The music was so beautiful... Bodies moved to the tune, which drifted slowly from the tiny stereo system in the corner of the room. The humming, whirring sound of the engine drowned out the song as Sally heaved at the controls, thrusting the body of the aircraft into a fast ascent.
The cabin vibrated with the sound of the wind and outside, the engine noise pounded the thin exterior with an unnerving frequency. Onboard the noise was so much louder. Its rumbling voice penetrated the visitors bodies with the subtlety of a sonic boom and the nervous laughter of the six passengers increased in volume.
Sally swung the accelerator arm forward and the engine's hum increased in pitch. The bodies in the cabin lurched back as their ears popped again and again.
'Where we going, honey?' asked an elderly woman.
'I thought you could do with some air,' came the reply. 'Up there, we'll have it. But there is no place to land.'
As the woman spoke her words of concern Sally's fingers moved from the accelerator drum to the ignition switch. She saw the woman's face twist and knew she had been understood. She closed the window and locked the door. The woman began screaming in fear. Sally pulled the lever and the plane soared.
Emily screamed in terror as they rose upwards. Max tried to hold her hand but she pulled frantically at the lock on the door.
'We're going to die,' she yelled. 'Close your eyes Emily.'
'We're going to die,' she yelled again pointing out of the window.
'You won't die,' he roared back. 'Sally will save you.'
'I can't hold my legs up any more,' she cried. 'Close your eyes Max.'
The plane was already too high for the mass of humanity to be able to flail their arms in terror. It was like they were floating on an ocean of air.
'I can't find the stairwell,' Max announced.
The woman had stopped screaming. Her face was a twisted mask of fear and anger and she was silent. Emily's eyes remained shut but she continued to point out of the window.
'Emily,' howled Max.
Sally's eyes snapped open and were now fixed on the controls. The front of the plane rose, the wing tipped and the sound of the engine increased even more.
'Max,' yelled Emily.
Her grip on the door had broken and the lock had unlocked. The door swung away. Max lunged forward, stretched out his hand, and grabbed hold of a frame. He pulled and Emily followed. He bundled her through and let go. She fell through the doorway and a giant great hand wrapped round the back of her head and pulled her back into the cabin.
'Give me your hand,' yelled Max. He reached out and grasped her wrist. She pulled until he fell out of the doorway. His hand was caught, his arm bent and mashed around the doorway frame as the plane levelled and the speed of the engine dropped. Her face crumpled up and she cried softly.
'They're coming,' she wailed. Her voice was quiet and scared and was barely audible over the noise of the engine. The frequencies blocked the sound to the ears but her own neurons carried the sound to her brain.