The Flight Attendant

by Chris Bohjalian

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them. —Margaret Atwood

peccadilloes

“death by misadventure.”

Then she finished the Tolstoy novella she had started days ago but put aside. Much to her surprise, “Happy Ever After” was not an ironic title at all. She wept at the ending. Masha, she thought. Masha. Such a beautiful name.

“It’s a terrible era when idiots are allowed to govern the blind,” he had said. “I’m paraphrasing Shakespeare—perhaps rather badly—but I’m sure you get my drift. The world is a madhouse, Elena. Always has been, always will be.

“You named her Masha, right?” She nodded. “That can’t possibly be a family name.” “Tolstoy. The young woman in ‘Happy Ever After.’ She’s my happy ending.”