The message written on the napkin was brief, but it made Clara’s blood run cold. “Move to the back of the plane. Leave your carryon. Go now. Don’t make it obvious.” Clara read it twice. Then a third time. Her immediate thought was that this had to be some kind of horrific psychological prank. Why was the flight attendant targeting her? First the staring, now this? Or was the warning somehow about someone else near her?
She folded the napkin back up, holding it tightly in her lap as an overwhelming wave of paranoia set in. Outside the window, there was nothing but flat brown earth under a bleak sky. It looked like an entirely ordinary afternoon, but inside the aircraft, everything felt twisted. Leave her carry-on? Her laptop, her wallet, and her grandmother’s priceless earrings were up there. You don’t just abandon your entire life on a stranger’s cryptic command.