Claire
I wasn’t asleep. I usually do not sleep on flights, because I wish to cherish every moment on it. We usually take night flights, so it is often very quiet; everyone else is usually asleep. The serenity allows me to think, to reflect. I usually have a notebook or something to write down anything that comes to my mind. I think I think better in the air.

But right now, I very much wished to close my eyes, if only to shut myself from this world. But I was finding it hard to do so. Not least because every time I closed my eyes, my father’s image appeared.

We had just seen him off the day before. It was a practice which we had for as far as I could remember. In any case, my love for airports probably developed from the numerous visits to the VIF; my father flew often, so much so that the airport could probably count as my third home. Even if there were school the next day, even if my mother hadn’t insist on this practice, I would still have insisted on going to the airport. I like going to the airport because there is so much emotion there. It is like a beating heart, simply alive. On this floor, you see the joy of people being reunited. Just a floor below, you see people parting, with tears and promises.

But I never thought that the previous day’s goodbye was my last ever.

I couldn’t think properly now. I couldn’t organize my thoughts without being reminded of my father. But at the same time, I couldn’t fall asleep either. It was like I was trapped in a recurring nightmare.

If only this were just a nightmare.

Dan
I realized I was wrong. Claire wasn’t asleep. She was turned away from me, so I couldn’t see. In any case, her eyes would probably be closed, but she would be awake. I knew because of the way she fold her arms and turn away. She only does that when she is feeling troubled, which isn’t very often, frankly.

Claire is the kind of person whom the world revolves around, the kind of person who enters the room and everyone will stop and notice. She just has this natural charm that draws everyone to her. Because of the way things fall easily into place for her, she just has this nonchalant air about her. She seldom feels troubled because she seldom is troubled. You could almost say from Day One, Lady Luck has been smiling on her. She is such a blessed girl.

Of the three of us, Claire was my father’s favourite. I am not saying this because I am jealous or what; it is a fact. They were very close to each other. Coupled with the fact that she was only 17, I was worried about her, how she was coping.

Dan
The officials met us at the airport. They were polite, but looked exhausted. I felt sorry for them. Imagine, your life is perfectly fine, and then suddenly a disaster like this happens and messes up your life. And the thing is that you probably don’t have anything to do with it as well. It just happens to be your job to deal with it. And it is only a minor part of your job scope. How big is the chance of something like this happening? They got sucked into this mess, into dealing with us, the relatives of the victims.

But I was thankful that they were around. We wouldn’t know what to do otherwise. They directed us to a holding room where other next-of-kin were gathered. We were then briefed on the progress of the recovery mission, which was still in its infancy. As of now, all we could do was wait.

We sat by ourselves. The room was quiet and each group kept within itself. After all, what was there to say?

A few hours later, someone tapped me on my shoulder, waking me up from my slumber. I looked up and saw the face of my brother.