[ WP ] It 's the middle of the night . Your iPhone starts ringing . You wake up . You 're getting a Facetime call from someone who died three days earlier .

I'd left the heating on so my lips were dry and my nostrils crisp as I rolled off the futon and answered the phone expecting it to be someone from work requesting cover. 
 
 It was an elderly man with a gray beard. The only thing familiar about him was the second name listed under the feed: Stanbrook. There are n't many people in Tokyo with that name and I know one of them. I work with her. Her father had recently passed and she'd boarded a plane to attend his funeral about 6 hours ago. I licked my lips and said `` Hello?'' 
 
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 Sam looked at the seat in front of her. She imagined the walls of the plane directly ahead and to the right of her being torn off into the dark and the child being flung out along with them. The seatbelt light is on. She smiled then realised her dad was dead and stopped. She sighed and put her headphones back in. Fugazi. Do n't be sad, be angry - her dad always said. 
 
 = 
 
 `` You're dead and I barely know your daughter'' I sighed. This was silly. It obviously was n't a joke and I was n't dreaming. I ca n't be bothered. 
 
 `` Just listen Alex'' he said, `` Do n't try to make sense out of this. I know you're bored. This will be interesting. You can tell stories about it. I need you to help my daughter. If you do n't she's going to die''. His pace was measured. 
 
 `` Sure''. 
 
 I arrived at Narita airport just as the smoke was creeping through the luggage check. It was exciting. If I'd known he was right I'd have called the police. Sam's dad was n't that convincing. It was enough to just get me here. Her plane had been delayed and she'd been waiting in the flight lounge. There had been an explosion. I glanced at my watch. 
 
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 `` Make sure you're at gate 12 by 5:15am'' His voice rang out from the phone as I swung my front door closed. 
 
 `` Sure'' I hung up and jogged to the station. 
 
 = 
 
 5:15am. 
 
 Sam was scared but it was weird. She still missed her dad. People in terrorist costumes - terrorists, she supposed - were waving guns. It was stressful. She was n't scared. She was sad. There was only one man with a gun at gate 12 and he was in charge of 10 hostages. His radio buzzed. Japanese - very fast - Sam did n't catch much of it through the haze. The man turned and aimed. Sam blinked. The man paused and everything was quiet for a while. When Sam opened her eyes the man was on the floor wrestling with someone in a pair of pajamas. The man in the pajamas was losing. Be angry. 
 
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 As the man swung the butt of his gun into my face I remember distinctly its wooden finish. It connected with my nose and broke it. It was more exciting than that I assure you. I tired to fight back but I'm a musician. I was grateful when a mass connected with my assailant and sent him sprawling for the second time in the last 15 seconds. I slipped as I threw myself to my feet. It was Sam. We beat the man brutally with our boots. Well I was wearing slip-ons. I looked round to see a group of scared looking would-be hostages. 
 
 = 
 
 Sam took Alex's hand and they sprinted together as the crowd of travelers parted then were sucked in to rank like birds. They reached the exit and were met by police. 
 
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 Me and Sam never made sense of what happened with her father. He was definitely still dead.The attack on the airport was a big deal. It's fine when this sort of thing happens in the third world but there's money to be made in Tokyo. We decided to keep quiet about what happened because at some point someone would ask what I was doing at the airport and that could be awkward. Sam is n't religious and I do n't care - I have no thoughts on it. She said that she was n't sad or angry anymore and that she felt happy. So at least now she's got that going for her. 
 
 
 

