July 7 - "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”
by Richard Matheson
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1994)

* * * * (Great) Supernatural

Arthur Wilson is not a fan of flying. Already ill at ease with the flight, Wilson is shocked to see a man out on the wing, sabotaging the engines. His attempts to warn the crew of the plane fall on deaf ears, and thus he decides to take matters into his own hands.

It is funny how certain things stay with you. A movie that came out when I was three – though I didn’t see it until a few years later – has a segment based on the story I read today, twenty plus years later, and I was vividly able to recall the tale almost scene for scene. Now I’m not saying that the movie segment followed the story exactly – it’s been years since I’ve seen it – but the main beats of the story were there in my mind. In fact, it was almost as though I’d been there – on the plane – and this story was just a reminder of that moment in my life. Memory is a weird thing. Regardless, if an idea sticks with you as much as this one has, then there must be little wrong with it.