Air Traffic Control

My uncle and aunt came to visit me here in Atlanta. We got to talking about all sorts of
general things, you know how family is, but we somehow ended up on the topic of
strange/supernatural. This is when my uncle started telling me his story, a story that he
says will haunt him all the way to his grave. I stopped him two minutes into it and got
my laptop because I wanted to write it down for NoSleep.
These are his memories, almost word for word.
Forgive the non-traditional writing.

Are you typing? You are? Ok, ok And your friends on the internet will read this? Ha,
alright, but warn them that these are just old mans memories Ok, so back to the
beginning.
So I graduated from Fordham in 1974 and I still had no idea what to do. Times were
different then we were able to find jobs easily, Jesus, I remember companies
practically begging us to work for them. But I didnt want to do some shitty desk job for
the rest of my life. So I waited. Then one day, while flying to visit your aunt on
Thanksgiving, I caught myself being fascinated with the complexity of air traffic
systems. Thats all it took. I decided to become an air traffic controller. By the time I
turned 27, I had passed all of the necessary tests and have accumulated enough
experience to be hired and work without supervision.
Thing with air traffic controllers is that you dont really get to choose where youre
gonna work in the beginning. Sure, we all wanted to work at JFK or Hartsfield-Jackson,
but those jobs just werent available to us rookies. So I had to take a job in a bumfuck
little town in Iowa called Atlantic. It was literally a single landing strip in a damn
cornfield, but I had to pay my dues. And the money was alright.
Now, small airports like these usually only work 8-5, but this particular strip was in such
a geographical location that there were a lot of flights going above us at any time, so we
needed to stay open until 4am in case of emergency landing. By staying open, I mean I
had to sit in the control tower, and there was one security guy sleeping in the airports
only terminal.
It wasnt that bad, really, Id bring my books and crossword puzzles, and Id spend hours
on the phone with your aunt. You know how they say that the air traffic controller is the
most stressful job in the world? Well, I was bored 99% of time, and that 1% was guiding
small Cesnas into my cornfield airport.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, about 3 months into my job, something started
happening. Something that even today I cant really Ill save you the talk about the
supernatural, but what happened at that airport just aint right.
February 20th, 1979, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was your regular winter
night in Iowa winds and freezing cold, but no snow. I was spposed to work until close,
although we didnt have any flights scheduled.
Around 1am, I received radio message from a small Cesna about 30 miles from the
airport. They were having really bad snow storm up in Omaha and needed to land here
in Atlantic. I guess being open late was justified, after all. I got my binoculars out,
verified the visibility and started guiding the aircraft. Though it was really windy out
there, they managed to touch down. I looked through the binoculars to verify the
landing went ok, and thats when I saw her for the first time.
Just walking down the runway as if it were a normal street was this... woman? Shit, I
dont know. Now, there were about 100 things wrong with this situation. First, the
woman was wearing some sort of short summer dress, or a night gown, and she was
barefoot, believe it or not. Normal person would be cold dressed like that during the
summer, let alone our winter. And then, you had to wonder what in the world was this
person doing walking down the active runway, and how the hell did she get there to
begin with?
Flight 84, this is Alex from Air Traffic Control, do you happen to see a woman walking
down the runway towards you? I asked the pilot who had just landed.
Huh, let me check. The pilot answered.
Still watching through binoculars, I saw him open the door of the plane, then get out. He
started walking towards the woman. Not going to lie, at that point I was having a lot of
fun. Not much happened in Atlantic, Iowa and this certainly was entertaining. I couldnt
wait to hear her story. My bet was that she got in a car accident near the airport.
Well The pilot walked up to her and I could make it that he was saying something. I
saw (still through the binoculars) her lean to his ear and almost whisper something to
him. He just stood there for a good 10 seconds with neither of them moving. She was
still leaned close to his ear. Then he snapped out of it, I guess, turned around, and
literally sprinted to the plane. When I saw the propellers starting to rotate, I jumped on
my radio.
Flight 84, what are you doing?
No answer.
Flight 84, I repeat, what is happening?

