Chapter 6.4: Five, four

The female pilot looks at the woman with sympathy as she is having such a hard time at the moment. She watches as the woman lightly bangs her head against the back of her seat and winces as the woman digs her right hand's nails into her left arm.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. . .

The banging comes to a halt as the woman lays there with her head resting against the back of her seat.

"I – I don't think I can take this anymore . . . " she says.

Everything seems to be moving very slowly for her. Even though it's been only four days, she feels as if an eternity has passed.

"It's a phase. Hang in there and power through. The time will pass," advises the female pilot.

The woman lifts her head and looks towards the female pilot.

"I wish I was born a pilot," she confesses, struggling to sit up straight.

She continues, "Or at least born on the Rope. Why? Why did I have to be born in this place . . . ?" she hits the seat with her right as hard as possible.

"DAMN IT!" she screams, looking down.

Then, she looks up at the female pilot with glassy eyes, "I did fall in love with an addiction to all things in there . . . from rides to food to more sinister things," she confides.

"I – I want this to be over already . . . I want to get out of this hell! Can it all be over already?" she asks, gasping for breath.

"I AM SICK OF THIS! I AM AT THE FINISH LINE AND I CAN'T SEEM TO CROSS IT! I HATE THIS TO NO END!" shouts the woman, bursting into tears.

The female pilot looks at her, her heart filled with sadness.

You were trained for this. Firm your heart and be the stable pillar she can rely on.

"Look, hey, hey. Look at me over here. Into my eyes," says the female pilot as she rests a hand on the glass enclosure.

The woman looks up and their eyes meet through the glass.

The female pilot smiles softly, "The Rope has almost all the food there is here, and all the rides if not better, and some other stuff is merely funneled. Trust me when you get through this, things will be fine over there. I am with you until the end," she assures the woman.

The woman silently looks at her as her head falls towards the female pilot and she places her hand on the glass enclosure. Forgetting the barrier between them, the female pilot reflexively prepares to gently hold her head.

The image of them resembles a loving mother, holding her troubled child as they sleep on her lap.