airports: a vignette

The LED lights flickered ON TIME, next to all but one place. The cold robotic voice over the speakers kept warning passengers, Flight 345 to Chicago is now boarding, Flight 378 to Kansas City is now boarding, Flight 653 to Richmond is now boarding, and making sure to keep out of the way of my mother’s pacing I slipped past our gate and began sliding towards the snow covered windows pretending I was an ice skater ready to perform for millions. I may have not been granted the swimming party my forced tears had been begging for since last year but I dared to say anything because that evening the same sister who beat me up for fun and conned her way into making me give her my 20 dollar check for a artificial library card was avoiding the water pouring out of her eyes as my mother kept on pacing, and from that day on I realized I was in the most magical place of all, the airport.