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Unit7WhenLightningStruckIwasinthetinybathroominthebackoftheplanewhenIfelttheslammingjolt,andthenthehorribleswervethatthrewmeagainstthedoor.Oh,Lord,Ithought,thisisit!SomehowImanagedtounboltthedoorandscrambleout.Theflightattendants,alreadystrappedin,wavedwildlyformetositdown.AsIlungedtowardmyseat,passengerslookedupatmewiththestrickenexpressionsofcreatureswhoknowtheyareabouttodie.Ithinkwegothitbylightning,thegirlintheseatnexttominesaid.ShewasfromasmalltownineastTexas,andthiswasonlyhersecondtimeonanairplane.ShehadwonatriptoEnglandbycompetinginahighschoolgeographybeeandwassupposedtomakeaconnectingflightwhenwelandedinNewark.Inthenextseat,atthewindow,satayoungbusinessmanwhohadbeenconfidentlyworking.Nowhelookedworried.Andthatreallyworriesme—whenconfident-lookingbusinessmenlookworried.Thelaptopwasputaway.Something'snotright,hesaid.Thepilot'svoicecameoverthespeaker.Iheardvaguelythroughmyfear,Enginenumbertwo...emergencylanding...NewOrleans.Whenhewasdone,thevoiceofaflightattendantcameon,remindingusoftheemergencyproceduresshehadreviewedbeforetakeoff.OfcourseIneverpaidattentiontothisdrill,alwaysfiguringthatifweevergottothepointwhereweneededtouselifejackets,Iwouldhavealreadydiedofterror.Nowwebeganaroller-coasterridethroughthethunderclouds.Iwasreadytofaint,butwhenIsawthefaceofthegirlnexttome,Ipulledmyselftogether,Ireachedforherhandandreassuredherthatweweregoingtomakeit,Whatastoryyou'regoingtotellwhenyougethome!Isaid.Afterthis,London'sgoingtoseemlikesmallpotatoes.IwonderedwhereIwasgettingmystrength.ThenIsawthatmyotherhandwastightlyheldbyaringedhand.Someonewascomfortingme—aglamorousyoungwomanacrosstheaisle,thefemaleequivalentoftheconfidentbusinessman.ShemusthaveseenhowscaredIwasandreachedover.Itellyou,sheconfided,theproblemsIbroughtuponthisplanewithmesuredon'tseemrealbigrightnow.IlovedherSoutherndrawl,herindiscriminateuseofperfume,andhersoulfulsqueezes.IwassurethatevenifIsurvivedtheplanecrash,I'dhaveacoupleofbrokenfingersfromalltheTLC.Areyouokay?shekeptaskingme.Amongthemanyfeelingsgoingthroughmyheadduringthoseexcruciating20minuteswaspride—prideinhowwelleverybodyonboardwasbehaving.Noonepanicked.Noonescreamed.Aswejoltedandscreechedourwaydownward,Icouldhearsmallpocketsofsoothingconversationeverywhere.IthoughtofsomethingIhadheardafriendsayaboutthewonderfulgifthisdyingfatherhadgiventhefamily:hehaddiedpeacefully,asifnottoalarmanyofthemaboutanexperiencetheywouldallhavetogothroughsomeday.Andthen—yes!