Aurora Borealis

Healy, Alaska
Eleanor Johnson

The music was louder than ever. There were balloons in every corner, and a glass of champagne in every hand. I felt pure bliss, but it quickly turned to panic when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I let out a sigh of relief when I turned around to see Peyton, my co-worker and good friends.
"Hi, Ingrid. Sorry to startle you, Westward wants to see you in her office."
Back to panic. Ms. Westward isn't a mean person but she is quite intimidating, everyone in the office agrees. I walked swiftly, turning a corner. I knocked on the door and Ms. Westward gestured to open the door.
"Happy New Year, Ingrid," she said.
"Happy New Year."
"Please, have a seat, I was hoping to talk to you before you left tonight. Now, I'm sure you've heard about the new job opening in the communications department," she began. "Well, I want you to have it."
"Really?"
"Of, course. You would be great at it. I think you're overqualified for the job, in fact. You would be dealing with lots of different cultures, languages, religions, it would be tricky work. But you've always caught onto things quickly. If you take the job you would have live in Alaska for a year of training, just learning the basics of everything. They have done some amazing things over there having to do with communications. It pays well.The research wouldn't have too many deadlines and few restrictions. You'd be in charge of your own work essentially. So are you in?"
"Can I get back to you?"
"Yes, but I will need an answer soon. If you take the job you would need to be in Alaska by the end of the week."
"I will," I said walking out the door. I added quickly, "Thank you so much for this opportunity."
I didn't hesitate after that, I had been looking for an excuse to go see Aaron for a long time. Now that I had one I raced to the front door. That's when I realized there was almost no chance I would be able to get to the airport tonight. The streets were packed with people, not a single car in sight. If I wanted to make it, I would have to run. My mind immediately found a path through the crowd, something I had mastered living in Los Angeles. So I picked up my feet, and put one in front of the other. I ran for a block or two before I got to my apartment. It was tiny and cramped, even the building itself was old and rundown.
I packed a backpack, threw a few things into a suitcase, grabbed my jacket and ran back out the door and down the stairs. I only had to turn a few corners before the airport was insight. LAX is always busy, except on New Years Eve. Anybody traveling would have already arrived and business trips had been postponed. I checked in at the ticket desk and passed my bag back to the conveyer belt behind.
I walked as fast as I could to the security station, took off my shoes and loaded my stuff into a crate. In a few minutes I had grabbed my backpack and tied my shoes My watch said 5:43. My life felt like a movie, I had to race through the crowd to get to the slowly closing door. (There was no crowd, but that's beside the point.) I could hear the exciting music in my ears, I think it was The Rocky Theme.
I had my ticket in my right with my backpack following behind. My eyes were pointed straight towards the door, determined to make it on time. If I missed this flight, I wouldn't be able to make it to Healy before the year ended. I wouldn't see Aaron, whom I haven't seen in person for five years. If I didn't make it in time, nothing else would go right, so sprinted faster than I had ever. I would've ran into the door, if the ticket agent hadn't put his arm out to stop me. My legs didn't stop though, that's when I fell flat on the ground like a pancake.
"Madam, where do you think you're going? You can't get on this plane, it's no longer boarding," the ticket agent said with an accent I couldn't quite make out.
"Please," I said looking up at the young man above me. "I have to make it onto this plane. My best friend, he lives in Healy, needs me. Please, can you just make me an exception?"
"Madam, I'm very sorry but I would lose my job if I did that. You could ask human services."
I looked back at the sign hovering above a desk where an old woman was sitting, probably watching a cat video or looking at pictures of her grandchildren. I took a big breath and got up from the ground. After stomping over to the desk I looked the woman in her eyes and asked her, " Excuse me, how many people are on that plane?" I pointed to the man I had just spoken to.
I heard the keyboard click a few times before the frail woman looked up at me.
"You have such beautiful hair, it reminds me of my granddaughter," she said slowly.
"Thank you," I replied anxiously. "So, the plane..."
I heard the keyboard click a few times before the frail woman looked up at me.
"Oh, yes. There are only three people on that plane. Strange."
"Sweet, thank you!" And I sprinted full-tilt once again back to the man by the door.
"Only three people, I think that is a waste of money, please let me get on that plane." I probably looked crazy: face red, eyes wide, hands clenched. I felt a little crazy, too. Fortunately, it worked. The man stepped aside and unlocked the door. I ran through the jetway and pounded on the closed airplane door.
A flight attendant opened the door, "Miss you cannot get onto this plane."
She would've said more if I hadn't pushed the woman aside and walked onto the plane. I quickly glanced around the small jet and found the other three people, and sat down in a window seat in the back row. I buckled in, put in my ear buds ignoring the no electronics on the plane rule and settled my head against the window and fell asleep to the sound of a roaring engine.
The I woke up, greeted by a poke in my arm. I tried to ignore it for a minute or so but the poker was extremely stubborn and the pokee wanted to go to sleep. So I had to open my eyes. I took my earbuds out and stared sternly at the annoying little kid sitting in the seat next to me. I'm almost positive he wasn't there when I fell asleep. I don't particularly care for kids; they're adorable but seem like a lot of work.
"Hello," I said through a forced smile.
The blue eyed boy stopped poking me. "Hi," he spoke through a wide grin. "My name's Boston."
"I'm Ingrid," I lifted my head up trying to see if there were any parents missing a kid. "Where's your mom?"
"I don't know, maybe Brazil, maybe New York, maybe China." And he got a little distracted after that, playing with his shirt. "She left when I was two weeks old." He seemed so hyper the sadness of the situation was barely present.
"Oh...sorry. And your dad?"
"Died when I was four. But now I'm six and three quarters! You have cool shoes."
"Who are you with now?"
"That lady." And he pointed over to a blonde haired woman looking down at a book a couple rows away.
"Do you want to color?" He asked magically pulling out a coloring book and a bag of crayons as if he were Mary Poppins. It was an Avengers activity book. I had grown up watching Marvel movies with my dad and remembered loving them. So I agreed.
We pulled tables from seats in front and colored for a bit. The kid made good company, he was quiet and didn't ask too many questions. He was better at coloring than I was at six and not as hyper as he had come off to be. Eventually he fell asleep on my shoulder and I fell asleep on the window soon after that.