I've always loved flying and airports. I can't remember what got me thinking about them this week, but here we go.

I also learned something today. Coles Notes are a series of study guides for books, but in the United States they're called Cliffs Notes (sort of like Smarties vs. Rockets I guess). According to Wikipedia, the fellow who started Coles sold the rights to the concept to a dude in the States (who is named Cliff, of course).

See? Flash Fridays? Fun AND educational!

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Stop Over

When a flight is cancelled, especially in the middle of winter in a Canadian airport, you see in peoples' eyes, for the briefest flash, a certain cannibal hunger. The pilot comes on the PA system, announces his regrets that they aren't going to be able to take off; the blizzard has grounded all remaining flights. And this is after we were waiting on the tarmac for an hour. At that moment, everyone in the plane looks around and for just a moment, maybe only unconsciously, thinks, "If we're trapped in the airport, who would I eat? Who looks like they have the highest nutritional value? Who looks tastiest?" Fortunately, thanks to thousands of years of civilization, these thoughts pass quickly and we get back to the quotidian business of swearing under our breaths and wrestling our carry-on luggage down from the overhead compartments.

While waiting for the ground crew to let us off, I have a Coles-notes version of a fantasy about this really cute fellow passenger who sat ten rows up from me. Tall with curly hair and a pair of climbing shoes tied to her carry-on backpack. She was reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union, which just made her even more attractive. The fantasy runs something like this: I bump into her in the airport after we get off the plane. There are huge lines at the phone booths so I lend her my mobile so she can call her parents. The hotels are full so we decide to camp out in the airport. We spend the night sharing vending-machine junk food and gab about climbing (she also likes camping and hiking, of course) and books. Sadly, we're not meant to be. I'm flying from Point A to Point B while she's changing planes in point B on her way to Point E. But we'll exchange a kiss and old-fashioned addresses before we board the next morning and go our separate ways. Will we meet again? Who knows? But it almost doesn't matter after our special night together.

I'm so caught up in this wistful, if imagined, moment that I completely lose track of my crush once we're back in the terminal.

I cut around a mom who's halted smack in the middle of the walkway. She seems completely immune to the wailing of her two little kids as she talks on a mobile. "No, I have no idea when the next flight is. I can't control the weather. I suppose a hotel. There's supposed to be someone from the airline around here somewhere."

The pace of my walk is just shy of a jog. What if my curly-haired girl finds someone else to borrow a phone from before I can find her?

In the main terminal area, stranded travelers have built a shanty town around Air Canada customer service. A black market economy based on packets of airplane peanuts is in full swing. UN relief workers are on their way. Or would be if this blizzard hadn't grounded their helicopters. I don't see her among the refugees, and hurry on.

But I catch a glimpse of her on the other side of a pack of a people trudging listlessly along, hauling their rolling suitcases behind them. I get too impatient and cut in between two of them, tossing out a "Sorry, excuse me!" as I go.

And then I see her walk up to some jerk. They kiss. I get close enough to hear her say, "I guess I'll try again tomorrow."

"Let's go home," he says.

I walk back towards the refugee camp, wondering what kind of hold he might have over her. Kidnapped her parents? Maybe he's holding the lease to her grandfather's farm. I also wonder what I can trade for in the black market with the half-eaten chocolate bar I have in my bag.

11 responses to "Stop Over "

angie wrote: Friday, 21 Aug 2009 22:35 *shudder* More reasons to hate flying. Enjoyed this. (point B on her wait to Point E?? "...on her way to...)

Laura Eno wrote: Friday, 21 Aug 2009 22:36 Ha! Cute story and, no, I didn't know that they are called Coles notes in Canada. I did learn something educational while enjoying your story.

Jeff Posey wrote: Saturday, 22 Aug 2009 07:19 This world driven by daydream of what could be is terrific. The setting is merely the obstacle that sets the dream free, and we chase that dream only to find ... another daydream. Excellent depiction of how we humans live in our heads more than the real world. --Jeff Posey

chris chartrand wrote: Saturday, 22 Aug 2009 08:52 Great story. I like how his daydreams flow so naturally between what is happening in his world.

2mara wrote: Saturday, 22 Aug 2009 10:01 Haha! Love it! Bet he plots a timely rescue while he waits it out ;-)... ~2

Dana wrote: Saturday, 22 Aug 2009 11:16 Thanks Angie, typo fixed :) It's probably not the last one...

Pippa Hennessy wrote: Sunday, 23 Aug 2009 09:14 This story is beautifully written. It's funny, well-observed, and totally believable. It also makes me hope that I'm not as mad as I think I might be (or at least not the only one!) :-)

J. M. Strother wrote: Tuesday, 25 Aug 2009 17:33 I really loved this one, Dana. So real. So vivid. And so funny, in a sad sort of way. ~jon

dan powell wrote: Thursday, 27 Aug 2009 04:45 The dark thoughts of the narrator make this for me. Nice to see a character own up to their darker side. The last bit where he tries to work out why the girl of his fantasy is with that guy is priceless, those possible reasons saying so much more about the narrator.

2mara wrote: Thursday, 27 Aug 2009 22:34 Dana, I gave you an award on my blog http://www.2mara.com

Debs wrote: Friday, 11 Sep 2009 20:19 Wow, Dana, I really, really like this one. Especially after having sat in the airport last week for a really long time as delay announcement after delay announcement came through on my flight.

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