I entered this short story into my first competitive contest. I didn't win so I will publish it here. - cf
June 9, 2016
I shifted the steering controller of my fighter plane hard to the left and wildly pulled the stick to the right, hoping that I got enough zig-zag to thwart the attacking, relentless enemy plane. The G force of the plane made me dizzy. I squeezed my muscles to prevent blood from rushing from my brain. I know through my training if too much blood drained from my brain, I would black out.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," I shouted. I was only reassuring myself since I was the lone occupant in this cockpit.
I needed to think, but my adrenaline created such extreme tunnel vision. I have to focus and get away before I die!
"Fly forward, fly forward," I shouted. "Keep focused!"
The plane darted south and upward into the blue sky. I didn't see any horizon. Just a path towards heaven. My body trembled and shook as if my conscience tried to escape my reality. The blood quickly filled back into my brain, and my thought process began anew.
"Pull-up, pull-up, do a 360, get behind him," the thought raced into my head.
I pulled the yolk to the left. My aircraft abruptly turned hard as it followed my commands telegraphed from my working on the stick. The G-force pulled me back into my seat. I squeezed my body. The blood pressure cuffs inside my flight suit inflated, assisting me with containing my blood flow in what felt like the impossible thing to do: stay awake.
"G-force- G-force," a computer voice emanating from the control panel blared out.
"Go, go, go," I yelled.
The nose of the plane pierced the atmosphere as it veered into a 180-degree left turn. Condensation streamed off the angles of the plane's wing tips, coloring the blue canvas sky with white streaks and marking its flight path to those who may be watching from the ground.
"Boom, boom."
The fighter jet broke the sound barrier as it went at supersonic speeds. The rumbling can be heard from those watching below, even though the jets are 30,000 feet above!
My ear canals slowly closed. My equilibrium was off, and I felt off balance in my seated position. I was deaf to the noises around me except for a high-pitched sound piercing my brain. The blackness affected my hearing and began to pinch off the blood flow to my brain. I slowly lost consciousness and drifted off into the unknown.
"Where am I," I said while coming back to reality. I had blacked out for a second or two.
I began to focus on the plane controls in front of me. I was inhaling oxygen from my mask. The sound of the air pumped into my helmet overwhelmed me. Still, it was an excellent indication to remind me I was alive.
The fresh O2 replenished my body. I looked beyond the gauges and saw the enemy jet fighter before me.
I survived and was back in the fight. I was now on the attack with the enemy in my sights. Let the chess match begin again. We can't call this a draw and go home. The enemy was still going to engage me. It was evident only one of us was going home on this day. This beautiful day has been lost in an ugly war just below the heavens. Today will not be another ordinary day. Today, one of us has a ticket to heaven, and fate will still have its say.
