As the elevator rang; Ding…Ding…Ding, signaling it had risen another story, Cassandra stood awkwardly next to Eddie Lisbon.
"Hey, listen, I'm sorry our conversation was cut short before. My boss just had some urgent information on a case I'm working on. You know how…cases can be…yeah." Cassie made a desperate attempt at conversation.
"Oh, yes. I've never worked at a law firm before….but I can imagine." Mr. Lisbon went along with the small talk. "Ok, now you listen. I can hear around a corner four feet away. I know you didn't even know why I was here, but trust me, your boss cares a lot more than I do. I served in Afghanistan for three tours, and three birthdays of my twin daughters. That’s over 80 missed soccer games, and 6 choral concerts, and 700 missed dinners at my dinner table. Under the circumstances…dealing with that obnoxious boss of yours, being a single mother of two and worrying constantly about their father…you're doing a pretty good job."
A long silence followed. "Don’t be ridiculous, Mr. Lisbon, you don’t even know-” she cut herself off, “Thank you. I needed to hear that...even it was from a stranger." Another long silence as the elevator door stayed open on floor 14 for a woman who decided she wasn't ready to leave yet. "So, may I ask why you aren't down in the cafeteria?"
"Oh, I'm just grabbing some boxes of supplies I collected at even earlier today. I have a quick job I have to run for the organization and I have to bring them with me. You didn't get to meet my co-volunteer Lisa, yet, but she's staying here to run the event."
"Well, I'm just grabbing my purse and jacket. I guess we all have places to be…people to see." She frowned, reminded again of her husband.
The elevator doors opened onto Schroeder and Sons Law Firm and Cassie quickly scurried off to gather her things that she'd need for her flight to Kasilof. She took the dank, rarely used stairwell down to the main lobby, to avoid more conversation with Mr. Lisbon. For some reason, she just felt a little uncomfortable around him. In the lobby, Cassandra buttoned her warm, fur coat, slung her leather pocket book over her shoulder, and hurried out onto the sidewalk of the busy downtown street, and into the brisk, Alaskan air.
"Taxi!" Cassie called, waving her right hand back in forth. After a minute or so of useless attempts, a black and yellow checkered minivan pulled up to the curb. "Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport, please."
"Get in," the Driver said, motioning for her to enter the vehicle. Mr. Lisbon ran up to the curb, still struggling to zip up his jacket while holding a sealed cardboard box under his arm. "Wait!" he demanded whilst Cassie slammed the door of the cab. She rolled down the window to see what he'd wanted.
"I'm going to Ted Stevens, too. Can we share a cab?"
Cassie hesitated for a moment. "Cassie, I don't bite," Eddie laughed.
"Of course, there's room for plenty."
Mr. Lisbon asked the driver to move his empty take-out container before getting in beside him, leaving him clearly annoyed. Cassie thought he might increase their fare but it was honestly the least of her worries. Time ticked away as the cab sat still in the gridlock of the city at night. At this rate, it would be years until they finally reached the airport. However, Cassie was determined not to let the all important flight depart without her.

Time past of mindless jabbering between Cassandra and Mr. Lisbon as the taxi slowly progressed towards its final destination. In the last few minutes, the cab driver got a call from someone he clearly wasn't fond of, and Cassie and Eddie began screaming to hear each other, purposely annoying the rude driver who screamed into his cell phone in some foreign language.
"You will get out now!" the man hissed, pulling up to the curb a few blocks short of the Regional Departures terminal, and grabbing the entire wad of bills Eddie had been counting through to pay the fare.
"Excuse me, sir!" Cassie argued, struggling to pull her purse out from the mounds of trash in the back-seat of the cab.
Thunk! Zoom! The cab sped away without another exchange between the frustrated foreigner and the unsatisfied passengers.
“I didn’t say you could keep the change!” Eddie shouted, to no avail.
After a short walk towards the airport in the freezing Alaskan air, Cassie and Eddie had made it to the queue for the security checkpoint. Cassie had no need for a large luggage bag, expecting to take the next flight back to Anchorage in the morning, and Eddie had deposited his only belonging, the box of supplies at the check-in desk. He must have also been taking a short trip.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Lisbon. You do some very fine work, from what I understand. It really was a pleasure speaking to you."
"It was a pleasure speaking to you, as well, Mrs. Cooper. I wish you the best…and have a safe flight."
