{"id":212,"date":"2014-08-19T16:40:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T20:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/?p=212"},"modified":"2014-08-19T16:40:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T20:40:26","slug":"flash-story-challenge-tripping-the-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/?p=212","title":{"rendered":"Flash Story Challenge: Tripping the Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tripping<\/a>Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenge<\/a> is to incorporate a color into the title of the story. Word count limit, one thousand words. Mine came in at nine hundred eighty-six words.<\/p>\n

Tripping the Black<\/span><\/p>\n

Ariel took the passenger\u2019s small carry on and stowed it in the overhead compartment. She had to stand on tiptoe to do it, but made it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, miss,\u201d said the older gentleman.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo problem, sir. That\u2019s my job. Now please strap in. We\u2019ll be taking off shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard take-off is\u2026rough,\u201d he said, his brow furrowed. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for my grandson\u2019s birthday, I wouldn\u2019t go at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gave him her best professional smile, all bright and confident. Part of her job was just this, smoothing the passengers\u2019 jittery nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are thinking of the early flights, sir, before the technology improved. Now, it\u2019s as smooth as a take-off in a land jet. Excuse me, I\u2019ve some other passengers.\u201d She winked at him. \u201cI\u2019ll be back later and get your drink order.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the next fifteen minutes she helped ten other passengers with their luggage and their seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cAriel,\u201d said the captain in her earpiece. \u201cAre the passengers secure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d she replied. \u201cThe last one just strapped in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo a final check. We\u2019ve just got clearance to move to the runway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariel moved through the rows, visually inspecting the straps on each passenger as the captain gave his usual spiel through the speakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome the Spaceways Flight 1066, non-stop to Luna colony. I\u2019m your captain, Ronald Gibbs and your attendant is Ariel Robyns. Please turn off all electronic devices and make sure all carry-on luggage is stowed in the overhead compartments to prevent injury. During escape velocity you will feel some added pressure, but this normal. Please be assured that most of the g-forces are handled by our stabilizers, the most efficient of all the spacelines. If you note your attendant at the head of the craft, should a very rare oxygen leak situation occur, oxygen masks will drop down over your seat. Secure the mask by first holding it over your nose, then pull the elastic over your ears to secure it. If a child is traveling with you, put your mask on first. Please keep your seats belts and shoulder straps on until we clear the atmosphere and the artificial gravity engages. After that you\u2019ll be free to move about the cabin. Please remember that is a non-smoking, drug free flight. Contraband will be confiscated and returned to you after we arrive at Luna Colony in approximately nine hours. Thank you for flying with Spaceways.”<\/p>\n

Ariel muttered under his breath. He forgot to tell the passengers about the vomit bags\u2014again<\/em>, she thought as she rolled her eyes.<\/p>\n

The first passenger caught Ariel\u2019s arm. \u201cThat\u2019s it. That\u2019s all the safety precautions?\u201d He looked very edgy.<\/p>\n

Ariel smiled. \u201cOf course, that\u2019s all we need.\u201d Or all that would help in case of a disaster<\/em>, she thought. \u201cTell you what. I\u2019ll sit next to you as we take off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariel sat to the older gentleman and strapped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou aren\u2019t nervous?\u201d he said as the shuttle rolled towards the runway.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I like take-off. It\u2019s my favorite part of the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess it\u2019s the excitement of climbing the atmosphere and emerging into the black of space. It\u2019s pretty common for us, the pilots and the attendants. Those that are afraid wash out of training pretty fast. For the rest of us, well, we have a name for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, what name?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another passenger calling for her interrupted Ariel.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse, me,\u201d said Ariel, undoing her strap. She grabbed onto the hand holds as she made her way to an older woman seated with a young girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughter,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s feeling sick to her stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that\u2019s the excitement. Here, in the front pocket are the vomit bags.\u201d She said this loudly enough so that everyone in the cabin could hear her. As the airship bumped along the runway she took the bag from the pocket of behind the seat and gave it to the woman. \u201cWhen we escape the atmosphere I\u2019ll bring her some ginger ale. Would you like that, sweetie?\u201d<\/p>\n

The little girl nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, I need to strap in now. I\u2019ll be back later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariel made her way back swaying in her movement as the ship sped faster down the runway. She managed to get strapped just as the ship attained take-off speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, we go,\u201d she said as the ship lifted from the ground and the engines whined. The older gentleman sucked in a breath as the ship rattled against air turbulence and the g-forces increased.<\/p>\n

Ariel keyed on the sound system so she could give her own talk on what was happening. She found that this helped to soothe the passenger\u2019s frazzled nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo escape the atmosphere we have to reach a velocity of MACH 40, or more commonly, eighteen thousand miles per hour. Old-fashioned rockets would use a mixture of different chemicals that would burn to provide lift. While efficient, they could be dangerous, and early tragedies resulted in the loss of human lives. Now we use ramjet technology, where lasers ignite a succession of different fuels through a specially constructed and shielded engine core. This technology is infinitely safer and cheaper, allowing for commercial spaceflight at an affordable price to our passengers. Right about now you should feel the second ignition that will propel us the next thirty-miles to the upper atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

On cue the ship bucked and some passengers made fearful noises.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all perfectly safe. Now with the second ignition done, I can show you where we are going.\u201d Ariel switched on the movie screen keyed to the forward camera.<\/p>\n

On the screen the thinning atmosphere broke through to the black of space, the stars beyond twinkling brighter than could be seen from Earth.<\/p>\n

The man next to her let out a low, appreciative whistle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so beautiful,\u201d he said with awe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Ariel said with the same reverence. \u201cIt\u2019s why we call take-off \u2018tripping the black.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo from NASA published under Public Domain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenge is to incorporate a color into the title of the story. Word count limit, one thousand words. Mine came in at nine hundred eighty-six words. Tripping the Black Ariel took the passenger\u2019s small carry on and stowed it in the overhead compartment. She had to stand on tiptoe to do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[96],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flash-fiction","tag-chuck-wendig-flash-fiction-challenge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethturnage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}