The Story of Her Holding an Orange Read Online Free PDF Page A

could. She had no earphones nor any other devices or books that could make her smile, so it was a strange thing to do, but Trish brushed it off. When she came up to Rose to offer her a drink and complimentary peanuts, the damn woman only widened her smile, not answering. 
    “Excuse me, ma’am, do you speak English? Français?”
    “I have something for you,” Rose answered in perfect English. What was troubling, though, was that she spoke with a voice that seemed like it belonged to a young girl rather than an adult woman.
    Now, Trish has seen some shit during her flying career. She’s dealt with them all: flirters, complainers, troublemakers, love makers, you name it. Hearing a woman speak with a childish voice was strange, but not any stranger than a man from the week before who started screaming mid-flight about someone standing on the wing of a plane. Trish’s strategy was to always play along and entertain such people to the extent of her powers and comfort.
    “Oh yeah? And what would that be?” she responded to Rose with a smile on her face.
    “Don’t patronize me, you little bitch,” Rose fired back. She spoke very quickly, without her jaw ever opening, and somehow maintained that fucking smile on her face the entire time.
    This was a red flag for Trish, who always walked away from confrontations with aggressive passengers unless actual physical contact took place, in which case the rest of the crew and Air Marshal would take over.
    “Alright, well, you have a wonderful rest of the flight, ma’am, ok?” Trish responded, forcing herself to smile.
    “I have this for you,” Rose said, pulling out an orange from behind her back. Again, she never opened her mouth, yet she managed to speak clearly. Oddly, her voice still sounded like that of a little girl.
    “No, thanks,” said Trish, deciding to call it a day with the crazy lady.
    “Oh, but you should. You really should.”
    “No,” Trish said firmly, walking away. 
    “One day, then,” Rose whispered.
    And that’s that. Trish gave her a “fuck off” look and stayed away from Rose’s section for the rest of the flight. When they landed, Trish made sure she was nowhere near the exit while people left so she wouldn’t have to deal with this strange woman.
    My girlfriend went home that night. When her mom asked her how the flight went, Trish responded, “Good, other than one crazy lady. Why can’t I ever get a normal flight?”
    “What crazy lady?” asked her mom.
    So, Trish started telling her about Rose. By the time she mentioned the orange, her mom started crying. Needless to say, it was story time.
    Apparently, when Trish was just a baby in Kenya, she would often wake her parents up by crying loudly. When her mom and dad would come into the room, there would be an orange in Trish’s crib. The problem was, all the doors and windows were always locked. Her dad searched the house every time an incident like this happened, but he could never find any evidence of a break-in. When the orange incidents started becoming more scary than mysterious, Trish’s parents installed security cameras in their house. This seemed to eliminate the issue almost instantly.
    However, on Trish’s third birthday, the final incident happened. When her parents walked into her room that morning, they saw an orange lying on her chest. Naturally, they went to check the security cameras, and sure enough, Rose was there. They could clearly see Rose walking in the house, as if she owned the key to it. She then proceeded to walk to Trish’s room. Her mom said that, even though it was dark inside the house, you could see how pale the woman was. She was smiling. When Rose walked into the baby’s room, she gently placed the orange on Trish’s chest and just stood there. For a good hour. Just stood there, rocking back and forth and looking at the baby, with her head tilted to the left. When Trish’s dad got up to go to the bathroom around 4am, Rose stopped the staring and