Nothing. Then, the plane started moving, speeding up.

Flight 84, you do NOT have permission to take off, I repeat, you are NOT cleared for
takeoff!
But there was no answer. That damn Cesna kept speeding up and then took off. Nothing
I could do really, besides making sure that no other planes were above us at the time.
I tried one more time.
Flight 84, this is Air Traffic Control what the hell is happening?
And then my radio started making white noise.
nuunn u was all I could hear coming from the radio.
Flight 84, please repeat, youre breaking up.
What a night, I thought.
Radio started transmitting again.
un UNRUN. RUN. RUN.
Flight 84, did you say run? Please repeat yourself.
But nothing else came from out of that damn radio. The plane was long gone.
I sank into my chair trying to decipher what in the fuck just happened, pardon my
French. Run? From what? What the hell And then it dawned on me. The woman.
I grabbed the binoculars.
She was looking straight at me. Good 200 yards away, at night, she was somehow
looking straight at me, eyes open so wide, its hard to explain what she looked like. I
guess, you know how when someone is super surprised, their eyes widen? Like when
you startle someone and their eyes just get so wide, some sort of defense mechanism, I
susppose? Thats how she was looking. Straight at me.
What in the world I mumbled.
At that moment, she started running towards my tower. Like not jogging, but really
running. Still looking straight at me. I swear to you, goosebumps ran all over me like
10,000 cold ants.
You know Im not the one to get scared, shit, I spent 6 years in Vietnam. But something
about this situation, something about that pilot telling me to run and thiswoman
running towards me, something seemed so wrong.

Joe, are you there? Joe? I blurted into the radio. Joe was our night security guard. He
didnt answer.
Shit I looked through the window just in time to see the woman run into my tower. I
heard the door downstairs slam open.
I honestly didnt know what to do. This wasnt a rational situation, you know? If it were
some sort of terrorist, or whatever, Id know what needs to be done. But this Was this
situation malicious? It was certainly strange, and that exact weirdness, that not knowing
what is happening is what made me run into the bathroom and lock the doors. As I
turned the lock, I heard the control room doors open.
You know how in your generations movies you just hear quiet footsteps of some invader
slowly looking for you? And then the shadow shows up under the door? Well, this was
the opposite. As soon as those doors opened, chaos began. I tried peeking through the
keyhole but all I was able to see is fast shadow running across the room, accompanied by
tremendous noise. I swear I was so shocked that at one point I nearly opened the door
just to see what is causing all this.
Then, a hard slam into the bathroom door had me nearly fall on the floor. And then,
nothing. Silence.
I could lie and pretend I was brave enough to get out of that bathroom soon after, but I
wasnt, Ill admit it. I stayed in there the whole night, waiting for the morning shift.
Around 7:45am I heard a familiar voice say What in the fuck? It was Clark, the
morning shift controller.
I opened the door to see a scene so twisted that even to this day I remember every detail.
The control room was nearly totaled. Radios ripped out, papers and manuscripts
everywhere, radar screens smashed to pieces.
When the police came, I gave the full report. It took 11 days to repair all the equipment
and get the room fully functional. The security guard on duty that night was fired. They
even started considering installing security cameras (I know, I know, today that seems
like a normal thing to you, but it wasnt back in the day). Police had no idea what to
make of it, they just urged us to report anything suspicious.
I used the 11 day break to sort myself out, and by the end of that forced vacation, I was
convinced that all of this was caused by some deranged woman, possibly a mental
patient? Whatever made me sleep at night, right?
I came back to work on March 4th. I was a bit worried about working nights again, but I
was convinced that whoever did this was far gone by now.

