1989: The Stories

Welcome to New York

"Honey, we've arrived!"

I open my eyes and look around. I see that people are getting up from their seats and heading into the aisles. I turn my head to the left and notice that Mum is tapping me with her finger, to try and get me to stand up so we can get off.

"Geez. Ok Mum, just stop poking me!" I look around for my headphones and see that I'm wearing them lopsided. I also notice that my mouth and shirt is wet, I must of fallen asleep after watching the Katy Perry movie.

I quickly unravel the headphones, grab my phone and anything else I see around my seat that belongs to me and shove it in my purse. I then scuttle into the aisle, stand on my tippy toes and grab my hand luggage and my guitar suitcase.

"C'mon Mum," I say to her "Let's get off this stinking airplane!" And with that, we thank the flight attendants (They gave me ice cream and a hot chocolate while I was occupied with my movie!), say our thanks to the pilot and make the journey into the freezing tunnel that would lead us into the airport.

Once Mum and I walk out of the tunnel, we wait for our luggage to come through into the conveyer belt. I hear snippets of a conversation between a middle-aged man next to me and his wife.

"Oh, and those kids behind us were annoying, weren't they Jules?"

"Not as annoying as you, dear."

"JULES!"

"Sorry dear. All I'm trying to say is that the flight was terrible."

The man mumbles. Something that sounds like, "Well try harder!"

I snort. Married couples can be so funny sometimes. I remember a time when I was six and my parents were fighting over the TV remote and let's just say, the TV ended up in pieces on the floor and my older sister Ashley an I had to occupy each other for two months straight! A shiver runs through my spine. Torture.

Mum locates our suitcases and I haul them off the conveyer belt.

"How many things did you bring Mum" I ask whist struggling with the weight of two large suitcases.

"Just the essentials." Mum says it like it is no big deal. If our places were reversed, she wouldn't be acting this way towards me!

After what feels like forever, we finally make it out of Customs and make our way to the exit of the airport. Once we walk out of the automatic sliding doors, Mum and I begin to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. We didn't have to look far. The whole street is piled with yellow and black striped taxis! Mum walks to the closest one and says to the driver, "Could you please take us to The French Retreat Hotel. That's in New York City."

~🎵~

The taxi dropped us off two blocks from our hotel because parking was crazy near it. He told us where we had to go though, right and the end of the street, follow it until we see a Mexican pub, then cross the road. Then all we had to go was left and the hotel should be the biggest building in the street. I tried to remember all these instructions as Mum payed the driver $20 an thanked him. In return, he wished us luck and told us to be careful of pickpockets.

"Welcome to New York!" He said to us.

After that, our cab drove off.

I look at our surroundings. Never have I seen so many colours on the one street! I think of how much electricity New York goes through in a single day, unless all of this is run on Solar energy, which I doubt.

"C'mon Mum! We have a hotel to find!" I check my watch. 7:30pm. I glance at the sky. Dark already? But it was light just seconds ago! Oh well. I now know why it is called "The city that never sleeps". There is still hundreds of people walking through the streets at this late hour! Mum and I begin to make our way through the crowds.