you never know when it’s your time to go.” She made that statement often over the years, followed with, “I love you!” and a hug. She mentioned it to her children as they left for school, to her husband as he headed out to work, and always after arguments with anyone in the family. She felt it was important that her family knew, without a doubt, how much they were truly loved.
She had no doubt of Frank’s love for her and the family. She knew he would do anything for her and the children. Every night he would kiss her. Then, when he thought she was asleep, he would thank God for blessing him. He had performed this ritual for over 10 years. Like a Redwood, their love had grown stronger and more brilliant with each passing year.
“How much do you love me?” Anna asked, hands under her chin and eyebrows raised.
Frank rolled his eyes, “What do you want?” he asked playfully.
Anna laid down some colorful pamphlets on the little island counter in the kitchen where Frank was drinking his coffee.
He examined the pamphlets. “A once in a lifetime experience,” Frank began to read, “see the majestic Grand Canyon from the sky, the way it was meant to be seen. Who writes these?” He set the first one down and moved on to the next one, “Have you ever wanted to see Yellowstone National Park from the eyes of an eagle?” Frank rolled his eyes again, “So, is this a bucket list thing, or what?”
“Not really, well, maybe. I just thought it’d be nice to get away for a couple of days and do something unique.”
Frank looked at his wife, thinking of how beautiful she was and nodded, “I suppose it’s been a while since we’ve had a break,” He picked up the next pamphlet, “Let’s see what else we’ve got here, ‘Scenic air tour of the Everglades.’ I’m beginning to see a pattern here.”
Anna smiled, “I’ve never been on an airplane tour and I’d rather do that than go on an over-crowded tour of an over-crowded tourist trap on an over-crowded, rickety bus.”
Frank laughed softly and shook his head, “I take it you don’t want to go anywhere over-crowded.”
Anna gave him an exaggerated nod.
“Alright, well, we’re definitely not going on the Everglades one, they spelled Everglades with two D’s and if they can’t figure out spell check, I’m not sure I trust them to fly an airplane.”
“Well, there’s more.” Anna pushed the last pamphlet in front of Frank.
He sipped his coffee as he looked it over, “Hmm. Argentina coastal air tour.”
Anna walked around and sat on the stool next to Frank.
“This is the one I really wanted to go on. It’s out of the country and I’ve never been out of the country.” There was an obvious dreamy tone in her voice.
Frank thought about it for a moment. “Well, I’ll look into it. We’ll have to get passports and such before we go, and I’m not sure how expensive this will be.”
Anna jumped off of her stool with excitement and squeezed her husband tight, kissing his face rapidly, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The next day, Frank found a deal on tickets and made the reservations for the airplane tour of the Argentina coast. Frank rarely hesitated to act when his wife was excited about something.
The following Saturday, Frank told Anna he needed to run an errand and asked if she would come with him.
“Alright, what errand?” she inquired.
Frank smiled and said, “It’s a surprise.”
Anna gave him a curious look and they left. After a short drive, they pulled into the parking lot of the local license bureau and Anna turned to Frank a little puzzled, “The BMV,” she stated, “it’s what I’ve always wanted, Frank, to renew my license early.”
Frank laughed and replied, “Well, this is where we get our pictures taken for our passports.”
Anna’s eyes widened as she realized what that meant. “But I thought,” she started, “I mean, you were going to… I mean, did you?”
Frank just nodded. Anna nearly pulled Frank out of the seat as she hugged him with all her strength. She then leaned back excitedly and asked, “When?”
“Two weeks. We’ll leave Saturday morning, get to the hotel late Saturday night, and Sunday morning we meet the pilot and take our coastal tour. Afterwards we have three days to see some sights, maybe lounge around a bit in the hotel, and then head home again on Friday. I figured we’d want the weekend to recoup.”
Frank could tell Anna could hardly wait. From the moment they were waiting in line to get their pictures, to the night before they were scheduled to leave; she could hardly sit still for more than a minute.
