The Girl Who Nearly Missed the Plane

by James Stranger

Sunday the thirteenth of February 2005. Ten minutes to midnight. Ten minutes to Valentine's Day. David James occupies the rear starboard window seat of a Lufthansa jumbo jet. The adjoining aisle seat is free. At 00.05 the jumbo is due to embark on a thirteen hour flight from Hong Kong to Frankfurt. David hopes to have the two seats to himself. Briefly he glances out of the window and then looks back to find his hopes are set to be dashed. A young woman, diminutive, oriental, attractive, is marching down the aisle. Clearly she will take the seat. The young woman stops and peers at the seat numbers. Satisfied she stows her bag and sits beside David. "Hello," she says. "My English name is Sunny. We sit together, I think." This is the lead to a remarkable conversation that continues into the small hours and then resumes through the final hours of the flight. The content is amusing, informative, intimate and romantic. At journey's end there can be little doubt there will be a further conversation elsewhere.

186 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2015

Reviews

[R.W. Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a conversation between two passengers on the thirteen hour flight from Hong Kong to Frankfurt. David, is an reticent English businessman in his fifties and Sumei (Suemay), is a gregarious Chinese student in her thirties. Sumei, who is late arriving, boards the plane last, and sits in the only seat available next to David. The colloquy starts innocently enough, then David finds himself attracted to Sumei and starts to divulge details about his life. He actually bares his soul much to the delight of Sumei, as flirting and innuendos permeate the dialogue. They even plan a potential liaison in the U.K when they arrive at their final destination. However, when they deplane in Frankfurt, the future is obscure.