The Autumn Rain Plane Crash

In February, a few days before the crash of Colgan 3407 in the Clarence region of Buffalo, NY, I thought of an interesting scenario that would be unique to the world of the featherwings: A passenger airliner crashes because of icing problems, directly over a cold front backed up by an hard core arctic high pressure system. The aircraft is totally destroyed on impact, but at least two of the passengers survive the impact. The two ultimate survivors (anyone else surviving the impact would freeze to death in a few minutes.) One of them is the only featherwing passenger, badly injured, but able to survive the cold by deploying her wings, thus covering her body in the invisible featherwing down, increasing her metabolism, and escaping a quick death. The other is an uninjured human who is so badly underdressed for the weather that he can't build a shelter against the cold before freezing to death. He finds the injured featherwing being and takes shelter under her wings. The two quickly realize that their only hope of surviving is by sharing the wings, an extremely romantic act. The featherwing lady is unable to build a shelter because of her injuries. The wings alone are not enough to save them from the dropping temperatures (for several reasons.) The human is unable to build a shelter because, outside her wings, he will freeze to death before he can even get a decent start.

So they share the wings. At this point in the conception, the Storyvoice whispers, "He has a wife and two kids...deal with it." I, the author of this disaster, cried. I also realized that the story has an important message.

This is the Cascada Song, Track 6 of Perfect Day (Robbins Entertainment 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyk5PDrP7YI (haleymeadows lyrics; rip has skips)

----Begin----
The Autumn Rain is falling down
through the clouds, hits the ground
wash away traces in the sand

And yesterday is so far away
You disappeared, love was here
I close my eyes to be with you again

You're still alive, the world is in your hand

Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive

Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive

We're alive

...

I'll light your name across the sky
I'll be with you 'til the end of time
Don't wake me up
I'm reaching for your hands

I'll never go to break your heart
No matter if you're near or far
Just close your eyes, to be with me again

You're still alive, the world is in your hand

Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive

Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive (We're alive)

Dream on dreamer
and the sun will always shine down on you
Keep on dreaming
It's alright, feel alive

Dream on dreamer
and the world keeps spinning 'round and 'round you go
Don't stop dreaming
It's alright, we're alive

----End----

Natalie, Yanou and Manian probably do not yet know that this song is about a plane crash. This song communicates the hope that the two characters have in their new life together.

This song gave the name to the aircraft, Autumn Rain: a NorSTOL K270 turboprop airliner on Mountain Lights Flight 929, which went down in the Rocky Mountains in either Alberta or BC, around 57deg lattitude north in early December of the year 12BFR (Before Flying Romance). The story has developed considerably since its conception, but I'll leave further details for publication.

On 16 June 2009, after the third pass of script work, I queried Youtube for "Autumn Rain" and found a shocker: Tears of Autumn Rain by Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was the only significant hit. It is Track 3 of Children of The Dark (no North American distributor; Massacre Records for Europe; Marquee/Avalon for Asia)

I cried again. It even has the sound of an aircraft alarm in the background of the second verse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSi5dJlVxcQ

----Begin----
It's autumn night, the pale moon reveals my emptiness
And the hollow wrath and fear inside
I close my eyes to sense her nightly lust again
But my rage and thirst won't fade away

The nightly mist, the scent of autumn in my heart
I can hear the winter's song again
My will of life falls away like golden leaves
I'm just a flame who dies in shades

Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of night
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves

...

Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves

Let me feel your pain, tears of Autumn Rain
Words of blood on shore: "There is light no more"
Freezing gale of night silent stream of light
Lay us down to sleep on the crimson leaves
----End----

The male character realizes later that he has destroyed his family worse than he would have if he had not accepted the gift of wings. This song confirms to me that he made the wrong decision. Storyvoice has affirmed that he made the wrong decision several different ways; I think it wants me to express why adultery is so destructive ... that adultery is so destructive in fact, that it is not worth committing to gain the wings of an angel!

(25 June edit: Buffalo, not Denver (sheesh), and several paragraph spacing glitches; also added exact discography for EToS ToAR)