Playful Poppy #4

Blue stared around the first class cabin of Continental flight 457. She watched each dozing face with little expression. None of them mattered.

Turbulence.

Blue gripped the back of the seat closest to her and guzzled all of the champagne that remained in her glass. A fat, bald, business man with a bulbous red nose laughed mockingly at her. Blue ignored him. She didn't like airplanes. Never had, never would. It was a shame she was a flight attendant, but, of course, that wasn't her fault.

She was stuck here, stuck in this archaic hunk of metal. She was doing this job because she had a mission and she would be here until that mission was completed. After two years of failure, she was, to put it lightly, exhausted.

It was true, security was pretty tight, but she had trained for this her entire life. She was born to do this one thing…this one mission. There was no way she was going to fail.

The "fasten your seatbelt sign" lit up and dinged.

Blue nearly tripped over herself trying to get back to her seat. There was going to be more turbulence. She'd never get used to the turbulence.

It was less than a half hour until they would land in Heathrow Airport in the UK. That wouldn't be enough time. She failed again. She would have two days in London before she had a new start on a new flight. The corners of Blue's mouth turned up slightly at the thought of London. That meant fish and chips. She'd be eating them for every meal. After all…it could be her last chance.

The next morning, sun flooded the grimy windows of the hotel Blue was staying in. It would be a beautiful day. It wasn't always foggy in London as she had read. She took her time getting dressed. Then slowly walked to her favorite pub (although, in Blue's opinion, all pubs were fantastic) so they would be serving lunch by the time she got there.

Ring! Ring!

It was 5:00 AM two days after landing in London.

Blue answered the phone quickly. She was already awake, but that early in the morning, it seemed that phones rang louder.

"This is the front desk with your wake up call."

"Yes, thank you. I'm awake," Blue answered. She always used wake up calls. They were easier. It had been years and she could never figure out those complicated alarm clocks. Too many buttons...so primitive.

Blue watched intently as the passengers flooded onto the early morning plane heading to JFK Airport in New York City. She had nearly given up hope when she saw him. His name was Charlie Hamilton and he was the one. Blue was sure of it, she could tell by that small black square he held tightly in his hand, beeping quietly. Then there was a snag in the plan.

"Who is that girl he is with?" she thought. She checked the girl's ticket, pretending to help her find her seat. The ticket read "Janice Hamilton."

"His sister. It must be his sister."

This would complicate things, but it wasn't the end. Blue tried hard not to make it obvious that she was staring at him as she demonstrated to the cabin how to use their seat belts. Another primitive gadget.

It was over two hours into the flight and Charlie had not released his grip on that black box. His eyes barely left it. Blue had given him so much soda throughout the flight, she was sure he would have to use the bathroom soon. Then, she would make her move. This was really it. After all these years, she would finally succeed. She would finally go home.

Blue held her breath as she saw Charlie undo his seat belt and get up. She followed as he made his way to the bathroom at the back of the plane. That was lucky. The flight was under-booked and the back of the plane was empty. There would be no chance of an audience.

He was only yards away.

Feet.

Inches.

Blue reached her hand out...trembling.

"Charlie!"

Blue jerked her hand back. It was Janice. She came running at him, looking terrified.

"She knows," thought Blue. "But no, she couldn't. It wasn't possible."

Charlie turned around to look at his younger sister. "What's wrong?"

"We're crashing!"

Blue's stomach dropped. This had been what she was dreading since she was given this mission when she was forced to come back...back to this time.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked her.

"Everything is shaking!"

At that moment, the plane shook a little. Janice yelped and dropped the raggedy stuffed bear she was clenching. Charlie reached out and hugged her.

"It is just turbulence. We are not crashing. Relax," he explained.

Blue knew he was right. She had been on so many plane rides. This was normal. In fact, this was not even a lot of turbulence compared to other flights she had been on. But at that moment, Blue wished someone would hug her. As she watched the pair, Blue felt a bit of a tug at her heart strings.

So what if Earl, the overlord of Mars Settlement 23BVA of the year 5600 AD wanted him. It was just a hobby for him. Earl had discovered the Sony PSP hand-held video game about three years ago on a research mission back on Earth. They had found loads of clothes, toys and gadgets from the ancient world…from the time when Earth was still inhabitable. When he got hold of the PSP, Earl immediately fell in love. He couldn't though, no matter how hard he tried, beat any of the "Pokemon" games. Not a single one…and there was a series of them. No one in her time could. And that was her job. Bring back a child who could help him beat those games. Her mission was to find an unaccompanied minor and take him back to her time. That was why she was a flight attendant.

"But, ya know what," Blue decided in her head. "I bet Earl will move on any day now, if he hasn't already." Before the PSP, he had been obsessed with cookbooks. Just reading cookbooks, even though the disgusting nutrition pills they all choked down every day could never be made into a single Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meal. "This isn't worth it...not yet anyway."

"Kids," Blue turned to Charlie and Janice. "I think you both better take your seats now."

"Maybe I’m not ready to go back." Blue realized. "After all, we're heading to New York City. Nothing is better than a slice of steaming hot NYC Pizza or a street vendor hot dog or a warm bagel smothered in cream cheese or....."