Mary uncomfortably moved in her tight seat. She hated flying, and the turbulence during the final approach made her extremely nervous. It had been a long and exhausting flight, but she was excited to finally visit her best friend, who had moved to a small island-state off the coast of Portugal. As the plane finally touched down, she quietly sighed in relief.
She listened to the calm voice of the pilot making an announcement while observing the other airplanes on the ground through her window. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the independent Republic of Madeira. It's a beautiful afternoon with temperatures at 26 degrees Celsius. Thank you for choosing American Airlines. In accordance with new Madeira law, we kindly request you to collar and leash any men that accompany you before exiting the plane."
Mary looked around in confusion. What kind of rule was that? Completely bewildered, she watched the other female passengers calmly placing collars around the men sitting next to them. Too tired to investigate further, Mary just grabbed her bag and exited the plane. Her legs felt weak from sitting for so long. When she finally made her way to the passport control, she saw a long queue of women standing in line with leashed men on all fours beside them. She wondered why nobody else seemed to find this weird.
After finally passing through the gate, Mary headed straight for the restroom. Since she was too anxious to use the toilets on the plane, she had to hold it in for the entire 8-hour flight from New York.
When entering the restroom, she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror and was shocked at how tired her face looked and how messy her wavy blonde hair had become. She decided to take off her glasses, wash her face, and set her hair properly first. Once she was satisfied, she quickly rushed into one of the toilet stalls. Eager to finally relieve herself, she hastily locked the door, pulled down her pants, and sat down. Right when she was about to touch the toilet seat, she felt something warm and strange touching her crotch. When she turned around, she screamed in shock.
There was a man's face in the toilet bowl. His body was lying on the floor facing away from her, and his head was locked below a contraption that served as a toilet seat. With empty eyes and his mouth wide open, he just starred at her like a ghost in a horror movie. Completely in panic, Mary pulled up her pants and rushed out of the stall, her heart pounding restlessly.
"What is wrong with this airport?" Mary thought to herself with a mix of anxiety and frustration. "I need to get out of here."
With tunnel vision, she made a beeline for the baggage claim, grabbed her luggage, and went straight to the exit to get a taxi. To her surprise, there were no cars or buses to be found anywhere. All she could see were old-fashioned rickshaws carried by naked men. As she helplessly stood in the middle of the street, unsure of what to do, a local woman approached her. The beautiful tanned lady with dark curly hair was dressed in a very formal-looking blue office suit.
"Where do you wanna go?" she asked Mary in a mild Portuguese accent.
Relieved to finally get some help but still nervous, Mary fumbled around with her phone to show her the address of her best friend's house.