Tribesmen go to the city

On a small airstrip, deep in the jungle, a small private aeroplane was getting ready for take off. It had been flown here to impress the local tribesmen of the power of the corporation, and it was now going to fly the elders to the city where 'negotiations' on oil drilling rights would take place.

On board the plane the single flight attendant had to look after the dozen tribesmen that were being taken to the city. It would only be about three hours flying so Clare, the flight attendant, thought it should be an easy flight. Certainly better than the groups of drunken executives that were her normal cargo.

Clare buckled herself in as the small private jet started rolling down the runway, the passengers talking loudly, but she didn't understand a word they were saying.

The flight was uneventful as although none of her passengers had ever flown before they did not seem upset.

The only disturbance was when she handed out the sandwiches an hour into the flight. The corporation had suggested that highly packaged food would impress them more than anything she could do in the tiny galley, but what they hadn't reckoned on was the plastic wrapping. The concept of cling film was new to these primitive tribesmen and she had to demonstrate how to get at the food, although once they did they didn't seem as impressed as she'd hoped.

Clare saw that one of the older men was still having trouble with the plastic wrapping of his sandwich.

"Here let me help you." She knew that he probably didn't understand what she was saying, but experience had thought her that if she spoke kindly and smiled a lot then they would get the message. As she was leaning over the seat she the old man reached up as if to steady her, and she felt a prick against the side of her neck. Her breath seemed to catch, and she found she had no voice. She had the sensation of falling, and being caught by many hands.

Clare felt herself almost waking, as if on the edge of a dream. She must have been more tired than she'd thought if she'd fallen asleep on duty. In her dream she found herself laying on her back. She recognised where she was. She was laying on the floor of the small galley at the back of the plane. She tried to move, but found she couldn't. It was as if she was paralysed.

Shadows moved around her, and she felt a distant sensation of something pulling at her. The shadows started to resolve and she recognised one of today's passengers. He had something long and white, maybe a French Stick, that he was eating. Well at least in her dream she had managed to get them to eat something.

As his shape moved away she looked around. She could make out a shape reflected in the polished metal of the ceiling, and focused on that. A pale patch of light, some darker patches. Her eyes finally resolved an image of a woman. But not a normal woman as this one was incomplete. She was also naked. Then the dream started making sense. At college she'd often dreamed of finding herself naked in class and this was similar. She was dreaming of being naked on her aeroplane.

A shape came back, and finally understanding how this dream worked she quickly resolved the shape of another passenger. He crouched down, straddling her belly. His weight dulled by her dream like state. He held a bone in front of her. No it wasn't exactly a bone although it was made from bone. It looked like a blunt blade, or maybe a scoop. She felt a tugging at her chest. Was she dreaming of being groped by an old tribesman? Then it stopped, and sitting on top of the scoop was her left breast. She recognised it by the nipple ring she'd got as a surprise for her fiancée Strange it didn't hurt, but then this was just one of her shakiest dreams. That was probably why there didn't seem to be any blood.

Her dream continued with different tribesmen each visiting her, and each removing more of her. Sometimes they would bring parts back. She'd almost got upset when she dreamed of a tribesman sucking her flesh off her fingers, the way he held her engagement ring in his mouth. Was that a sign that her marriage would not last, that she'd be seduced from her fiancée, or maybe he'd find someone else. But then her naked finger bones were placed besides her, out of her line of sight. Her ring was still on her finger so she didn't have to worry.

Her dream became even more surreal when a tribesman took her still beating heart out, and ate it while still sat on her by now depleted body. Typical of dreams it carried on. The same tribesman then pulled at her head, his large rough hands obscuring her view for a moment. When his hands went away she felt her head was cold, then she noticed him tying something dark to the chord around his waist. He'd just scalped her and she hadn't even felt it. He reached of her head once more, and this time he was pressing the scoop against the side of her now bare skull. She thought that he might be after her brain, but then the dream faded.

When the tribesmen had finished they arranged the bones in the circle of good fortune, in the middle of which they put Clare's neatly folded uniform. The elders believed that it always paid to show respect for those you had consumed as then their spirit would reward you. Whether this applied to the white people they were not sure, but why take the chance?

The pilot brought the plane to a stop near the waiting limos. He could recognise the corporate types from here and wasn't surprised to open the door to be greeted by a bunch of executives that looked like a bunch of extras from Ali McBeal. He almost felt sorry for the tribesmen that thought they were going to negotiate a contract. These female lawyers were going to eat them alive.

With the tribesmen disembarked he went to see what was up with Clare. She'd been complaining about the food earlier and he thought she might be making use of the toilet at the back. When he did find Clare his fears for the tribesmen's fate at the hands of the corporate lawyers faded.