The next month or so was very uneventful, just how I liked it.
Iowa was scheduled to get hit with a big snow storm that day. Most of the flights were
grounded, but some were still in the air, and I had to work. I hated it because if we did
get hit with heavy snow, Id probably end up being stranded.
I wish that was the worst thing that happened.
Around 11pm that night, when it was already snowing big time, I received radio message
from a small private jet that was some 50 miles away. They were getting caught in heavy
winds and the pilots wanted to land on our airport immediately. Now, jets like that
would traditionally be too big to land at our strip, but the emergency like this called for
overriding of guidelines.
Flight 676, you are cleared to land, but we have to remain in contact at all times, this
strips pretty short, do you acknowledge?
Sure thing, lets just put this puppy down, shall we the pilot said.
It was snowing heavily by that point. Thankfully, we had a cleanup crew deice and clean
the runway before they headed home, so it was still in decent condition. Again, back
then, we were way more relaxed about the rules. I took a look at the strip to make sure it
was clear.
And out of nowhere, just when I forgot about her, she appeared. She was just slowly
strolling down the strip, about 100 yards away from the tower. Her bare feet slowly
moving across the freezing asphalt.
The worst part about it She was looking straight at me again. Again with those crazy
fucking eyes.
This is when I realized what the most disturbing thing about her was She wasnt
blinking. I was looking at her for good 2 minutes, winds and snow blasting in her face,
and she wasnt blinking. It was almost as if she didnt want to lose a fucking millisecond
of looking straight at me.
Oh god
Flight 676, maintain, I repeat, maintain the altitude until further communication.
Traffic Control, this is 676, that is a negative, we cannot maintain with head winds like
this. We have to land. Are we clear? We are 6 minutes away.
I couldnt risk the lives of people up in that plane. I had to land them, despite this
whatever this was walking down the runway.

Cleared to land 676.

I put down the radio and looked through the window. She was now some 10 yards away,
coming closer to the tower.
Though I shouldnt under any circumstances leave the control room, I ran down to the
first floor and locked the outside door. I knew she was close and I knew she was coming.
When I got back to the room, I heard the radio.
Control Tower, we are approaching the runway, please advise
Rotate 3 degrees right, acknowledge.
Copy that, we see the lights now. See you soon!
I looked up through the window and could see the plane in the distance. There was no
trace of the woman on runway. I sighed a breath of relief. I was going to deal with this
issue after the jet had safely landed.
At that moment, a loud noise broke through the tower. I didnt want to believe it, but I
was afraid that the first floor door had slammed open. How the hell? I locked it, I know I
did. And then, goosebumps overcame me again, almost as if my body could feel
something that I couldnt.
My first instinct was to lock myself in the bathroom again, but I couldnt. I couldnt leave
the radio.
Footsteps on the metal stairs were getting louder. She I assumed it was her, wasnt
running at least. But the violent sound of footsteps made me think she was, what,
slamming her feet into the ground with every step she made?
676, this is Traffic Control, I have visual confirmation. Clear to land.
I heard the control room doors open. This is when I realized just how afraid I was. You
know, Im almost 70 now and am not embarrassed to admit how scared I was at that
moment. Matter of fact, I was so scared that I couldnt even turn around, if you can
believe that. I just couldnt face what was behind me. This was very unusual because I
was always composed and rational. Always, whether it was being stuck in a ditch in
Vietnamese jungle or being nearly hit by an 18-wheeler on the highway. Always calm.
And there I was, staring straight at my radio, unable to turn my head and face it.
Im sure your friends on the internet will laugh at how I reacted, but I guarantee most of
you would behave the same. Your body just doesnt behave normally when terrified.
Traffic Control, 30 seconds out, here we go came from the radio.