“Sweetheart, did I pack my tablet?” Frank called down the stairs to his wife, who was putting neatly folded clothes into the two open suitcases sitting on the couch.
“No, I think it’s in the office,” she yelled back.
“I’m in the office,” Frank replied.
With a quick sigh, Anna put the last stack of socks into Frank’s suitcase and walked up the steps into the office where Frank frantically searched his cluttered desk. Anna calmly put her left hand on Frank’s shoulder and leaned over his desk. Under a manila folder; amongst the carnage of paperwork, books, and various office supplies; she retrieved his tablet. Smiling, she handed it to him.
“I’m sorry, I swear I looked there.”
She nodded and kissed him gently on the cheek. “I know, sweetie, calm down. We don’t leave for another ten hours.”
Frank watched his wife walk back downstairs thinking to himself how lucky he was to have such a wonderful and understanding woman to spend the rest of his life with. He always got this way before a trip, flustered, anxious, and a little frantic.
The problem with trips for Frank was that every time he left, he always felt as though he forgot something, so he would try extra hard to make sure he didn’t–which made him frantic and inevitably caused him to forget something. It was good that Anna usually compensated for this by always knowing what Frank would forget.
Although Anna was very excited about the trip, she had very little trouble sleeping. Frank, on the other hand, could not seem to fall asleep. He laid staring at the ceiling for nearly an hour before he finally drifted off.
The next morning, Anna was up thirty minutes before Frank, and already had breakfast ready when he slowly lumbered down to the kitchen.
“I made eggs on toast”, Anna chirped.
“Thank you, my sweetness,” Frank said in his normal morning grogginess.
“The suitcases are by the door, when you’re ready to take them to the car.”
Frank sat down at the table with an almost sloth-like motion. “Alright, I’ll get them in a moment,” he grumbled.
Anna sat a plate in front of Frank as he squinted and looked around, his usual routine for waking himself up. Anna set two glasses of juice on the table and sat down. She stared at Frank for almost three minutes before he finally asked, “What?”
She smiled again, brushed his cheek with her hand and said, “We leave for our adventure today!”
Frank smiled and nodded.
After breakfast, Frank loaded the luggage into the car while Anna locked up the house. On the drive to the airport, Anna spent most of the time convincing Frank that they were perfectly prepared and nothing was forgotten. Frank spent most of the time not believing her.
The airport was busy as expected, but the worst of it was waiting in line to enter the terminal. Frank and Anna arrived thirty minutes before boarding, and only had to wait ten minutes before they got on the plane once they made it through the various security checkpoints.
The flight was fifteen hours, so for most of the trip they did the same thing they always did to pass the time, crossword puzzles.
“What’s a three letter word for a dry, crusty desert?” Anna asked.
Frank thought for a few moments. “A three letter word for a dry, crusty desert,” he repeated. “Hmm, I can only think of a couple deserts, and they’re all more than three letters. What’s one of the cross-words?”
Anna skimmed the list of clues for a moment, then began laughing heartily. Frank looked at his wife with a curious expression. He was pretty sure he knew what had happened.
Anna couldn’t help but burst with laughter. She did this type of thing to Frank often. Either misreading the clue or reading the wrong clue. He never appeared frustrated with her though. He would just look at her with his caring eyes and smile. It seemed as if he was fond of her absurdity.
“Dessert,” Anna finally blurted out, “it’s dessert, not desert.”
Frank smiled and laughed a little. “Pie,” he stated gently.
Frank had always admired Anna’s brilliance, but he also loved her absent mindedness. Everytime she would say that she felt stupid or absurd about it, Frank would tell her it was the mark of genius.
After a time, Anna began nodding off. Frank noticed her head bobbing downward occasionally and suggested sleeping would make the flight go much faster and Anna agreed. She let her head fall to one side, nestled between the seatback and the plastic interior of the plane by the window. Frank had a bit more trouble finding a comfortable position, but after wrestling with his jacket and rolling into a shoulder pillow, he quickly fell asleep as well.
