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Patton blinked.
The magazine fell from his hands and into his lap. The sun was setting outside the airplane window, painting the sky orange and yellow. How long had they been flying for? Shouldn’t they have landed by now?
Patton glanced to his side, seeing that Thomas was asleep and snoring softly. He smiled, reaching over to pat Thomas’s hand. Maybe he should sleep too-
CRACK
Patton flinched. What was that?
CRACK CRACK
Patton looked around, feeling his heart rate pick up. Was that normal? He’d never heard that sound on a plane before...
And then the side of the plane exploded. The winds filled the cabin through the enormous hole that was now in the side, sucking out anything that wasn’t tethered down, including the poor stewardess who had been serving drinks.
Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, and Patton reached up.
You should put on your own mask before helping someone else.
Patton could remember the stewardess telling them that in the safety demo, but Thomas was important. More important than him. And he was confused and disoriented and panicking.
Patton reached over and scrambled to grab Thomas’s oxygen mask. The mask was flailing in the wind, making it hard to grab. he wasted precious time grabbing it and even more time securing it around Thomas’s face. But it would be ok. He still had his own mask-
The tube connecting his mask snapped, and the mask was sucked from the plane. Patton felt his panic increase. What now?!
He looked around for another mask, maybe he could grab one from another seat. Which seat was nearby? Which one had an unused mask? He tried to speak over the roar of the winds, but his words were slurred and his movements were sluggish.
Symptoms of Hypoxia include...
Patton felt his vision tunneling. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. He reached out for Thomas... but Thomas had disappeared.
Patton’s eyes closed...
And then he was awake again. Awake and falling.
He could see the ground beneath him and it was getting close very fast. Patton screamed and closed his eyes again, waiting for the end, feeling the wind rush past...
He felt something change.
He opened his eyes and saw that he was much bigger now. And much greener. He’d turned into his monstrous frog form again!
“Wh-what? How? I shouldn't have-”
SQUISH
Patton looked down and nearly retched. He’d stepped on someone. Someone who was now squished beneath his webbed toes. When he raised his foot, he screamed.
That someone was Thomas.
“Thomas!” Patton sobbed. “Thomas, no! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
He knelt and cried harder over the body of his son. His Thomas. How could this have happened? How could he have been so blind? He should have been more careful!
The scene changed again.
When Patton opened his eyes, he was tied to a set of tracks. he could hear an engine rumbling in the distance, and struggled against the ropes.
“Thomas!” He looked up and saw Thomas standing next to a switch. There was another set of tracks with Janus tied to them. The tracks Patton was tied to were the ones that had the trolley. He could see it getting closer.
“Thomas!” He screamed. “Thomas, please! I don’t want to die! Please save me!”
He sobbed, choking on his tears, still struggling for his life. The trolley was getting closer and closer.
Patton’s life. Janus’s life. Patton’s life. Janus’s life.
Patton saw Thomas turn away from the switch, clenching his eyes shut. Patton looked over, nearly blinded by the light of the trolley, screaming again as the trolley hit him-
Patton sat up in his bed, sweating and gasping for air. His shook as his heart hammered in his chest, tears flowing down his face. He scrambled out of the blankets on his bed and fell to the ground.
A nightmare. It had just been a nightmare...