**WATTYS 2022 WINNER** Seventeen-year-old Evelyn Werth is on an endless flight from hell. She's the only person onboard Aloha Airways Flight 1333 who's caught in a 28-minute time loop.
During each cycle, four things happen:
1. The Internet goes out...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
No Loops?
We're sitting in my assigned row. I'm in the aisle in 17C, with Rion beside me, and Margaret's against the window. Rion has won Mags over, no doubt with the help of those hypnotizing eyes of his, and he's now snacking on her bag of saltwater taffy.
Meanwhile, I reach for his Toblerone. "I'm going to miss this not reappearing every 28 minutes."
He smiles and then grimaces after trying a piece of the banana taffy. "Well, you definitely need a big emergency stash of them."
There's a long silence. It stretches between us, engulfed in the white noise of the engines. I glance out the window at the dark night sky. I can't see anything except the blinking lights from the end of the wing.
Then I remember Sisyphus, from Greek mythology, who cheated death. This loop has given us the opportunity to cheat death, too.
"You know I'm going to miss these people. Not all of them, but a lot of them," I then say.
Rion watches me, his blue eyes able to make the darkest nights seem like daytime again. "Even Edward Pickens III?"
"You know, he'd probably be a lot of fun to square dance with as long as he kept his sweaty feet covered."
Rion laughs but as I glance around the plane, my stomach twists. "It's weird..." I take a deep breath. "That they won't remember me. They won't miss me, even a little."
His hand circles around mine. "That's only because they don't know you. If they knew you, they'd miss you terribly. To know you, Evelyn, is to love you." He pauses, as my head tilts in surprise. "The two go hand in hand. Trust me."
My heart skips a beat, and a warmth spreads over me.
"You know," I then say, "with all the shit I've pulled on this flight, it's nothing short of amazing that I'll be able to walk off this plane without being handcuffed. In fact, my next loop – to the best of my knowledge – would've been 400. Four hundred loops. I feel like I should win something. I don't know what... maybe a set of steak knives?"
Rion nods, thoughtfully. "Aloha Airlines should give you free miles, for sure.
"At least. I definitely need to be upgraded to a permanent priority check-in."
"And get free pillows and blankets for life," he adds.
"And the extra baggage fee permanently waived."
I watch as Margaret pulls a Sudoku puzzle out of her purse. I did it a dozen times in the two-hundred point when I was bored. I know I shouldn't, but I can't resist the impulse, knowing it'll be my last time. I lean over Rion and tell Mags, "The top row is 6, 7, 9, 2, and 5," and then I slump back before she has a chance to respond.
