Old Friends, New Possibilities

"Oh no. Oh no no no. This can't be happening right now!" My hands grabbed my thick brunette mane of hair as I started hyperventilating. "This flight couldn't have left without me! I don't believe it!" And yet, it was true. I should have known this would happen. I mean, nature had to call at the worst possible moment! Couldn't it have waited for a few minutes until I was safely on the flight? "Arrggh!" I screeched. "Stupid Kyla! Why'd you drink that extra cup of hot chocolate?!" I looked around at the nearly deserted airport. "What am I going to do now?"

I had been going to see my brother, Keegan, who'd moved to Connecticut from Canada, where we'd lived together, last summer after getting into Yale. Needless to say, it had been a big change for both him and me. I was used to waking up and being able to walk over to his room which was just down the hall from mine. I was used to being able to prank him on April Fools day, getting a present from him with a goofy smile on my birthday, and returning the favor on his. I was used to opening our Christmas presents together, and I was used to counting down to the New Year with him. And well, it just wasn't the same long distance. I couldn't dye his T-shirts neon pink, and I couldn't physically give him his birthday present and be there to see his reaction. Despite the fact that we FaceTimed daily, it just wasn't the same without him. I had been so excited to know that I would be able to spend New Years with him, but now, the prospect of that happening was dimming.

I turned around and when I spotted an older, kind-faced airline employee, I sighed in relief. I ran towards her, dragging my forty pound carry-on behind me, and just when I was about to reach her, my carry-on rammed into my heels and I jumped a little and slammed into the poor employee, dragging her down with me. I scrambled up quickly and leaned her a hand. She took it and pulled herself up. She opened her stunned mouth to speak, but I quickly interrupted her.

"I'm so so sorry! I was just trying to come and ask you about the next connecting flight to Michigan, but then my bag rammed into my heels and... now I'm rambling. I'm honestly so sorry!"

I looked at her expression and was shocked to find her stifling a laugh. Once she had calmed down enough, she asked, "How about we redo this introduction, eh? Well, my name is Louisa, and I'm part of the airport crew for the airline FreedomCalling."

I smiled gratefully at her and repeated my introduction. She then asked the professional "how may I help you?" to which I started explaining my desperate position. Throughout my overly-detailed explanation, I saw her face get more and more concerned. Ha! She's probably worried about my wellbeing. But, once again, I was surprised when she said, "I'm so sorry, dearie, but the holidays are just so busy, and well, the next connecting flight is in twelve hours." My grin fell when I heard this, but she was quick to add on. "However, there was another passenger who missed their flight, and if you would like, we could get you a room with them, because all the other rooms at the nearest hotel are full." I smiled gratefully at this.

"That would be wonderful!"

"Great!" she grinned back cheerfully.

She gave me the details of the room and the hotel and I managed to make my way there without significantly scarring the people around me for life. A pretty big achievement, I'd say!

Once I finally got inside my hotel room, I sighed in relief and allowed myself to call Keegan to let him know that I would be coming later than expected. Luckily, it was only about 6 am, so I'd be able to get to his place before New Years. I dialed his phone number and he picked up.

"Kyla? Is everything okay? This website says that your flight departed an hour ago!" Oh ya - I forgot to mention - my brother is a bit paranoid about flights and takes pride in knowing where a flight is at any given moment.