Trapped In Her World

SOFIA

“Of course you’d choose today to die on me, you stupid piece of sh*t.” I muttered, exhaling in defeat, as I grounded my teeth in annoyance.

I jabbed the phone’s power button for the fifteenth time. Nothing. This was getting so frustrating.

Fantastic. Just what I needed. A funeral for my phone at thirty thousand feet in the air.

The old man sitting beside me glanced over and chuckled. “Rough day, huh?”

I shot him a sad, tight smile. “Tell me about it.”

He sighed and nodded sympathetically, then returned to his crossword, leaving me with my dead phone and a rising, bubbling frustration.

No biggie. If I couldn’t scroll through TikTok, I’d watch a movie. That’s what the seat monitor was for, right? I pressed the power button with a slight frown.

Nothing came up.

I pressed harder, jiggled the remote, and pretty much smacked the screen like it owed me money. But it still wouldn’t light up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I groaned. Is this plane allergic to technology or just me?

The flight attendant walked past and I quickly waved her down. “Hi, quick question. Is there a special technique to turn this monitor on? Like a ritual dance? Sacrifice? Blood oath? It ain’t working.”

She gave me that professional airline smile. “It should be working, miss. Try pressing the—”

“Tried it. Twice. Maybe fifteen times. It wouldn’t budge.”

She smiled and leaned over, pressing the same button I had pressed. It still didn’t turn on.

“Told ya.” I said sweetly.

She frowned, and whispered. “My apologies, Miss. I’ll get the technician to look at it very soon.”

Which was airline code for ‘unfortunately, we’ll have to ignore you till you land.’

I sighed and flopped back in my seat. No phone. No movies. What was next? No air to breathe in?

So, on to Plan C: my Kindle. My lovely, reliable Kindle. At least the universe couldn’t sabotage that. 

I dug it out of my bag and scrolled through my e-library: Romance. Thriller. Fantasy. Too long. Too boring. Read it already. Ugh.

Then my eyes landed on a book title I had almost deleted a dozen times, called Tears of an Abandoned Daughter.

I rolled my eyes. Not this nonsense again.

Let me explain: I hated this book. Hate with a capital H. The heroine, Elise, was basically the patron saint of doormats. Everyone in her life walked all over her and she just cried about it. Tragic childhood, evil stepmom, absentee dad who treated her like a failed paternity test… blah blah blah. You know the drill.

And yet… something always kept pulling me back in. I had made it halfway before rage-quitting. A tiny part of me still wondered if Elise ever grew a f*ck*ng spine. 

Probably not, but my options were limited, and it was literally going to take me the entire flight to find a good book, with how thorough I am in searching for good books.

“Fine, Elise.” I muttered. “Let’s see if you miraculously stop being pathetic.”

I opened to where I’d left off.

The cabin was quiet. People were either napping or sipping sugar-filled sodas, whispering God knows what to God knows who. It was perfect.

I was about to dive into Elise’s sad world when the plane suddenly lurched hard, making my Kindle smack me in the face.

“What the…”

Screams erupted as the overhead bins rattled. Drinks spilled. The seatbelt sign dinged on with a cheerful ping that felt like a sick joke.

The old man beside me gripped his armrest, his bent glasses sitting awkwardly on his lips. “What kind of turbulence is this?”

No. This wasn’t turbulence. This was some sh*t from The Exorcist.

The plane dipped violently, making people shriek in response. My stomach did Olympic-level flips.

“Okay, wow!” I said out loud, because sarcasm was apparently my coping mechanism. “We’re officially in a Fast & Furious sequel.”

The flight attendant’s voice cracked through the intercom, high-pitched. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm and seated. We are…”

Her words cut off as the plane violently jerked again. Oxygen masks dropped overhead.

My heart slammed into my ribs, panic clawing at my chest. But then, my Kindle screen flickered, distractingly…

“What the hell?” I whispered, staring at it with wide eyes.

The words were… changing. Like literally shifting before my eyes.

I saw the word ‘Elise’ melting away, reforming into…

Sofia.

My name? What in the bloody hell was going on?!

My throat went so dry, it was freaking hard to swallow. “No. Nope. Not happening. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane…”

I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and checked again. The changes were still there. Elise was gone. Every sentence that had her name now said Sofia.

I tried to close the book amidst the chaos, but the Kindle froze. My finger tapped uselessly against the screen, as I tried to get it to work. It was useless.

Around me, everyone had gone nuts. The plane nosedived, and my seatbelt dug into my hips painfully. I didn’t know when tears started escaping my eyes.

The old man beside me clutched his rosary, muttering a shaky prayer. As I moved to join him, I noticed my Kindle glowing brighter, words burning across the page: ‘Tears escaped Sofia’s eyes as her world fell apart…’

What the…

“Don’t f*ck*ng narrate me!” I screamed at the screen like a lunatic. I’d never felt fear like this.

The engines roared, metal groaned, people shrieked louder. I wanted to join them, but my eyes refused to leave that goddamn book.

Another line appeared: ‘Sofia closed her eyes and darkness swallowed her…’

In a frenzy of terror and rage, I slammed the kindle on the seat in front of me, hoping to end the madness. But the plane tilted 360, and gravity disappeared. A deafening crash filled my ears, followed by my vision exploding into blinding white.

And then… just like the book foretold, blackness swallowed me.

SOFIA.

My eyes snapped open to pitch-black nothingness.

The air reeked of wet socks and moldy bread. Something else lingered too… a sharp stench of rotting flesh and decay. But it vanished as quickly as it came.

My back ached like I had slept on a rock, which, judging by the hard bed under me, might have not been far from the truth.

“Okay…” I whispered into the darkness, trying to feel my surroundings. Either this was purgatory, or Spirit Airlines had gotten creative with their landing options.

I pushed myself up, but my hand smacked against a cold, damp wall.

Oh lord. This room felt about the size of a broom closet and just as welcoming.

“Hello? Anybody here?” My voice rang out, as my heart quickened. I’m not afraid of the dark, but this was starting to get to me.

Then it hit me. 

The plane. The screaming. The crash.

Oh my God!

My chest tightened. 

Crap. Had I actually died?

I sat