I slowly pressed the talk button on the radio, my teeth literally chattering.
All all clear I muttered.
Then I felt a cold breath on my neck.
She was behind me. Breathing slowly into my neck. I could feel the lips move up to my
ear. You know when you were a kid and someone was messing behind your back,
making faces or bunny ears and you could somehow feel it? I could feel the mouth an
inch form my ear, though I couldnt even see her with the corner of my eye.
I was still nearly paralyzed. I admit, I used to ashamed of my inability to act in this
surreal situation. But now when I look at it, no one can tell me theyd react any
differently. It just wasnt earthly situation, you know?
Come down to field come down. The whisper crawled into my ear.
Youd normally think that hearing a voice would somehow defuse the situation, or at
least brush away any thoughts of supernatural, but that voice was so different than
anything Ive ever heard. Im not a writer, I cant explain it. It was cold, inhuman even.
But what scared me the most was the anger I felt in it. Though she whispered, I could
feel the rage. And, I dont even know how to put it into words, her voice lacked
something that every other voice had. I dont know.
Touched down! Traffic Control, 676 is on the ground. Hope you have some hot
chocolate ready!
The woman behind me snapped back and I heard what I assumed was running. I forced
myself to turn around just in time to her running out, barefoot.
676 welcome I made myself say into the radio. Though my legs were still foreign to
the rest of my body, I propped myself up and looked through the window. I was
expecting to see the woman running out, but she was nowhere to be seen. I thought that
she was still in the building.
This time I managed to get the security guy on the radio and he showed up few minutes
later. He did a full walkthrough the tower, but no trace of the woman.
I started feeling relieved only when the police showed up. They thoroughly searched the
building with no success. They did notice the trace of footsteps coming from the
neighboring corn field to the tower, but there were no prints going back.
Imagine my situation at the time, just take a second to think about it. You are the only
one to ever see this woman, Ill call her a woman. I wouldnt be surprised if the police
started thinking that I was hitting the bottle during work. I decided to keep it to myself

until I could prove there was this person disrupting (or haunting?) the airport. I couldnt
really quit, and honestly, would you? Probably not. I mean, yes, these were two
absolutely surreal experiences, and I did feel some sort of intangible hazard, but I didnt
think my life was ever in danger. I decided to stick with it. Winter was almost over,
anyways.
Spring brought more horror than winter ever could.

The city council finally listened to me and decided to install a security camera. Due to
municipal bureaucracy and limited funds, or so they say, they only mounted one camera
that could stream video to the control room. Stream, not record. Let that sink in. Who
installs cameras that only stream? Town of Atlantic does, thats who. Anyways, I had to
pick my battles, so I had them install the camera in front of the tower door, that way I
could always see whos outside.
A good month has passed since the last encounter, and to be honest, the horror started
to dull away. It was still fresh in my mind, yes, but the lack of new developments had me
thinking it all ended as quickly as it started. In my mind, she was probably some lunatic
who decided to move on.
Then, on May 3rd, I received a memo letting me know I needed to stay late that day,
since some local politicians plane was due to land around 10pm. Naturally, I guess, my
mind went straight to thinking about the crazy girl you know, this was the first late
night for me since the last encounter.
9:45 pm came around and there was no sight of the plane. I didnt care though, my eyes
were glued to the binoculars, searching for any movement on the strip. Even a minimal
commotion, and my heart would race. Then, Jesus, it still scares me to this day, then, for
some reason I decided to look down at the monitor that camera was streaming on, and
my world turned upside down.
I expected her, I really did. You can expect something unnatural, but youre never really
ready for it. You always hope that it was just your imagination, or something. But no,
there she stood, right in front of the camera, in her summer white dress.
She looked different, though. She was holding her arms as if she were freezing, she was
shaking, and I could hear crying through the shitty speakers they gave me. This wasnt
the entity I remembered terrorizing me.
Then, she looked up at the camera. And though the picture was grainy and black and
white, I could see tears in her eyes.