—welandedsafely.Outsideontheground,attendantsandofficialswerewaitingtotransferustoalternativeflights.Butwepassengersclungtogether.Wechattedabouttheliveswenowfeltblessedtobeliving,asdifficultorrockyastheymightbe.Theyoungbusinessmanlamentedthathehadnotachancetobuyhistwolittlegirlsapresent.AnolderwomanofferedhimherboxofexpensiveLindtchocolates,stilluntouched,tiedwithalovelybow.Ishouldn'tbeeatingthemanyhow,shesaid.Myglamorousaislematetookouthercellphoneandpasseditaroundtoanyonewhowantedtomakeacalltohearthereassuringvoiceofalovedone.TherewassomeoneIwantedtocall.BackinVermont,myhusband,Bill,wasanticipatingmyarrivallatethatnight.Hehadbeencomplainingthathewasn'tgettingtoseeverymuchofmebecauseofmybooktour.Ihadplannedtosurprisehimbygettinginafewhoursearly.NowIjustwantedhimtoknowIwasokayandonmyway.Whenmynamewasfinallycalledtoboardmynewflight,Ifeltalmosttearfultobepartingfromthepeoplewhoseliveshadsointensely,ifbriefly,touchedmine.Evennow,backonterrafirma,walkingdownaVermontroad,Isometimeshearanairplaneandlookupatthatsmall,glintingpieceofmetal.Irememberthepassengersonthatfateful,luckyflightandwishIcouldthankthemforthemanyactsofkindnessIwitnessedandreceived.IamindebtedtomyfellowpassengersandwishIcouldpaythemback.Butthen,rememberingmyaislemate'shandclutchingminewhileIclutchedthehandofthehighschoolstudent,Ifeelstruckbylightningalloveragain:thepointisnottopaybackkindnessbuttopassiton.闪电来袭当我感到猛烈摇晃时我正在飞机尾部的小卫生间。然后又感到一个可怕的、倒向另一侧的摇晃，并使我撞上了门。主啊！我想。这就是了。不管怎样，我设法打开拉门冲了出去。乘务员们都已经把自己捆在椅子上了，使劲向我挥手。要我坐下来。当我费劲的快步朝椅子走去时，乘客们都看着我，他们惊恐的表情告诉我，他们知道他们要死了。“我想飞机被闪电击中了，”坐在我邻座的女孩说道。她来自东得克萨斯州的一个小镇。而这只不过是她第二次坐飞机而已。她在高中地理友好赛中获胜，由此获得了去英国的旅行，她本该在我们抵达纽华克后转机继续飞行的。在她旁边靠窗的座位上坐着一个年轻的商人，他一直信心百倍地工作着。现在他看起来很担心。而那真的也让我感到担心——当一直充满自信的人担心的时候。他把手提电脑收了起来。“有些事情不对劲儿，”他说道。扬声器里传来飞行员的声音。透过恐惧我听得很模糊，“二号引擎…紧急降落…新奥尔良。”他说完后乘务员就接了过来，提醒我们发生紧急情况时应采取的程序，就是起飞前她曾经复习过一遍的。当然我从来没有注意过这个操作，总是想如果我们到了需要用救生衣的地方时，我早就已经被吓死了。现在我们在雷雨层中像过山车一样翻转着，我都快晕了，但是当我看见坐在我旁边的那个女孩的脸，我就控制住了我的感情，我握住她的手，使她确信我们将会穿越雷雨层。“你想想当你到家时，你会告诉大家一个怎样的故事啊！”我说，“过了这事之后，伦敦看起来就像个小土豆一样不那么重要了。”我在想我哪来的这股力量，然后看见我的另外一只手被一只带戒指的手紧紧地抓住。某人正在安慰我——是过道那边一位有魅力的年轻女士，和那个自信的商人一样。她肯定是看到了我有多么害怕后过来的。“我跟你讲，”她充满自信地说，“我在这架飞机上所谈论的问题，现在看起来没什么大不了的。”我喜欢她南部的拖腔，她不加区别使用的香水味，还有她用那充满感情的双手使劲地掐着我。我确信即使我躲过了这场坠机劫难，也有几根手指被她温柔地掐断了。“你还好吗？”她不停地问我。在那极其糟糕的20多分钟里，我的脑海里经历的许多情感交织在一起就是自豪——自豪飞机上每一个人表现得有多好。没有人惊慌。没有人喊叫。当我们抖动着尖叫着俯冲时，我随处可听见安慰的话语。我想起一个朋友告诉我的关于他濒临死亡的父亲带给整个家庭的一个礼物：他平静地逝去，似乎不想让他们任何一个人因为将来都必须经历的这件事，而感到恐慌。然后——是的！——我们安全降落。在外面，乘务员和官员们正等待着将我们转送到换乘航班。但是我们这些乘客都挤在一起，我们谈论着生活，对于活着感到幸运。尽管前面还可能荆棘坎坷。那个年轻的商人对于没有机会给两个小女儿买礼物而感到伤心。一位老妇人就给了他一盒贵重的“Lindt巧克力，没打开过的，上面系着漂亮的蝴蝶结。“无论如何，我都不应该吃掉它们，”她说。我的那位有魅力的过道女士拿出她的手机递