This is just a plot bunny I wrote ages ago, as an essay during my English exam. Maybe I'll add to it one day, if the bunny comes back...


The Invisible Passenger

It was 3.00 am in the morning, and all the lights in the airport were either dimmed or off, except for the fourth terminal. The staff on duty were grumpy and irritable, their usually cheerful demeanours soured by the long hours they'd worked.

The waiting seats were all full, and the noise made by the impatient passengers, squalling babies and crying children was a stark contrast to the suffocating silence of the rest of the airport. It was a wall of noise, and upon entering the claustrophobic terminal, you instinctually knew that the people were not at all impressed about waiting for four hours until their delayed flight was deemed readied for takeoff.

In one of the seats, a young man sat with nothing in his hands, only a very small carry-on bag behind his legs under his seat. Unlike the crowd around him, he sat quietly and still – one would think he was sleeping, except that his eyes were open. He was dressed semi-formally, and nothing about him attracted the eye; in fact, one almost forgot all about him as one looked at him. He wore a blank expression on is face, and his body language reflected that of a relaxed, calm person.

However, upon closer inspection, a trained eye might have picked up the subtle messages that betrayed his true state of mind. His brown eyes, that to a normal person wandered around the room boredly, were actually constantly scanning the room for potential threats, setting him on full alert whenever someone inadvertently blocked an exit. His relaxed posture was rigid and tense, subtly ensuring that he was able to react to any threat within a moment's notice. To a trained eye, there was nothing calm or relaxed about the quiet youth in the fifth row.

At last, the plane was deemed fit for takeoff, and the passengers exploded into motion, quieting children, collecting belongings and readying their tickets. Within seconds, there was a line that began at the desk before the terminal and snaked around the room haphazardly.

Once their tickets were checked, the passengers shuffled onto the aircraft, where cheery airhostesses helped them to stow their carry-on luggage in the compartments overhead. Among them was the quiet man. He quickly but politely refused the airhostess' help, and found his seat and stored his bag quickly and quietly. He sat down in his seat, fastened his seat belt, and half-listened to the airhostesses' speech about air-safety and emergency procedures.

The giant airliner moved towards the runway. The wheels touched the tarmac. Inside, an apprehensive passenger thought about what lay ahead. As the plane gathered speed, he experienced a moment of panic, but he soon calmed, and accepted the choice he had made. There was no going back now…