Stars Fell on Tokyo | ✓

04 | airplane jitters

       HER SWEATY PALMS were gripping the handle of her suitcase for dear life as she waits in line through the security check. Her mother caressed her shoulder to comfort her, planting a soft kiss on her forehead as the line seems to be getting shorter by the second.

       "Now once you get there, " Louanne's father begins, "my father owns a popular ramen noodle shop and when you get there, say you're looking for a man named Naoki. He can be a little rough around the edges but he'll soften up when he sees you."

       "What do I even say to him?" she asked.

       "Tell him your name and that you're the daughter of Jiro," he instructed.

       After getting through the security checkpoint, Louanne shared one last embrace with her parents before she has to crossover to the gates. "I promise to write to you!" she shouted as she waved goodbye. It was an everlasting image of them smiling that stayed in her mind—something to remind her of home for the rest of the summer. Louanne is officially on her own and her boarding flight doesn't start until another hour so she rushed to the restroom to relieve herself. She figured that she could get rid of the stress of flying by herself for the first time.

       Soon, she was sitting alone waiting for the woman to announce the boarding process, repeating what her father told her to say, keeping it stilled in her mind once she gets there. To be honest, whatever could happen on the plane became the least of her worries. It was more of the fact that she would be sitting next to strangers or someone would try to make advances toward her. She was always told to never talk to them—like anyone would say to their child. But sometimes there are good strangers who have good stories to talk about and they probably want someone to hear them.

       When the time came for the passengers to board the plane and granted she was in the third group at the eighth gate, Louanne let out a shaky breath as she rose from her seat to stand in line waiting to sit through an eight-hour flight. Happy thoughts came to mind in order to keep herself calm, anything at the moment would help her relax. 

       The intense sweaty palms came back to torture as she tried to wipe them off because it was loosening the grip on her suitcase. Her muscles were tensing up and there was an awful discomfort in her stomach. She easily imagined running to the nearest telephone to call her parents and get them to pick her up.

       Maybe this was a bad idea from the get-go and she rathered forget about it but at this point, she's made it this far. Louanne forced herself to fight through the pain once she felt the cool air blowing across her face when she made it past the ticket part. To help keep the sense of peace to herself, she quietly counted to ten then upped the numbers as she finished.

       Louanne imagined herself standing on the beach with her scrapbook in hand and her polaroid in the other, watching the beautiful sunset. Instead of hearing the loud fan blasting air over the passengers, she replaced it with the sound of the waves crashing into the rocks and the seagulls flying above her. She could just picture the looming mountains over the city and often what it'd be like to climb to the top and claim that you're the king or queen of the world. 

       Louanne could dream up a time that Hawaii wasn't so crowded with overwhelming tourists or people moving in. Many of her close friends had to lose their homes because of them. Once she had boarded the plane, she was completely at ease as she sat down in her assigned seat, next to the window. At least she can spend hours watching the cloud float by when the plane takes off.

***

       She hadn't realized that she slept through eight hours of flight nor was she snoring. A passenger sitting next to her had worn headphones to block it out, if anything it was normal for someone to snore in their sleep. It was clear as day that the airplane safely landed in Tokyo, her destination.

       There were butterflies dancing around in her stomach and it was an uncomfortable feeling too. It was a strange land to her but it was something that maybe she could adapt to. "You can do this. My name is Louanne Yamasaki and the daughter of Jiro," she spoke to herself, quite aloud actually. The only that was keeping her safe (in her mind) was her suitcase as she brought it to her chest. She kept her eyes on the floor, hoping that one of these hallways would take her to the exit. 

       There were some tasty restaurants that caught her attention and granted, this was a long flight but this was a mission that she had to stay focused on. "Find Naoki's noodle shop... but how do I do that?" Louanne asked herself.

      She thought the smart thing to do is to ask around where she could find it but would they even understand what she was saying? She's in another country that speaks a different language than her. Instead of panicking like any person would if they were lost, she remained calm and pushed on. Louanne felt relieved soon as she saw what was presumed to be the exit after following a group of people.

       "If I can find that noodle shop that Dad was talking about then that's where I find my grandfather, Naoki," she spoke to herself again.

       Outside, the streets seem to be busy and she kept her head low, thinking that she might draw attention to herself like she was a fish out of water. This was definitely a wonder to look at as she admired the size of the street. The signs on the buildings were in a different language and appeared to be more spacious. That's not to say that Hawaii was the same.

       Despite her stomach rumbling, she kept pushing on until the smell of chicken had flooded her nostrils and it had immediately pulled her in, falling for the temptation soon as she had crossed the street. Louanne couldn't read the writing above the small shelter as three people have taken those same spots except for one.

       "This looks like a place to start," Louanne mumbled before she took a seat at the bar.