Surviving the Dreams

Chapter 18 - The Lost Luggage Claim

The return of the rainy season between the end of March and early May was an unbelievably slow time at the Moreno Resort. For all the overtime and extra hours Greg worked during the brief break in the weather that preceded it, he more than made up for it with un-paid time off while it was raining. Still he found enough to do during his regular shift doing maintenance work again, much as he had done at the mission the previous year. Susan’s job remained the same, no matter what the weather was doing, so between them they still found enough work to do to pay the rent.

Mail became a much more regular part of their lives. Letters came every week from Richard and Alex as they worked with Greg to develop enough new material to use for their summer show. Susan’s mother began to write regularly, even sending her pictures and addresses for some of their other family members, though not the address for her sons. According to her mother, Michael had asked her not to.

Passover and Easter came and went along with the brief surge of visitors coming for Spring Break. The season that was ‘Spring’ for the northern hemisphere was also the season to get ready for the upcoming crowds at the resort which were expected in another two months. Susan was very busy updating the resort’s many web pages and interlinks to keep them consistent with their advertisements. She was in the middle of all of that when she realized that one of the publicity pictures being used for that year was one taken by Alex. It featured Greg and herself sitting under a coconut tree near the beach, sipping drinks out of coconut shell shaped glasses, laughing together for the camera as they enjoyed the sunset. They, along with the palm tree, made a wonderful silhouette against a dramatic sky. Susan almost hadn’t noticed who it was that was in the picture until she had to look at it more closely while using it as a part of the layout for the web page. Apparently Alex was living up to his word. The picture was part of an ad campaign, advertising the resort, as well as Greg’s appearance there. His identity was being billed as a South Pacific Mystery, introducing a hint of adventure into the vacation package; just a hint, but not much so as not to scare away those looking for rest and solitude rather than adventure. 

Richard and Alex’s letters became even more constant after that as the publicity for their performance spread. Greg and Richard exchanged material almost daily as they fine-tuned the show they would perform.

Meanwhile, on April 1st, Greg and Susan quietly celebrated the third anniversary of the crash and the first anniversary of their departure from St. Augustine’s, which in their minds marked their true return to civilization. They spent the evening remembering all the people who had given them so much help along the way. It was about that same time when Susan received a very unusual letter in the mail.

“Greg, did you get one of these?” she asked one Saturday morning in early April as they sat reading the mail and the paper around the table.

“What is it?” Greg asked.

“A reply from the baggage handling people at the airline. Finally.”

“I haven’t heard a word from them. What did they say?”

“They say my information has been forwarded to their claims department where it will be taken under consideration. That doesn’t sound very hopeful,” Susan lamented.

Greg shrugged. “At least they replied. It’s a start.”

Susan nodded and added her letter to their file. By the end of the week, Greg also got a letter from the airline.
            “Another form letter?” Susan asked.

“Not exactly. This letter states that my information has been forwarded to the claims department where it is being processed. They expect a check to be issued in my name for my lost baggage within sixty days.”