Epilogue Episode Two: The Adulterer
Epilogue is a series of short stories following the final moments of different people in a singular location at the end of the world. Season one follows the passengers on a plane travelling from Brisbane to Hobart.
In Episode Two, we are introduced to a serial cheater and womaniser. In his final moments, Keith has a chance to consider his past transgressions, but will he repent?
Tall, blonde and shapely. Keith had noticed the attractive thirty-something before they had even boarded the plane. It was a stroke of luck for him that he had ended up sitting next to her. He had already had something of a treat earlier that week at the casino hotel, but the temptation to indulge himself again was strong.
The thought that the woman might not be interested never even crossed Keith’s mind. He was nearing sixty himself, but you would never have guessed it with a look at him. He was in fantastic shape, sported a healthy tan and kept his face clean shaven. His wavy hair was dyed jet black and kept tied neatly behind him. Not a speck of grey was visible. Keith took pride in his appearance. It made him feel good about himself. It also made it easier to keep up his lifestyle.
Keeping himself healthy made all the travelling he had to do for work easier. Being good looking made the negotiations trend more positively. It was a poorly kept secret that people were typically more inclined to trust someone who was physically appealing. The fact that it made picking up women on his business trips easier was very much an added perk though. Being just barely wealthy enough to flaunt it a little helped too, admittedly.
Good looking and wealthy. Of course the lady next to him was interested. Keith flashed her a smile. It was a better look than grinning at himself like an idiot. Besides, she seemed to appreciate it since she smiled back at him.
“What brings you to Tassie?” He had asked her early on. He had soon after learned that her name was Amy and that she was returning to Tasmania to visit her parents. She had taken a well-paying job interstate five years prior and scarcely looked back.
“Not bringing anyone with you?” Keith had asked that too. He told himself he wasn’t planning anything yet, but he couldn’t help but probe a little. He had quickly learned that Amy was currently single and had no children.
That was good news. Women without those kinds of attachments were easier to gain the attention of. Not that it was impossible to seduce someone with a ring on their finger. Or stashed in their wallet like his own wedding ring currently was, waiting to be returned to his finger before he made his way home.
He’d felt guilty about the cheating at first. He’d tried to stop. But the guilt had eventually passed and twenty years of marriage later - and five unmarried years before that - he felt no such shame. He had his own needs after all. Better he allow himself his secret transgressions than get pent up and take it out on his wife and kids. Better to spare her feelings by keeping such things to himself too. After all, Keith loved his family. He was just incapable of leaving the wild nights and transitory lifestyle of his earlier years completely behind. His secret trysts were the best option for everyone involved. Nothing in all his years had ever made him question that for long.
If Keith had been putting any effort into resisting his base instincts, that willpower had long since dissipated by the time Amy was turning to him and asking him to look out the window.
“Have you ever seen anything like that?” she asked.
Keith leaned over her to get a better look out of the plane window. A little too close to Amy, but not so close as to cause any real measure of discomfort, he figured. Illicit thoughts of Amy were temporarily forgotten when he saw what she was showing him though.
The sky had been dyed a faint shade of red, starting from somewhere further back behind them. If it had been sunrise or sunset, this wouldn’t have been anything unusual. However, it wasn’t either dawn or dusk. It was a genuinely baffling sight.
“I’m not sure,” Keith said, pulling away from the window and out of Amy’s personal space. “If we were still over the land I’d assume there was a bush fire doing something.”
“Without smoke?” Amy questioned.
“Fair point,” Keith conceded, flashing her that winning smile. His curiosity about the red sky wasn’t abated, but old habits die hard. He had long since trained himself to accept corrections graciously. Humility was almost as attractive as confidence as long as it wasn’t taken to an extreme.
“I wonder what it is,” Amy thought aloud.
“Me too. I really have no idea,” Keith replied. “I have a meteorologist friend. Maybe I’ll ask her when I get the chance.”
“Oh? That’s an interesting friend to have.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Although she takes it personally when I complain about the weather channel’s predictions being off.”
Amy chuckled. “I expect you’d get tired of the jokes in that profession.”
“Probably. I suppose I should ease off a bit. Especially if I’m badgering her with questions about the sky’s unusual behaviour.”
“How kind of you,” Amy said.