With that, Mr. Lisbon and Mrs. Cooper went their separate ways. The airport wasn't particularly busy that evening, and Cassie got through the security checkpoint with ease. Her boarding time was miraculously not for an additional twenty minutes, and she stopped at a small airport restaurant for a slice of pizza.
Beep - Beep - Beep - Boop. Cassie dialed a sequence of numbers on a 50 cent payphone while she waited for her order to be filled. The phone rang once. Twice. Three, then four times. It was strange for her sister-in-law, Beth, to not pick up her cell-phone. Cassie knew her well enough to know that she had a bit of a texting obsession and loved to gossip. She pulled out her change purse again.
Down to my last two quarters. I wonder if they have change for a twenty. Cassie thought, peering back at the line forming at the counter of "Pizza Planet."
She plopped the coins back into the payphone. The calls went directly to the answering machine.
"Hi, you've reached the Cooper residence. We can't come to the phone right now but please leave a message after the beep," Mrs. Stacey Cooper recited.
Beeeeeep
"Hi, Stacey, it's Cassie. I just wanted you to know that I'm boarding in a few minutes and my flight is on time and everything is going fine. Um, It's 6:25 right now, and my flight lands at 8:45 and as long as nothing changes you guys are going to pick me up at the baggage claim. Ok, call me back as soon as you can. Thanks…bye," Cassie hung up the phone, realizing that she didn't have her cell phone and she'd just told her mother-in-law to call her back.
Suddenly, the loudspeaker above Cassie's head boomed to life. Cassie heard a female voice reciting the same message from several speakers in unison, and looked over at her gate to find the source of the announcement. "Attention all economy class passengers on Alaska Airlines Flight 287 to Kasilof, we're now beginning the boarding process. Once again, we are now boarding all economy class passengers on Flight 287. Thank you."
"Order for Cassandra, two slices, pepperoni," the cashier at Pizza Planet called out to the crowd of people rushing by to find their gates. Cassie quickly slung her purse back over her shoulder, and hopped onto the moving walkway to make her quick escape and not be noticed abandoning her order without paying. Gate 14A was just at the other end of the horizontal escalator.
I'm nothing special. Cassie thought, joining the line of generic economy class passengers. She wasn't important enough to take the express First-Class or frequent flyer lines, or traveling with small children or the handicapped.
"Welcome aboard!" a cheery flight attendant in a white blouse and green skirt said as Cassie approached the end of the jetway.
"Thanks, Amanda," Cassie responded, squinting, being one of those annoying people who read others' nametags aloud.
Row 21…22…23…24…A…B…C!" Cassie counted the seats in her head until she found her window-seat in row 24. She put her black, leather pocket book beneath the seat, reading the embossed words; In emergency, use as flotation device, as she reached down. Suddenly, a wave of fear came over her. She had never flown alone before, and not without her husband since they were married 17 years ago.
She thought, I know I'll see him in a few hours, but I still would give anything, just as much as every other waking moment, to see him now. She didn't care about her case at work. She didn't care if Mr. Schroeder was furious at her for walking out of the banquet. She didn't care about Shauna's girl's dance recital which she couldn't stop talking about all day. Right now, she didn't even really care about her own kids. All she cared about was getting to Peter's parents on time and figuring out how to use their computer from the Dinosaur age so she didn't miss her chance to see her husband.
As she mindlessly unfolded and refolded the plastic tray table to keep her mind off of the millions of things she was worrying might go wrong, a man who seemed familiar in her peripheral vision sat down in the tight, cheap economy seat next to her.
"Mrs. Cooper?" the man inquired, "Oh my, what a coincidence!"
"Mr. Lisbon! What're you doing here?"
"Well, we were both taking a regional flight, and let's face it, there aren't that many different places in Alaska someone would want to go to other than Anchorage. I guess we shouldn't be so surprised that we both chose the same plane." Mr. Lisbon explained.
"I guess you could be right." Cassie agreed.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to be the first to officially welcome you onto Alaskan Airlines flight 287 on this short flight to Kasilof, tonight. If you could please direct your attention to the front of the aircraft for our routine safety briefing as we taxi out to the runway…"
She stared out the window, mindlessly, as her eyelids began to stay closed for longer and longer intervals of time. As she had been waiting in the gridlock of the city for her cab to finally arrive at the airport, Cassie thought about how she ever fall asleep. All she really cared about was her seeing her husband, but there were a thousand things spinning in her mind. The file that she lied about ever opening to her boss would remain unopened until she got back tomorrow evening, and the trial was in just two days. Her brother had been going in for an MRI on his leg after he fell on his front step. Her sons were visiting Cassie's parents in Juneau for the past two weeks and couldn't make it back in time to accompany her to their other grandparents. Despite all of the anxiety and stress, she had dozed off before the safety briefing had finished. She even stayed asleep as the engines roared like lions and the aircraft lifted off of the tarmac and disappeared into the clouds, colored in all different magnificent shades of red and violet.