They woke just an hour before landing in Ezeiza International Airport. The airport was much different than any Frank or Anna had been in before. The main area had more the appearance of a giant glass train station than an airport. The high glass ceiling was supported by curved metal girders and the central area was completely open. The marble floor looked like something from a hotel rather than an airport.
Anna looked around and turned to Frank, “Isn’t this exciting?”
Frank examined the shops and baggage claim area, “I’ll let you know when we’re out of the airport.”
Frank wasn’t trying to belittle the experience and Anna knowing this, patiently strode with him to the claims area to retrieve their luggage. Ten minutes or so later, they had their luggage in hand and were heading out of the airport, into a small white taxi, and on their way to La Plata, the capital city of Buenos Aires.
Frank and Anna were amazed at the number of people everywhere. The buildings seemed small everywhere except the main area in La Plata. The hotel seemed, like the other buildings, very small and cramped.
Once they were inside, Frank and Anna were surprised at how nice it looked. Compared to the exterior, it was grand. The walls were all white and there were very intricate paintings everywhere. Most of the paintings were surreal views of the surrounding landscape.
The man at the desk took their names and led them to a small, but comfortable looking room. Frank finally began to relax some–knowing that they had arrived, they had all of their belongings, and tomorrow they would get to embark on the first part of their vacation.
They found a Mediterranean restaurant not too far from the hotel for dinner. Frank watched every expression on Anna’s face and was pleased that she seemed to be enjoying everything so far. He was afraid that the long flight would take too much out of her, but it seemed that the ride into La Plata had renewed her excitement about the whole trip.
Once back at the hotel, they decided to turn in early so they’d be well rested for the air tour the next morning. As usual, Anna had no trouble at all getting to sleep. Frank rolled over to kiss his wife, brushed her hair back, and whispered to her, “I love you with all of my heart, my sweetness, I thank God for you.”
Anna, still partially awake, smiled and sighed. Frank laid back and was almost immediately asleep.
The Aero Club la Plata wasn’t very large. Frank could see the plane they were meeting from the taxi on the road into the club. There were two short runways, and some rusty hangars behind a row of small single engine planes. A short, chubby pilot waited sitting on a lawn chair by the plane Frank saw on the website.
“Hello, my name is Lucas, I believe we spoke on the phone,” the man said to Frank as he shook his hand.
“Yes, I’m Frank and this is my wife Anna.”
The pilot shook Anna’s hand.
Frank looked at the plane, “So this is it?”
The plane's red and white wings were mounted above the door to the passenger compartment. The red tail had a black trim and there were noticeable signs of wear on the panels. It looked like some work had recently been done to the front, and the propeller looked very shiny and new–which made Frank feel a little better.
“She’s a good flier,” Lucas started, seeing Frank’s worried expression, “I’ve logged about four hundred hours in this one, and the engine has just been overhauled.” He pat Frank on the back as he led him towards the door, “Not to worry, sir, I will take good care of you and your wife.”
Frank nodded and tried to do his best not to start worrying about everything.
After they were in their seats, Frank leaned forward to address the pilot, “Hey, if something does happen, what’s the emergency plan?”
The pilot hesitated for just a moment and said, “Well, there are emergency chutes under your seats, but this thing will glide for quite a while, so even if we lost power, I’d be able to get us somewhere safe.”
Frank sat back in his seat and buckled his restraint.
Anna reached across and held Frank’s hand, “We’re going to be fine, my love, let’s enjoy this.”
Frank nodded.
The engine seemed to struggle to start, but once it did, it sounded even and strong. Not that Frank had any experience with that sort of thing, but Lucas didn’t seem too concerned. The take off was surprisingly smooth and as they climbed, Frank actually began to feel much better.
The look on Anna’s face as they passed over the shore at Samborombon Bay made every bit of unease Frank had felt worth it. The pilot informed them that they’d be climbing to about nine thousand feet before they started their pass of the coastline. Frank watched as the altimeter on the instrument panel slowly climbed.
