Wings on the Water

Prompt: Steve, Laureen, Mark, and Teddy...put these four characters into a story... add these elements; a broken shoe, and a rusty tin can. 500 words, (or close to it).

Word count: 500



Steve gazed up at the Manhattan skyline. Cold water covered his ankles and crept up his legs. In the distance, a ferry captain tugged on a whistle’s chain. The sound eerily echoed across the Hudson.

“Had I said, I love you, Teddy, when I left my little boy; still in his pajamas? I must have, I always do.”

Steve jerked his head to the right. A woman had fallen into the water. Men were shouting and reaching for the bobbing figure, others stood motionless, murmuring among themselves. Two women embraced, too afraid to move about the wing’s slippery surface. Steve steadied his legs, regained the hold on his burden and prayed the boats would come.

“This isn’t happening. It’s a bad dream and I will awake in my own bed.”

Only minutes ago, Steve was on a plane, sitting in aisle 22, visiting with newlyweds, Mark and Laureen. They had met while taking art classes. She painted portraits, Mark preferred drawing inanimate objects. “Easier”, he said. They both laughed when they explained Mark’s latest work, entitled, ‘The Rusty Tin Can’, done in charcoal.

Steve shared pictures of Teddy, congratulated the couple, and felt good about having someone to visit with during the short flight to Charlotte. Other passengers were settling in. Some were reaching for magazines, or shuffling business papers, while others quietly visited. A few stared out the plane’s windows. A young mother hummed a lullaby to her fussy baby.

Less than four minutes after leaving LaGuardia, the calm atmosphere in the plane’s cabin was interrupted with a loud boom, followed by another. The engines went quiet. The plane banked, lost altitude and glided downward. The silent passengers sat helpless, paralyzed with fear, as the plane dropped to earth.

The silence was broken with the pilot’s voice: “Brace for impact.”

Steve lowered his head, clutched his knees and swallowed his screams.

“Don’t scream. What would Teddy think if his daddy screamed?”

The plane slammed onto the Hudson River’s surface, skidded and came to rest.

“I’m alive. Get out.”

In the chaos, Steve scrambled toward an exit. He stopped. A young girl blocked his escape. “Please help me”, she begged. “I’ve broken my shoe and can’t walk.”

“Are you crazy?”

Steve looked down. He gulped for air, raised his head and looked into the girl’s eyes. Her blank stare and pallid skin scared him more than the bone protruding from her shattered leg.

“I can do this.”

Steve couldn’t remember getting the girl out of the plane. He didn’t want to remember his fear or the screams. He knew he must have carried her; she was still in his arms. His arms ached, but he would never let go of the girl.

“Please help us.”

“I’ve got her, mister. You can let go now. You are both safe, on a boat.”

Someone put a blanket over his shoulders. Steve thanked them and without shame, he began to cry.

“Someday, I’ll tell Teddy about the miracle that happened on the Hudson.”