Please, it is freezing out here she cried at the camera. Audio was obviously out of
sync as shed open her mouth and voice would come through my speakers much later.
Please
Im not sure what youd do in that situation, but I immediately saw an opportunity. If I
can bring her in and call the security guard, Id finally have the proof that I wasnt
making it all up.
Jerry, get to the control tower, right now please I said as I stood up.
I walked down, I know, I shouldnt have left an active control tower, but this was my
chance. I propped the door open, adrenaline fucking bursting through my pores.
Are are you ok? I mumbled with my voice cracking like schoolgirls. Shit, I was
scared, man, you know?
She was still sobbing, hair covering her face. I was shaking, not sure whether from cold
or fear, or both, but I needed to get her to come in. I stepped out.
She took a step towards me, still crying.
Mam, are you alright? I spoke again, this time more firmly.
She moved the hair off her face and looked me straight in the eyes. God damn, I cant
explain it, but her eyes, although still filled with tears, just werent the same as on
camera. They widened, and I swear to you, she wasnt blinking.
Mam, please step back I said as she moved another step closer, now about a foot away
from me.
Mam, please step back she repeated my words, nearly freezing blood on my veins.
My legs gave in and I almost fell to the ground. Her voice her voice wasnt the same
one that spoke into the camera. This voice was genderless, is that a word? Her voice
didnt belong to a woman or a man, I swear to you. But that wasnt what petrified me.
Fuck, see these goosebumps? Now you know Im telling the truth, right?
Her fucking voice came out with delay, just like on the camera. Her lips moved, but the
words came out a few seconds later.
What the fuck I mumbled as I leaned against the door, not believing what I was
seeing.
What the fuck she mumbled back at me, that god damn voice coming out after her
mouth had closed.

Leave me alone, get the fuck away from me! I screamed at her. And I mean screamed,
I never heard myself this loud before. Accumulation of all fear and anger, I suppose.
She took a violent step towards me and her face got so close to mine, I think her nose
touched me.
She opened her mouth wide, as if she were screaming, but it was silent. And fucking
then, seconds after she had closed her mouth, scream came out of her throat. It was
fucking unearthly and so piercing that I was completely shell-shocked and unable to so
much as move.
I was frozen still in the spot, and she, without moving her face from mine, she raised her
right arm and pointed at the corn field. Her eyes were so wide that they didnt look
human anymore. She just stood like that for good 30 seconds, or eternity in my time,
not blinking. I couldnt take it any more, I just couldnt. I gathered all of bravery Ive
ever had, and I pushed her.
Unlike invincible creatures in todays books and movies, she fell as any normal human
would. She fell on her back, but as soon as she hit the ground, she got up unnaturally
fast. I mean, no human Ive ever seen got up with such speed. At that moment, I was
certain that this was the end of me. But as soon as she stood back up, she turned around
and ran towards the field. I didnt want to stop her, Im not sure I even could.
I stood there for some time, trying to figure out what reality I lived in, and then finally
gathered myself enough to climb back to the control room. The security guard showed
up good 35 minutes later, giving me some bullshit excuse for taking so long. Politicians
plane landed late as well, and I chose not to tell anyone about the encounter as I was
running the risk of sounding insane at that point.
I didnt know what to do, but I did know that she wasnt going to leave me alone.
I spent the next 6 nights at the airport glued to my binoculars, scouting the ground for
any movement. I talked the guard into doing a walkthrough of the strip every couple
hours, just on the off chance that shed be caught. Naturally, I didnt tell him what to
look for because I didnt want to sound crazy when he found nothing.
It was night seven since the encounter, and I was spending my hours staring down the
binoculars. I saw the guard walk around around 8:45pm. He saw me in the tower, so he
laughed and waved, giving me thumbs up. This wasnt going to work; she wasnt about
to get caught.
When I showed up for the next day shift, everyone was giggling in the break room.
Whats going on here? I asked, wanting to join the fun.

