Meet Me At The Airport

EUREKA!

As Daniella watches the planes take off one after another, she is relieved to be back at the airport. Yes! Daniella Spencer finds herself once again awake at Gate 3. There is a peaceful silence jubilee flowing through her body as this area is the only place familiar to her at this point and time. She checks her phone screen as she has done before and takes notice of the time. It is 6:09 am.

"Boarding should be starting soon if I am at the right zone..." Daniella remarks to herself out loud.

She glances around her in the hopes of spotting anything out of place or out of the ordinary. But no! Everything seems to be in its right place. No sign of giant unanimated or animated teddy bears, no sign of fog anywhere... no sweet-smelling aroma coming from any other distant place. Nothing at all! No child carrying any unusual toys or items! No flight attendant behaving out of the ordinary! And no, she is deciding not to even venture into any of the cafes or restaurants... especially Starbucks! She decides to stay put where she is. No adventure until she safely lands back home! Everything is as it should be in perfect order.

Before she knows it, it is time for boarding at Gate 3.

"Good morning passengers. This is the boarding announcement for flight 77X. We are now inviting those passengers with small children and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you."

Daniella sets a timer on her phone for ten minutes. In the past, she would do this right before she would meditate, but she instead stares into the dark, moody clouds and thinks back on her flashbacks... specifically Sweetheart and the slashed suitcase. A stain of guilt begins to spread throughout Daniella's consciousness, which is, unfortunately, is interrupted by:

"This is a final boarding call for passenger Daniella Spencer booked on flight 77X. Please proceed to gate 3 immediately. The final checks are being completed and the captain will order for the doors of the aircraft to close in approximately five minutes time. I repeat. This is the final boarding call for Daniella Spencer. Thank you."

"Whoops." she observes. "You would think that I would get better at paying attention to this... But am I surprised by this? No... not really." Daniella smiles, takes a long deep breath, gathers her belongings, and calmly boards the plane. She paces her breathing all the way to her designated seat onboard Flight 77X. Finally, something is going smoothly as it should.

"Hmmm. Strange. No text?" observes Daniella.

Daniella pulls out her phone and opens up her messages. Nothing. She quickly types up a short message.

Daniella

Hey! Babe! Just boarded.

She stares at her screen. Nothing. Her foot begins to tap.

Daniella

I'll text you when I land! Love you!

She quickly turns off her phone. She watches The Stewardess walk past her. They exchange polite smiles, but The Stewardess walks on by. No child, no bears, no jump scares, no champagne, nothing. Perhaps she used up all of her Business Class privileges.

Once the plane goes into taxi, Daniella grabs her purse and pulls out her notebook. As she goes through her bag, she quickly realizes that she has no pens... Not that her pens mysteriously disappeared, but that she probably chose to not pack her pens in fear of security confiscating her stuff. She does have her house keys and a copy of her car keys out of habit, so there's that. She grabs the attention of The Stewardess.