Gordo fell asleep for but a few minutes before Lizzie began shaking him vigorously.

"Wake up, Gordo, wake up!"

"Wha-wha what's the matter? Huh, are we in Paris yet?" Gordo peered at Lizzie only to be greeted with a frantic, worried look on Lizzie's face.

"Oh my god Gordo, the captain just told us that all the engines have failed and we're going to crash into the ocean!"

"What? Are you joking, Lizzie? Because if you are, it's not really funny."

Lizzie responded by burying her head in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh my god we're going to die, Gordo, we're going to die!"

It slowly dawned on Gordo that Lizzie was being deathly serious. He began to scan the cabin and he saw that the other passengers around him were acting hysterically and screaming in panic.

Oh, geez, this can't be happening . . . .

"This is the captain speaking. I want to confirm that we are indeed about the crash into the ocean within minutes and there's nothing we can do to prevent it. We are all going to die. Thank you for flying British Airlines, and have a good afterlife."

It is happening! No, no, I'm too young to die! Gordo's life suddenly began to flash right before his eyes. He thought about his film career that would never get off the ground. He thought about never seeing his parents ever again. And most of all, he thought about the fact that he had never told the girl he loved what he truly felt about her.

Lizzie. . . .

Well, if I'm going to die, there's nothing to lose in telling Lizzie how I feel. Gordo turned to Lizzie to reveal his long held secret longing. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't. It was as if his lips had glued themselves shut.

"mm-mm-mmmm - mmmmmm!"

Lizzie looked at Gordo and gasped. "Gordo! Your mouth! It's disappearing!!"

Gordo put his hands to his lips and all he could feel was skin where his lips used to be. What in the world is going on? What's happening to me?

Lizzie stared at Gordo with a sly look on her face, then said to him in a cool, monotone voice, "See what happens Gordo when you don't express your feelings? Why did you wait so long to tell me that you're in love with me? What have you been waiting for? Well, it serves you right that you'll never be able to tell me how you really feel about me. If you can't even be honest with your feelings, how in the world did you expect to truly love me?"

I do love you, Lizzie! I want to tell you right now, but I can't! thought Gordo, as he struggled desperately to convey his thoughts to Lizzie with his facial expressions and with hand gestures.

"It's no use, Gordo. It's too late, it's too late. See ya on the flip side!" On that note, Lizzie unbuckled her seat belt, flew out of her seat and like a ghost, disappeared through the roof of the airplane.

As Gordo watched Lizzie disappear, he began to hear another message from the captain of the airplane. "Okay, this is it folks, we're gonna crash in five seconds! Let's count down . . .five . . .four . . .three . . .two . . .one . . .zero!"

"Nooooooo!!" screamed Gordo, as the plane smacked into the water and everything faded into black . . . .

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"Nooooo!!" Gordo leaped from his seat, trying to get up and out of his airplane seat, but the seatbelt jerked his body back and kept him firmly in place. Confused and bewildered, and in a semi-conscious state, Gordo kept chanting, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die, not now, not now . . .I need to tell Lizzie the truth, I need to tell Lizzie the truth. . ." as he twisted and squirmed in his seat.

Gordo's delirious words snapped Lizzie into consciousness, as she turned to see her friend visibly upset. Deeply concerned, Lizzie unbuckled her seat belt and put both her hands around Gordo's shoulders, hoping to calm him down. In a soothing voice, Lizzie said, "Gordo, it'll okay, everything's okay, you're not going to die. Everything's alright, everything's alright. It's just a dream. I'm here for you, Gordo, I'm here."

As Lizzie kept whispering calming words to Gordo, his body stopped shaking and twisting. He started to breathe more slowly and deeply, and he slowly began to awaken from his frightened dream state.

"Lizzie, you're still here?"

"Of course, Gordo, I'm still here," responded Lizzie as calmly as possible.

Gordo breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, that was just a dream, it was all just a dream, we're still okay, we're not about to crash into the ocean."

"Are you okay, Gordo?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. But, wow, I just had such a vivid nightmare, Lizzie, it felt so real. I dreamt that we were about to crash into the ocean and my mouth started disappearing and I couldn't say what I wanted to say to you and then you began floating away from me and then the plane crashed into the ocean before I could say what I wanted to say . . . ." Gordo's sentence trailed off as he ran out of breath.

:"Say what, Gordo?"

Gordo looked at Lizzie's worried face, thought for a few seconds, then said, "Nothing, nothing, Lizzie. It was nothing."