It seemed like it had only been moments before the engine started to shudder. Frank looked at Lucas, who looked very concerned, “What is it?”
Lucas looked like he was struggling, “I’m not sure, could be the oil press…”
Suddenly there was a loud bang and smoke began pouring from the front of the plane. Frank and Anna watched in horror as the propeller seemed to spin one way, then the other before stopping. A moment later, the front windscreen was blacked out by a thick film of dark oil.
“Can you land us?” Frank shouted to the pilot.
“The flaps are locked and the hydraulics are acting up, I can’t push her nose down, we’re going to roll!”
Frank saw the terrified look on his wife’s face and shouted back to Lucas, “Then what?”
Lucas looked frantic, “Then we dive, I won’t be able to get her back under control after that. I am so sorry!”
Frank reached under his seat, but there was nothing there. “Where’s the chute!” Frank screamed.
Lucas began to cry, “There’s only one under the other seat, I am so sorry! Take it, I am so…” Before Lucas could finish his sentence, Frank was releasing his seatbelt and pulling the chute from under Anna’s seat. He grabbed the release on her belt and started wrapping the straps of the chute around her.
Terrified, Anna shouted, “What are you doing? I won’t …”
Frank put his hand over her mouth, “We don’t have time to discuss this.” As he spoke the plane began to lurch upward, “I will hold on to you, and we’ll go down together, but I need to pull the cord.”
Anna wasn’t sure of anything. Her head was spinning. Everything was happening too quickly, all she could do was listen to Frank.
After securing the straps and buckles on her, Frank grabbed onto her and shouted, “We will be alright, just trust me, this is going to be scary, but you will be alright!”
He pushed the door open and wrapped his arms around her. They rolled out of the plane and began to fall. The sound of the wind was almost deafening and Anna could not tell which way was up for a moment.
Frank had hold of her, that was the important part. They would be okay, they would somehow glide down together after he pulled the chute. Her heartbeat began to slow a little and her thoughts slowed as she calmed herself as much as she could under the circumstances.
Frank counted to twenty and then held Anna as tightly as he could and shouted, “I love you with all of my heart, sweetheart, I thank God for you! You need to be okay, you cannot hate me for this, you need to be okay!” Frank grabbed the rip cord with his right hand and let go of Anna.
As soon as she heard the words “you can not hate me for this” Anna tried desperately to grab Frank, but it was too late. Anna could feel the scream rising from the depths of her heart. Before she could let it out the chute opened and all the air was sucked from her lungs. It felt like she had been hit with a bag of lead. An overwhelming pain consumed her entire body. She knew it wasn’t from the parachute opening. She saw Frank drifting away and all she could do was cry out in pain.
He saw the chute open and felt it rip her away from him as he fell. He could see her screaming and all he could think was she would hurt, but she would live, and that was all he needed. When he could no longer see her face, he closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.
Beautiful story of relationships, love, and sacrifice. Frank was not a man of many words. But he showed and proved his love for his wife, Anna. The statement that Anna made about one never knows when it is there time to go, is certainly true. Embracing life to the fullest is one way often thought of as accomplishing this.
Thanks for sharing this story. A lovely, but sad read.
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!DHEDGE
I appreciate your kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Sadness is a deep part of how we contrast emotion--the way that shadows are the only way we can make out shapes in the light, sadness is the only way we can know what joy feels like. This story came of a dream I woke from in tears. On describing the dream to my wife, she said, "You need to bottle that." So, with her help, I captured the dream in this story. She wrote the parts with Anna's point of view and thoughts.
Beautiful collaboration just like your character couple. I like the way you write that captures the essence of the moment as you describe the scene. I could picture the actions of the husband during the entire ride up to the moment he let go so that his wife could survive. It brought tears to my eyes the love he left with her asking for forgiveness that he would not be there for the remaining journey into their senior citizen life.
Poignant.
!ALIVE
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