Copyright Rich Voza
Throughout the day a straggling line of bewildered souls meandered through the airport to a previously unseen check-in desk beneath a blue screen showing a destination of which none had heard.
The sun sank in a ball of orange flame, as the last of the passengers boarded a plane that had lingered all day on the airport perimeter. Pulling back unaided, it trundled uncleared, unannounced, to the head of the runway.
As perplexed air traffic controllers looked on, the aircraft sped down the runway, before soaring into the gathering twilight, as the world read about the events that were taking place in (…………) *
* Insert as applicable: Rwanda, Syria, Srebrenica, Oradour sur Glane….. the list is seemingly endless. 
The last time I ran this for the prompt, it’s fair to say that a lot of people didn’t understand it. So probably no change there then. 🙂 So I’ve doctored a few words here and there, and paused for a moment to reflect on how many more places could have been added to the footnote in the intervening three years…
Apologies if I didn’t comment on yours last week. An ongoing fault (nine days!) on our broadband line reduced my connection to something less than dial-up speed, and I eventually lost the will to live.
Thanks Rochelle, for allowing the opportunity to try again with this, and to Rich Voza for a wonderfully evocative photo.
castelsarrasin 
Mystery plane. World events. Numbness. Tragedy. It’s all there
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Thanks Neil.
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Dear Sandra,
Loved it then, Love it now. The video is haunting as is your story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle. Holding my breath for Doug to put in an appearance. 🙂
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Where does it end? And when?
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No idea, Patrick. On either count. 😦
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I like the phase, bewildered souls, My own view of their destination, the stars,
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Out of this world, for certain. Thanks for reading Michael.
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Wonderful. I think the word that gives the clue about what it’s about is ‘souls’.
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It’s funny how that word has come to mean ‘people’. So much so that I think people missed the clue the first time. Thanks for reading.
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Bewildered souls indeed! Nicely done.
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Thank you!
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When will it end… even more apt than the first time. Love it.
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Thanks Bjorn. 🙂
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Very thought-provoking. The perplexed air traffic controllers add to the poignancy for me.
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Thank you Clare.
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I got it. I think I might have, too, the last time.
All the best with your internet speed. I miss your terrific feedback. 🙂
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A real heart-render this one, created with your normal artistry.
Wonderfully written, but too sad to really enjoy.
It just goes on.
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Thanks CE. It does indeed go on.
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The body count keeps rising, the nonsensical debates grow louder and that which makes us humane keeps falling.
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Very true!
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There isn’t an end. Apt story for the times we live in and obviously well-penned.
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Thank you. Good to see you back.
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it never ends, only the places change
http://obliqview.blogspot.in/2016/06/one-hour-prompt-rich-voza-she-had.html
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Very true.
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I think it’s poignant that a post from 3 years ago is still relevant today. The suffering never ends and the reasons never change. You convey the distant hopelessness so well in this piece.
I hope your Internet Hell ends soon.
T
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Sadly the internet hell goes on Tracey. Thanks for reading.
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Another commenter said “haunting.” That’s a good word for the story, the video, and our messed up world. Powerful story, Sandra.
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Thanks for reading Jan.
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I love the tone of this piece, Sandra, although it’s all too true, unfortunately. There are so many violent places in the world. Hope your Internet recovers soon.
-David
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So much violence, people become immune to it I think. And the internet problem goes on – a drawback of the rural life I think.
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i’m afraid the list will go on indefinitely.
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I’m similarly worried, Plaridel.
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Mystery & mayhem! Very appropriate!
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Thank you.
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I’m reading it as a “plane”-load of people killed in the (insert as applicable) conflict on their way to their next destination (wherever that will be). Great piece, even if my interpretation is way off 🙂
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No, you were spot on! 🙂 Gold star for you then.
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I guess an update was due anyway. Charon’s boat needed to be replaced by a more modern means of transport. At least now there will be some in-flight entertainment 😉
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Technology moves on… 😦
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The message is clear as a bell, in my view – those who can afford the flight get out, the rest remain to shoulder whatever Fate throws at them.
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I didn’t see it the first time but certainly got it this time and the idea that three years later the situation is not just still the same but worse, is harrowing, as is the piece. People herded about, losing their homes and these are probably the lucky ones, despite their bewilderment. Powerful as always.
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The fill-in-the-blank part is a sad testament to the times we live in. Unfortunately, things will probably get a lot worse before they get better.
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It would be nice to believe that it ever will get any better. Thanks for reading.
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Thought provoking with the fill in the blank but then Russell’s comment really had me thinking…how long have we been saying that?
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It seems like forever, Dawn.
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Yep, great story, fill in whatever you want, too numerous to mention.
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A haunting story, Sandra. I watched the film from the link and the one following it which explained what happened to the town. I seem to remember reading about that village years ago. It’s was another chilling example of “man’s inhumanity toward man” especially during war. It’s an ancient evil that keeps recurring. The pictures, especially those of the children, are enough to make a heart bleed. The very fact the French left the ruined village as it was has shown they wanted never to forget or let anyone else forget. Well written. —- Suzanne
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There are so many towns in France where similar slaughter took place, Suzanne. The French are very diligent in remembering and paying respect to those places.
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Great mystery – it creates numerous possibilities in the reader’s mind. Time travel, aliens, or more bizarre…unexplained experience.
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I love the phrase ‘bewildered souls’. It captures perfectly not just the victims of the unnamed countless massacres, but the response of all of us who wonder why it keeps happening. A powerful story.
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Thanks for reading Margaret. I’m feeling a bit bewildered myself right now. 😦
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If only more people than the air traffic controller saw and understood that plane, then maybe… but no, we see ships full of desperate people, we see children drowning, and still things get worse, not better. Depressing story, Sandra. But also poignant and much needed. Excellent.
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