Oh, you know Jerry, the guard said, bursting in laughter with others.
Huh, I really dont, whats the joke? I asked again, you know?
Well, I was just telling the guys about your boring nights he said chuckling and air
quoting the boring.
What do you mean?
Oh come on man, its only guys in here, its alright he responded.
No, I really dont get what you mean, I said, getting irritated.
Well, I did see you guys last night, so I was just telling the boys how good you have it up
in the control room.
What do you mean, you guys? Whod you see?
Aw come on now, man, I saw you and your lady friend up there last night when I did
the walkthrough. Remember me waving at you?
Like reversing a fucking VHS, memories from last night started pouring through my
mind. Nothing happened, though, nothing that I could remember. I was looking at the
airfield the whole night, Jerry even saw me and waved, and nothing was out of the
ordinary and
His wave, his laugh, the thumbs up.
Yeah, I saw your lady friend standing behind you when I waved, Im sorry, I didnt
know it was a secret.
I dont know how my legs worked, but I used them to run out of the break room,
escorted by laughter from my coworkers.
First thought: at least I wasnt going insane. Someone else saw her, you know? Second
thought What in the gods name She was behind me? For how long and how in the
hell didnt I hear her?
I honestly had no idea what to do at that point. The only hope for my well being was that
shed get caught by someone other than me, otherwise everything I said to anyone would
make me sound insane.
Two weeks had passed by with no further sighting of her. Then, sometimes in early
June, and mind you, I was still scanning the airstrip every night, I saw her at the edge of
the field.

She just stood there. I mustve watched her for 2 hours and she didnt move a finger. She
just stood, looking straight at me, 100 yards away in the control tower. After the initial
shock, and again, every time I saw her was a shock to me, I did the only logical thing and
picked up the radio. I called Jerry and asked him to do a walkthrough.
As soon as the door of the airport barn opened, she slowly walked back into the
cornfield, never taking her eyes off me. By the time Jerry walked by where she stood, she
was long gone.
This happened every night for the next 8 days. Shed stand at the edge of the field,
staring at me and not blinking, and every time Jerry would come out, shed slowly
disappear into the field. One night I called Jerry up in the control room for a sip of
whiskey, hoping shed come out and Id show her to him.
Its always so convenient in movies, though, isnt it? The entity whose existence youre
trying to prove never appears before witnesses, right? Well.
Jerry came up and we shared a nice bottle of Jack Daniels over some small talk. I was
discretely keeping an eye on the corn field.
At the same time she always appeared, I noticed movement in the field.
And there she was. She came out of the field and froze in the same spot she always does.
I had to be careful. I was so excited, man, I was overrun with emotion, she was finally
about to get caught! But I had to contain myself so I could look somewhat sane when
telling Jerry what was happening.
Hey Jerry, do you see what I see? I asked as I handed him the binoculars. Down by
the cornfield. Him staring down the strip were the longest 5 seconds of my life.
What in the world is that girl doing there?
Man, the sense of fucking relief I felt.
Alright, I have something to tell you, I spoke calmly. It took about 5 minutes to give
him a gist of what was happening. All the stalking, control room destruction, incident on
camera
Jesus man, why didnt you tell me something earlier? he asked, looking worried.
Would you have believed me if I did? I asked with hope.
He just shook his head.
Alright, Jerry said as he stood up, you call the police and I am going down there to
speak with her. Ill hold her until they come.

I wanted to tell him to be careful, I wanted to even stop him, but more than anything
really, I wanted it all to end. I dialed 911 while I watched Jerry walk down the strip
towards this, this thing by the field. She wasnt moving, matter of fact, she was still
looking straight at me.
It was late and Atlantic is such a small, uneventful town that cops said itd take good 15
minutes to come to the airport. I had binoculars pointed at her as Jerry approached.
I saw that he started to talk to her. She was still looking straight into my eyes, all the way
from there. Then, without taking her eyes off me, she leaned towards his ear and
whispered something, I dont know what, Im not a lip reader. He took a step back, then
another one. He turned around and looked at me. Ive never seen such a terrified look
on another human. This man was beyond himself, face so petrified he didnt even
resemble the Jerry I knew.
He ran into the field.
Jesus is all I could say. And she was still looking at me, only she had this, what do
you call it, misbehaving smile on her face.
I had it. That pilot and Jerry both ran away from her after she whispered something to
them. And I, why was I still here? What was happening to me?
I fucking had it.
I ran down the stairs and out of the tower. She was standing in her spot. As I ran to her,
I could see she still had that fucking smile on her pale face.
No more talking. This wasnt a movie and I wasnt about to let her run again.
I tackled her. It sounds funny, I know, but I ran into that bitch and I hit her hard. We
both hit the pavement and as soon as I got on top of her, I noticed she still had the smile,
even though there was a big cut on her forehead. She wasnt talking, she wasnt resisting,
she was just laying there, smiling at me and bleeding.
I heard the car pull up by the strip and you can imagine how thankful I was when I saw
it was the police.
Over here! Here! I screamed as I held her down, though she wasnt really trying to
escape.
As the cops ran towards us, I looked at her one last time. Why? Why?! I asked, so
frustrated, so angry.
She just smiled even wider.

