‘What’s going on here? I don’t understand, Honey. What…I mean…are you divorcing me or something?’

‘Yes.’

Please return your seatbacks to their full upright position. We’ve just lost cabin pressure.

My life flashed before me like the infinite frames of a film reel.

I saw the wedding. I saw us laughing. I saw us lying in the back of his truck watching a meteor shower. I saw him resting his hand on my pregnant belly. I saw us rolling around on the floor, playing with the babies.

I saw an empty chair at the kitchen table. I saw an empty chair at their graduations. I saw an empty chair next to my hospital bed.

These frenetic visions, like so much dry tinder, added to the conflagration until the plane was in total freefall. The tip of its nose was headed directly for our split level with the big tree out…