Free Seasons of Heaven by Nico Augusto Page B

was…the parent’s had some sort of closure. They didn’t sit and wait, and watch and pray constantly that the child was going to come home. His mind couldn’t stop thinking about it. How was he supposed to? He didn’t know who or what had his boy. He didn’t know if he were alive or dead. He didn’t know what Thomas may have to endure without his father there to help him…to protect him. There was nothing on this earth more unnatural than the loss of a child. The human spirit was strong, but no one should be expected to endure that kind of heart wrenching loss and come out the other side unscathed. It wasn’t humanly possible. Once you had fallen into that bottomless abyss of pain and suffering…there was no way out.
    The question that James couldn’t escape and the one that he couldn’t stop asking…was how? How does a child just disappear? The police had no clues….no evidence ever uncovered or recorded that might give them any idea as to where Thomas went and who or what may have taken him. How does that happen? Someone had to have seen him; someone had to know where he was…
    “Can I get you something to drink, sir?” James was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the flight attendant’s voice.
    “Yes, I’ll have bourbon on the rocks,” James told her. Another drink couldn’t hurt. Who knows? It might be the one that will finally dull the ache in his heart….Soothe the pain in his soul.  At the very least it would help ease him into a dreamless sleep.
                  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the woman’s voice came across the intercom, “The Captain has turned off the Seat Belt sign, and you may now use the lavatories. However we always recommend keeping your seat belt fastened while you’re seated. You may now turn on your electronic devices. We wish you all an enjoyable flight…
                  James tried to relax but the darkness of the night outside the window and the sounds of the airplane engines whirring only served to feed his mounting anxiety. After a few minutes he signaled the nearest Flight attendant and said,
                  “Excuse me, I ordered a drink and it hasn’t come yet…”
                  “It’s on its way, sir,” she told him.
                  “I don’t really like to fly,” he told her, “So…if you could be nice enough to hurry it up…if you can? Thank you.”
    After another few minutes, James received his drink. The flight attendant had brought him a bottle of bourbon and a glass full of ice.
    “Thank you,” James told her. Still in a foul mood he said, “It was nice of you to hurry,” in a sarcastic tone.
    A sudden flash of white consumed the plane and when James could focus his eyes again he was standing in the center of the aisle. Confused, he looked around at the other passengers but they were no longer human….they were mannequins, anthropomorphic mannequins, life like…but not alive.
    There was another blinding flash of white light and one of the female mannequins yelled out,
    “Run James!”
    “Your son is dead, and he is ours!” The adult male mannequin who sat next to her said. Then the little boy mannequin who sat with them, said in a creepy little boy voice,
    “Look for him at 10h23, maybe you’ll find him…Or maybe you will only find his corpse.”
    It was all horrible and overwhelming, too much for James to bear. He grabbed his aching head in his hands and let out a gut-wrenching scream. James began wandering about the plane; stumbling…drunk, frightened, anguished…. The statues watched him, their eyes moving as he did. It was like truly being caught in a nightmare. James felt like time was standing still, as if he were a puppet himself. He screamed again, just to break the awful silence and this time as he did some of the mannequins began to rise to their feet. It was as if he’d awakened them. James looked at them in horror, wondering what they were up to.