Bonus - Short Story

BONUS
Hello Grafted In Reader,

I wanted to share one of my recently written short stories with you. Comments are very welcomed if so inclined!
**
Up In The Air
David Russell

At the outset, it could be said that one’s bad hair day may be someone else’s good hair day, or so it was for ReyAnn.

It was a blustery March Thursday in metro Minneapolis and the weekend was going to be extraordinary. ReyAnn had been dating Scott for 11 months and 29 days, and he was flying her to sunny Phoenix, Arizona for the weekend. He was a sports journalist and had tickets for them to see the Phoenix Suns play the Minnesota TimberWolves. Unbeknownst to her, at intermission he was going to propose marriage.

***
Thursday morning at the Sports Desk, Scott took a coffeebreak with his colleagues Ted Grey and Bob Hill. He had monitored the daily columnists who always had plenty of advice to give for professional teams. Somehow, the human factor always got minimized, and the perfection quotient over-stated.
“Hey Scotty, any chance of reconsidering,” Bob quipped.
“Reconsidering what?”
“We think you know,” Ted mused.
“I think reconsider popping the question,” Ted urged.
“Oh, that matter. Well guys, heck no. I met a wonderful woman from the Midwest and, well, never gonna let her go,” Scott confided.
“He has it bad – doesn’t he,” Bob observed.
“Can we get on with something else,” Scott inquired.
“We could if you say you’ll reconsider the big plunge,” Ted further added.
“OK, let’s talk about the Diamond Backs and their new manager,” Bob suggested.
“I hear their former manager is having some medical issues,” Scott continued.
“Yeah, Some say he might have Parkinson disease. He even has a TV contract now with another MLB team,” Ted commented.

The meeting continued, but Scott was divided between the now, and the weekend he had planned for himself and ReyAnn. Ladies like her were certainly beyond a dime a dozen.

***
“ReyAnn, to prevent frizz when there is such a contrast in weather, I would suggest blow-drying frequently,” instructed Brooke, her usual hair-stylist. “That’s pretty special of Scott to fly you to Arizona. Have a great time!”

“Oh, we will. He is such a perfect guy,” confided ReyAnn.
****
2
Up In The Air

“We welcome you aboard flight G33. We will be taking off shortly. You will find pillows in the bins overhead for your comfort. We will be coming through with a light snack midway through our flight,” Dan the flight attendant announced to the nearly full cabin.

As they flew over the great planes, ReyAnn asked the flight attendant if there might be a portable
hair-dryer on board. She wanted to follow Brooke’s instructions.

“Sure, I can get you one from the cockpit. Gary, the pilot is a bit ostentatious, and always has one with him on every flight,” confided Lisa who sported a big smile as a happy-go-lucky flight attendant.

“Oh Gary, you dropped your sandwich, let me get it for you,” Lisa observed that the Conair Dryer was tucked further under the seat than anticipated. Five minutes later, “Darn-it, I spilled this soda on my new trousers, get me some wipes quickly,” exclaimed Gary to Dan who also knew of ReyAnn’s request. Handing some wipes to Gary, Dan quickly grabbed the dryer.

Removing the hair-dryer from the case, ReyAnn noticed a brightly-colored paper. It was the winning PowerBall Lottery ticket from the previous drawing. She was immediately conflicted. One side of her brain clicked off several ways it could be used. The other side argued for honesty.

“Ladies and gentleman, we will be landing in 15 minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We will be experiencing some minor turbulence ahead,” pilot Gary informed the crew and passengers. In a quick maneuver, she pocketed the ticket, and returned the hair-dryer to flight attendant, Dan, who replaced it in the cockpit.

Minutes later as passengers were deplaning, ReyAnn, feeling a little guilty, noticed the pilot was observing her somewhat intently. In the terminal he approached her saying, “Excuse me please. . . Miss, I noticed you have the PowerBall ticket. You may keep it. I found it on the floor in the boarding area back in Minneapolis. I have no use for it. This was my last flight. As of now, I am retired. Have a great hair-day!”

“Oh Thank you. I am about to become engaged so am retiring from being single,” ReyAnn stated with a wide smile.
“This ticket should provide well for you and your husband-to-be. Did you notice the amount,” the pilot inquired.

Looking at the ticket her eyes grew large, and her facial expression dream-like.
“Oh my gosh! This is unbelievable! The amount is over $10 million,” ReyAnn stated.

Right then, Scott approached and both he and ReyAnn had a prolonged embrace. Whether he heard the dialogue was not certain.

The end of the second period was going to be a new beginning for ReyAnn and Scott.
The public address announcer entoned,
“Ladies and gentleman, we have something very special to announce. Scott Post, sports reporter is here with his fiancé ReyAnn Gilbert. Silence please,” the announcer voiced.
Approaching the microphone, Scott was nervous inward but calm demeanor prevailed outward.
“ReyAnn, will you marry me and be my champion in life,” Scott asked publicly.
From her seat, ReyAnn merged, and moments later was at Scott’s side.
Taking the microphone she said,
“Yes Scott. I will be your champion and ask you, will you be my man of the year every year?”
“You bet sweetie. There is no game delay here.”

The crowd cheered and took a couple minutes to give the couple a “standing O.” In privacy later that evening, ReyAnn told Scott of the winning lottery ticket, and they agreed to designate half for a charitable cause they both supported in their respective lives.