"Okay. Here, have some water." Lizzie grabbed her water bottle and handed it to Gordo. He took a few sips, then handed the bottle back to Lizzie. "Thanks. I'm alright. Sorry if I scared you, Lizzie."

"You have no reason to be sorry. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to stay away from those greasy fish and chips from now on."

Lizzie laughed as she let out a relieved smile. Gordo's going to be fine. "Sure, Gordo, when we're in Paris, I'll make sure that you don't ever eat greasy fish and chips. I've got your back, Gordo."

"I don't know what I'd do with out ya, McGuire." Gordo smiled back at Lizzie as she reached over to playfully tussle Gordo's hair.

"Right back at ya, Mr. Gordo, right back at ya."

Lizzie peered out the window, took a deep breath, then began re-reading her travel guide book.

Gordo stared straight into the seat in front of him and reflected upon his nightmare. He kept thinking, what if he were to die without ever having told Lizzie how he felt about her? That would be the biggest regret in my life, thought Gordo.

So, why don't I tell her? What's holding me back?

Consumed in thought, Gordo barely noticed the presence of someone standing right next to him. He turned his head to the aisle to see a precocious little boy, about four or five years old, standing next to him, gazing intently, not at him, but at his friend in the seat next to him.

"Hey, how are ya?" said Gordo.

"I'm fine," said the little boy, speaking in a British accent.

Lizzie turned away from her book to see who Gordo was talking with. Once she laid eyes on the little boy, she gazed into his cherubic face, smiled broadly and said, "ohhh! You're such a cutie pie!"

The blonde haired boy began to blush. He averted his eyes from Lizzie and stared into the floor. After a few seconds, the boy once again focused his attention on Lizzie. "You're pretty. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"ohhhh, that's so adorable!" Lizzie's eyes melted upon hearing the boy's heartfelt words. She wanted to jump out of her seat and give the boy a hug and a kiss on his cheeks.

"Uh, sorry kid, you're, ah, out of her age range," said Gordo, with a palpable jealousy in his voice.

"Gordo!" Lizzie slapped Gordo on his shoulder. "Don't say something like that! He's just a little boy!"

'Hey! I'm just telling him the cold hard truth!"

The little boy gave Gordo the "evil eye" and said to him, "You're mean."

Gordo rolled his eyes, muttered to himself, kids, and said, "Sorry, man. Didn't mean to dampen your fantasies."

The boy didn't pay any attention to Gordo. He kept his attention on Lizzie and with a soft spoken, tender, innocent voice, said to her, "I love you. Can I marry you?"

Lizzie's eyes glowed with sheer delight and joy. "Ohmigosh, you are the most adorable little boy in the world!"

Gordo stared at the boy with little enthusiasm. Why won't this little guy just go away, far, far away?

"I'm sorry miss, I'm so sorry that my little boy is disturbing you," said a red-haired woman. "C'mon on Andy, let's go back to our seats."

"Oh, don't worry about it, miss. He wasn't bothering us, not at all. And he's really sooo cute!"

"Thank you for being so kind. Say good bye to the nice people, Andy!"

"Bye. I love you!" said Andy as his mother took his hand and began leading him back to his seat. "Bye!"

Lizzie turned to Gordo and said, "Wasn't that so adorably cute? Ohmigosh, my first marriage proposal!"

"Yeah, cute. Real cute." Gordo was very upset about what had just transpired. He thought to himself, oh great, Gordo, great. Here we have this little four year old toddler able to say those words with such ease, those words that you've been so scared about saying to Lizzie. *I love you . . . .* You can't even do what a four year old can do. . . .

Well, if you're upset about not being able to tell Lizzie how you feel, there's a really easy way to fix that, thought Gordo.

Just tell her. Now.

With that thought, a lump gathered in his throat, and he began to feel confined, claustrophobic. No, no, no, no, I can't, I can't, it's too scary, I just can't. . . . .

Oh great, you are a real piece of work, David Zephyr Gordon. You really are. What's it going to take for you to say those words you've been dying to say for every day for the past five years now?

Before Gordo could think another thought, the plane began shaking and rumbling violently. Passengers began screaming as they were being tossed around in their seats. Lizzie and Gordo could feel and see the airplane cabin shaking, sinking, and dipping. They felt like they were on a roller coaster being vigorously shaken from side to side, and from top to bottom.

It feels like an earthquake in the sky, mused Gordo.

The airplane began shaking even more violently, and Gordo felt like the airplane was about to explode. He grabbed a hold of his armchair trying to steady himself. He then turned around to check on Lizzie. . . he saw her and heard her screaming at the top of her lungs.

Oh my god, this isn't a dream, we really are going to die . . . .