Finding Home.

Chapter One - Departure

I felt my heart sink as I stared at the aircraft boarding stairs. I was leaving. Leaving for an unknown land. Alone. I climbed up the stairs and was greeted.

"Welcome aboard. Can I see your boarding card, please? Your seat is just over there."

I wanted to say thank you but I knew that if I said a word, I would begin to cry. Instead I just nodded and gave her a fake smile. How people can fake happiness in such situations astonished me. I just stared out of the window as the plane was pushed back. Ready for departure. Ready to leave. The plane taxied out to the runway at began its takeoff roll. The plane's wheels left the tarmac and the reality of my situation hit me. I'm leaving. Going away on my own. My heart sank and a single tear slid down my face. Followed by another. And another. And another. I began crying. It was the first time I cried since my friend passed away. Away. And that's just where I needed to go. Away.
The engines roared as the plane climbed to cruising altitude. Quickly, the roar became a drone in the background. I settled down for the three-hour flight. I soon fell asleep and shut my mind out to the rest of the world.

●○●○●

I was awakened by a sharp pain in my ears. We were descending.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, as we begin our descent into Melbourne Airport, we ask you put away your electronic devices, put up your tables and return your seats to the upright position."

I lost track of where I was and what I was doing. Why did that lady voice sound so familiar? Being sad was really draining on one's body. Then it all flooded back to me. I was on a plane descending into Melbourne and that lady was the one who greeted me when I had initially boarded. The plane's wheels touched the ground. The engines screamed as they slowed the plane down. We taxied to the gate and I stepped down off the stairs and onto the tarmac. I was in Melbourne now.

"See you soon, sir," the same air stewardess smiled at me.

I went to collect my bags from the carousel. I went out to the taxi rank and got in a taxi.

"Hello, sir. Where do you want to go?"

Then it hit me. I don't have anywhere to go. I had boarded the first flight out and it so happened to go to Melbourne. I just stared blankly at the taxi driver.

"So? Where do you want to go? Do you speak English?"

"Yes, I do. I don't actually know where I want to go. Sorry for wasting your time, sir."

He just looked at me sadly. He nodded, waved at me and I got out of his taxi. Now I had nowhere to go. I was, in theory, homeless. It was the late afternoon and being drained and homeless, I just sat down.
It was now eleven o'clock and the last flight had landed. I didn't know what to do. I heard a group of air stewardesses giggling amongst themselves. I just stared at the ground. Suddenly, a pair of legs appeared in front of me. I followed those legs up and found myself looking at that same air stewardess.

"You really look lost. From that moment you boarded my plane to now, you had the look of lost in your eyes. I suspected something and after I operated on that return flight to Sydney and came back to see you sitting here, I knew you were lost. So, I've decided to invite you to my apartment and we are going to talk. This is not an offer, it's a command."

And with that, she hauled me up and took me to the bus stop where we both caught the bus into the city.