Suddenly, Cassie left reality and entered the world of her imagination. She was back in Anchorage International Airport, but now she stood in the Arrivals Terminal, sitting with her family, and staring at a gate with no airplane.
"Mom, how much longer?!" Cassie's son, Andrew, complained.
"Not much longer, honey. We've waited two years…we can wait another ten minutes, can't we?"
"I guess,"
"Wait, wait! Look at the copy of his boarding pass! What is the plane registration?" Cassie's Mother-in-Law commanded.
"N384-"
"Yes, yes! N38424! Here it comes!" Peter's Mother cut Cassie off.
All of the relatives and friends who had come to the airport to witness Peter finally arriving home from Afghanistan were elated, but no one felt as much euphoria as Cassie. Peter's parents hugged each other for an extremely long time. Andrew jumped up and down and threw his arms around Cassie's waist. Peter Jr., Cassie's youngest son, at the fragile age of four, remained seated in one of the leather rows of chairs in the gate, not comprehending what was going on around him. Similarly, Cassie did not move a single muscle, not even in her face to produce a smile. She was frozen in time, and blocked out all sounds, sights, and even her own emotions.
"Cassie, look!" Peter's Mother shouted.
"Mommy, here he comes!" Andrew exclaimed, running over to the door to the jetway that the Gate Attendant was opening.
I can't believe this finally happened. He's here. Cassie thought. Suddenly, her knees gave and she fell to the floor, completely overwhelmed. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed with joy, moving apart her index and middle fingers to see Peter step off of the plane in his full camouflage uniform onto the glass jetway.
Suddenly the crowd of people who had come with Cassie's family ran towards the door, following Andrew, to greet him. Cassie hadn't realized how many friends and extended family members had come, there seemed to be hundreds of people rushing ahead of her, and pushing and shoving her out of the way.
"No! Stop!" she pleaded, unsuccessfully trying to get up and navigate through the enormous crowd that had engulfed the entire terminal. "What is going on? Please, let me through!"
Someone she didn't recognize threw her back down and out of his way. People stepped over her and on her. "Please, let me see my husband!" Cassie screamed and cried in fear.
Hah! She gasped, jolting forward in her seat, eyes opening wide. She was ripped from her nightmare and it took her a moment to grasp where she was and why she was there.
"Oh my God, are you okay? Did you have a bad dream or something?" Mr. Lisbon asked, looking at her hands crossed over her heart as she took rapid, heavy breaths.
"Yes, yes, a very bad dream. I feel sick to my stomach." Cassie replied. Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding! She pressed the button with the stick figure on it, above her, repeatedly, signaling for the Flight Attendant to come over. "I just…I just need some water."
"Ma'am, I need a glass of water, quickly, please." Eddie raised his hand as he called out to the Attendant walking down the aisle with a garbage bag.
"Yes, sir, of course." She hurried back towards the galley.
"Thank you, Eddie. I just had a terrible nightmare about my husband. But, it was just a dream. I'm fine, really." Cassie explained.
The only problem was that she wasn't really fine. Time passed as she stared out her window at the sea of fluffy cumulus clouds below and slowly sipped her cup of water. Now, added on top of her worried thoughts about her Brother, and children, and workload, was the idea of her Husband coming home, and she wouldn't get to see him. As the plane began its descent towards Kasilof Airport, she got more and more anxious. She broke into a nervous sweat, and began fidgeting in her seat. She just wanted to be at Peter's parents' house already and she desperately needed something pleasant to occupy her mind. The beautiful sight of Tustumena Lake in the spring, one of the largest in South Alaska, that was visible as the plane broke through the clouds, was not quite doing the trick.

"So," she asked, nervously, "What brings you to Kasilof? Going to the Lake?"
"Well, not quite. I just have a quick job I have to take care of before I head back to Anchorage. It's not that big of a deal." Eddie responded.