See you later, alligator, she whispered, second before police officer pulled me off her.
Her words came out with delay, again.
That wasnt the last shock of the night.
Help me officer, this man, this man was trying to kill me! the girl cried as officer
helped her up. He tried to murder me!
I was speechless. This woman, I thought she was, what, a demon? was now acting
human. I was sure she was finally caught, but as the cop turned to me, I realized.
I was alone on the strip, nearly choking a defenseless woman. Jerry was nowhere to be
found.
Take me, I said as the officer stepped towards me. The sense of helplessness was the
most overwhelming feeling Ive ever experienced. But please, dont let her get away.
I spent the night in jail, certain that I was going to be found guilty for everything, with
the only witnesses long gone to who knows where.
When my buddies from the airport came to bail me out in the morning, I was so tired, I
didnt feel like explaining anything. I just told them that if Jerry were here, hed tell
you.
What? Jerrys at the airport right now, my buddy said.
I was in disbelief, but I didnt want to waste a second. 20 minutes later, I was standing
in front of Jerry.
Jerry, man, why didnt you tell anyone? I asked, nearly crying from all emotions.
Tell what? Jerry answered as he laughed and looked around the break room that was
now full of coworkers.
Jerry, I went to jail because of her, man. You gotta tell them.
Look, man, why dont you get some rest and we can talk about this later, alright? Jerry
said in a condescending fucking voice, patting my shoulder.
I lost it. I just started crying. I was the most helpless man in the world. There was
nobody that could help me, and this hurt more than not understanding why Jerry chose
to act as if nothing happened last night.
I walked out of that airport, never to come back. 3 days later, I received a letter in mail
giving me formal you have been terminated notice. Followed by a call from police
department, saying that no charges will be filed as the woman is nowhere to be found.

I moved to New York to live with your aunt after that. I never did see the woman again,
and to be honest, to this day I am not sure what I dealt with. If I had to put my hand on
the bible, Id say it wasnt a human who stalked me those nights in Iowa.

At that point, my aunt walked into the room.

Is he talking about that woman in Atlantic again? she said, trying to look irritated.
I was just telling the boy about what happened to me. Worth knowing whats out
there.
Oh stop it, Alex, poor guys doesnt need to listen to your rambling.
Rambling? Rambling? How about that since I left, that damn airport has had 41 air
traffic controllers quit? How about that?
Well, I think its time to go, we overstayed as it is, my aunt said, trying to get out of the
awkward situation.
Ill walk you out, I said.
When we got outside the house, my uncle sat in the car, but I had to ask my aunt.
Was that all I started but she interrupted.
Oh, goodness, no. We dont like to talk about it, but your uncle started his depression
medication around that time, and it affected him in a strange way. It was back when
medications werent well researched. Thats why he was let go and unable to work at
airports again.
And the woman?
Well, yes, there was a girl there. Luckily, cops got him off her before he did any damage.
But hes been under control ever since. No incidents, knock on the wood!
As she opened the car door, I whispered one last thing.
And all those controllers who quit, is that true?
My aunts smile went from genuine one to one that was very obviously forced.
We better get on the road now before the night falls, honey. Call us sometimes, you got
our number, you know. See you later alligator.