This is a nightmare. How did I get myself in this situation? A wave churns and pulls me into the dark recesses of the ocean. For a moment, I see nothing and then I'm quickly brought up to a glowing light. Another fireball swoops down and hurls into the water. The middle of nowhere. The Pacific? The Atlantic? Where were we when the shuttle came crashing down? The world is coming to an end and it will take me down with it, or some marine creature is going to take a big chunk out of me. Either way, it's bleak.

Just an hour ago, I was in a space shuttle from Spirit Airlines. "You get what you pay for" should be the motto.

Swirls appear. Either my vision is waning, or that's a flashback?

"May I interest you in something to drink?" A stewardess asks when she approaches with a cart.

I lean over to take a closer look at the items within the black metal box on rolling wheels. "What do you have?"

"For thirty-five dollars we have some oxygen shots for you. Aromatic and high quality, from the best laboratory in the country. Guaranteed to be 95% oxygen."

"No, thank you."

"We also have some courtesy high quality raw water from the local river?"

Did she just say from the local river? I scrunch my eyebrows. "What's wrong with tap or regular bottled water?"

She shakes her head at me and laughs.

"Oh, you were serious? Don't be ridiculous, no one does that anymore." She says as she places the recycled bottle in my hand. "You know, Uber now has transport shuttles and can stop by to bring whatever you order. All you have to do, is use," she inspects me momentarily. "The white courtesy phone down the path." She points down the aisle.

"Right over there?" I look through the long and looming hall, that has a bright light at the end. This is Economy, that over there looks like heaven compared to the cramped space I'm in.

"Yes, down there. Near the first class spa with the sign that says Hay Baths. You'll smell it once you near it."

Uncomfortably shifting in my seat, I lift my hands up and say, "it's all right."

Another stewardess approaches me with a stack of books and papers.

"May I interest you in something to read? We have War and Peace, The Prince, The Holy Bible, How to be PC volumes one through five, Gravity's Rainbow—,"

"Just something light please."

She hands me a leaflet titled African-American Women Elected to Congress.

Staring at her, I'm at a loss for words. "Ok ... thank you?" The paper contains twenty-two names in two charts. Twenty-one are in the first chart titled The House and one is in a small chart underneath, titled the Senate.

The shuttle begins to jerk and shake. My hands try to grab onto something—anything—but the seats have no armrests. I grab onto the gentleman next to me that eyes me nervously.

The rest of the passengers start commenting amongst each other and some child screams from somewhere in the front.

One of the stewardesses runs past me to the front of the aisle. "What's going on?"

A man groans. I lean over my neighbor to have a better look.

"He seems to be suffering from chest pains." A man kneeling in the aisle says. He removes the stethoscope from his ears.

"His chest? What is it?" The stewardess asks in shock.

"It's an anatomical part of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. Containing vital organs like the heart and lungs, but that's not important right now. We need to move him out of this area quickly."

The stewardess nods and helps the man up. When they pass next to me, the plane shakes again. They lose their grip on the man as he tumbles onto my neighbor's lap. His face is awkwardly near mine. Sweat is beading on his forehead, his dark eyes stare into mine as he breathes hot air on my face. My neighbor looks between the two of us. Everything is shaking and trembling. Items are falling from the overhead compartments and tumbling down the aisle.

A screeching sound comes from above.

"This is your captain speaking. We seem to be experiencing some turbulence. There is no need to worry. Please remain seated and fasten your seatbelts."

The seatbelt light pings and I quickly attempt to fasten my belt, but there is none. Why the hell do they have a seatbelt sign when they have no seatbelts? Who the hell does that?

"I think we're going to blow up." The captain continues speaking.

"Did he just say we're going to blow up?" The woman from across the aisle panics. She shakes her head violently, as the man next to her tells her to calm down.

"Captain, does the green light mean the microphone is still broadcasting from the pit?" Another voice asks.

There's a shuffling sound.

"This is your captain speaking ... again. Please disregard that last part, it was just some cockpit humor."

The microphone screeches.

"We're going to die!" My neighbor says as he grabs my shoulders.

"There's no need to worry. Remain calm and seated." The stewardess paces down the aisle. "Please direct your attention to the screens in front of you."

The monitors on the back of the seats all light up as music begins to play: The Girl from Ipanema. "Ugh, that song. I feel like I'm in the elevator going to the dentist's office." I say.

The screen flickers with a message and a show host's voice speaks. Farces: The People Who Love Them and Implement Them in Their Daily Lives. "With new exciting proclivities, such as jumping out of moving vehicles and dancing in the street! We're grateful for your viewership!"

So, this is what we've been reduced to? Ridiculous shows to distract us from the fact that we're dying and all hell's breaking loose? With no other choice, I sit back and stare at the monitor in front of me.

Something crashes into the shuttle and I fall out of my seat. My head hits the headrest in front of me. It seemed soft, but it feels like my head just smashed into concrete. Passengers are scattered all around and I'm pretty certain that's a finger poking one of my eyes. The thing pressing on my cheek might be a shoe?

A bright yellow light flares outside the windows and melts into the plane. The metal groans and twists. I hit the roof. Vomit floats and splashes next to me.

A deafening sound drowns out the screaming. The aisle cracks and tears in half. I remain glued to the damn roof. My neighbor is sucked out from his spot and disappears somewhere. On second thought, I'll stay right here. Who knows where that poor bastard is now.

I begin to think about my life choices, most importantly my most recent one.

My one chance out of Earth and I just had to save forty dollars by choosing the cheapest airline shuttle flight. Serves me right.

*** 1,196 words

B*gger it, just letting my tires down. [thank you for that "I"] Delirium is a bit like intoxication, but better, because it doesn't cost money. There were many routes I thought about taking, mostly all ending in death and tragedy. Eventually, by the 5th story idea, I was frustrated with my overly dramatic imagination of exploding Earths, asteroids, rapidly propelled invisible particles from bits of orbiting satellites colliding with each other, people turning into ash and "disco inferno". Then I thought about a young man going to war, hunting and a spirit quest to become a man. I returned to "disco inferno". Right! The message my brain is sending is absurd. Absurd it will be.

Try conjuring a tender heartfelt death with this blasted song on loop:

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Just look at those outfits and that geek on the keyboard is really feeling the music [or what ever he ingested before the show]. If you're able to, tell me your secret.***

#JustWriteIt The End challenge Last minor edit: 5 December 2018 The End of Birthday Parties, Cheesecakes, Jelly Beans and BOOMS!

This was included in the JustWriteBits Anthology book.

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