"Oh, alright." She accepted his vague answer and tightened her seatbelt for the final approach to Kasilof. The end of the runway is situated right on the edge of the lake, and immediately before you land it appears you're going to crash into the sea. With a thud the huge wheels of the Boeing 737 touched down onto the end of the runway, and Cassie could see the peaceful, glistening waves of the Lake race by as the plane slowed to a Taxiing speed.
The PA System sprang to life with an announcement from the Main Attendant. "Ladies and Gentlemen I'd like to be the first to officially welcome you to Kasilof, Alaska. The local time is 8:40 and it is partly cloudy with a temperature of 17 degrees. We ask that you stay in your seats with your seatbelts fastened during our short taxi to the stand until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the Pilot says you are free to move about the cabin. From all of us here at Alaskan Airlines, thank you for flying with us this evening and we hope to see you again soon."
Cassie was so relieved that her flight had arrived in time, and was now intrigued about Mr. Lisbon's, "short job."
"So, what is it you really are doing here?" She asked.
"Well, why don't you tell me what it is you're doing first?" Mr. Lisbon inquired.
"If you must know, I'm visiting my husband's parents, and, in a way, my husband, Peter, as well. Now your turn."
"There should be an announcement about my work right about…" The PA system crackled to life once again, "Now!"
The plane had pulled up to a remote stand on a tarmac, far from the terminal, and right on the edge of the water. "Ladies and gentlemen this is your Captain speaking. We ask that you please stay in your seats for just a few more moments as a very important passenger is unloaded from the plane.”
Eddie interrupted the announcement to say something to Cassie. She examined his face. The cheery red color of his cheeks had drained from his face entirely. His eyes had turned a cold grey. Had they been this way when she looked at him before? “Mrs. C-C-C-Cooper,” he stuttered. “Did you say you husbands name was, P-P-Peter Cooper?” She didn’t understand what he was saying, and concentrated again on the announcement.
“On rare occasions, Alaskan Airlines is honored to be given the privilege of transporting a fallen soldier from active war zones to their homes and families. We thank representative Colonel Edward Lisbon for accompanying this precious body to his home as well as for his work with Operation Gratitude. We thank you for your cooperation as well as all of the fallen, retired, and active members of the United States Armed Forces for their service."
The entire load of passengers on the plane erupted in applause, except for those sitting in Row 24, seats B and C.
Her skin turned computer-paper white and icy cold. Suddenly she noticed things out of her window that she hadn't before. A simple wooden casket draped in an American flag was being moved onto a forklift elevated to the height of the cargo hold. Peter's Father was standing proudly, trying his hardest to keep his composure as elderly Mother...and Grandmother his arm was wrapped around cried out in grief and pain, like Cassandra in her dream. She was in a state of shock, and everything was out of focus. She pushed all thoughts out of her head. Later she would find out why this was how she learned of the death of her beloved husband. Later she would have time to be furious. Later she would have time to be devastated. Later she would be confused...and frustrated...and mournful. For now, she focused all of her energy into one thing, getting off of that plane. Using the little energy that had not been drained from her body, she pushed up out her tight blue seat.
“Oh my God, Mrs. Cooper, I am so...so sorry. I didn’t know. I- I- Mrs. Cooper? Mrs. Cooper are you alri-,”
She could no longer hear the sound of Mr. Lisbon’s wavering voice. She could not hear his regret or sorrow nor see his frustration from her glazed over eyes. The colors of the astonished faces of the other passengers who had turned to look at her melted in one big blur, and then the color disappeared from her vision altogether. What was happening was a nightmare of hers larger than being trampled by strangers and kept from seeing her husband. She had been plunged into a world of silence and darkness.
When her mascara covered eyelids flickered open, her vision was filled with the gentle, moonlit waves of the lake crashing against the rocky shore between the lake and the pavement. However, the pavement was no longer the apron of the airport, but instead, the parking lot of Kasilof General Hospital, on another portion of the Lake. The pretty sight was locked away behind a pane of glass; the window of her recovery room.
Her eyes darted over to the side table to find a single letter sitting atop it. She turned to the large, sliding-glass door to the room to find her parents standing outside, talking to a nurse, and she wondered who it could be from. She turned over the cream-colored envelope to find a note written on the back of it, meant for her to read before she opened it. It read in big letters, “Sent by Peter on your Birthday. Didn’t arrive until now. Mom” Overwhelmed, she reached for her reading glasses from her purse that sat on the floor beside the bed. So…she put on her glasses -- looked out over the lake, and her life was never the same again.