“I’m nothing if not kind.” Keith smirked. “As a show of just how kind I am, I’d be happy to pass on her findings to you at some point if you’d like. Do you have a contact you wouldn’t mind sharing?”
Amy didn’t take long to make up her mind. Curiosity certainly played a part, but Keith couldn’t help but think she was interested in keeping in touch with him too. It was a good thing he really did know a meteorologist.
They continued talking more consistently then. They discussed work and interesting people they knew, but frequently the conversation returned to the strange red sky. The colour had deepened and now Keith was hearing other people nearby discussing it as well.
On the other side of the plane, it seemed the red hue was even deeper. A few people had crowded around to look out the windows over there and were whispering among themselves. Most people seemed curious, but Keith couldn’t help but notice a few people exchanging nervous glances.
Whatever anyone was feeling though, they were called away from the spectacle by the seat belt lights coming on and flight attendants requesting people clear out of the aisles and buckle up. The curious were disgruntled. The nervous only became more so with the illumination of the lights. Both groups returned to their seats nonetheless, some more readily than others.
“Probably just a precaution whenever there’s unexplained phenomena,” Keith said.
“Makes sense,” Amy replied, still looking out the window. As best Keith could tell, she appeared to belong to the curious group more than the nervous. He couldn’t help but think that boded well for his chances.
Then, Amy abruptly switched groups when there was an explosive sound from the other side of the plane. The aircraft suddenly jerked up several feet, only to immediately plummet down several more. The plane continued to drop steadily, the fuselage rattling like it had been placed on a giant paint shaker.
Amy screamed. People all through the cabin screamed. Keith shouted in alarm too, all thoughts of looking manly and confident for Amy’s benefit lost in his sheer terror.
The plane levelled out some, but continued to descend rapidly. The rattling and shaking of the thin material around the cabin persisted. Keith was sure that the pilots were doing everything they could to rectify the situation. That was why the 747 had levelled out that tiny bit. That did little to calm Keith’s fear.
I’m going to die.
The thought came unbidden and unwanted. But Keith couldn’t shake it any more than the pilots were able to halt the plane’s downward trajectory. It was a thought that came with certainty. There was no doubt in his mind that his life was about to be cut short in a plane crash.
Instinctively, Keith reached out with his hand and grasped Amy’s. He felt her fingers intertwine with his own. He found he wished it was his wife’s hand instead. Not because he wished death upon her, but because her presence would be infinitely more reassuring and comforting than the touch of a stranger. In the face of certain death, the excitement of a tryst paled in comparison to the mundane comfort of a long-lived love.
Keith shut his eyes and felt tears well up behind his closed lids. It was a lesson he had learned entirely too late. He had never felt guilty about his adultery before. Now he was realising he had been foolish and unfair. Keith would die full of over twenty years of regret. He was so wrapped up in his self pity that he didn’t even notice the co-pilot rushing to the maintenance area to do his part.
He wondered what his legacy would be. Would he be remembered for his achievements? As a good father, husband and provider. Or would his misdeeds, selfishness and greed come to light? How long would his family mourn him in either case? Would any of his long list of extramarital lovers ever think about him? He doubted any of them would mourn his death for even a moment. He was simply a fleeting thrill in their lives as they were in his.
He squeezed Amy’s hand. Not to take comfort. Keith was beyond such warm feelings now. He did it to offer courage and encouragement instead. Perhaps to make up for the way he had planned to use her. Or maybe he just wanted his final act to be something worthy of praise - something good in contrast to how he’d lived his life up to that moment. Keith couldn’t say. It was a compulsion. He had never been able to resist his compulsions even if he had wanted to.
“I’m sorry,” Keith choked out. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
“It’s okay,” Amy said, squeezing Keith’s hand back. She couldn’t have known what he was apologising for, nor to whom. But she offered him solace regardless.
She hadn’t deserved to simply be a vehicle for Keith’s pleasure. A treat to indulge himself in. The kindness she offered to Keith in that moment wasn’t one he deserved.
“I’m sorry,” Keith repeated again. Those were the last words he ever said. Moments later, the attempts of the crew to save the plane failed and it slammed into the ocean with enough force that most passengers died on the spot.
Keith was among their number, just another man who had never managed to repent in life and now carried his regrets to a watery grave.
