road trip of a lifetime

chapter one

My plane landed on the Montreal-Trudeau airport right on time and I was ready to run to my next flight.  I picked up my stuff and got off the plane.

I started looking for a departures board. Vancouver, Vancouver.. I looked for my flight. 

"What?!", I let out a small sigh. "Canceled" read on the board with big red letters. How am I now supposed to get there?

I was going to meet my Canadian friends for the longest time after the corona. And I had been waiting for this moment for so long! I felt like crying. I began to walk towards the luggage claim. 

I sighed. 

"Let's go rent a car", I heard someone saying to his family. 

Rental car!!!! That's the solution, I thought. I quickly googled how long it would take to drive from Montreal to Vancouver . 

"Little less than two days. I can do that" I said to myself.

I start walking towards the car rental office and stopped to the end of the line, behind this blonde boy. He looked about the same age than I. 

I looked at his pink hoodie and black jeans and suitcase. Oof my luggage,I realized. I made a mental note in my head to pick it up as soon as I got a car.

I waited and waited and waited till it finally was the boy's turn to get a car. 

"And that would be all the cars we have" I heard the man behind the desk say. 

"No no no no" I almost yelled. The boy in front of me turned around and looked at me with very sorry eyes. Then he walked away.

I felt the tears and desperation rising inside of me. I sat down to the nearest bench and took my phone out. 

"Hey Markus" I said to the boy on the other end of the phone. "I don't think I can make it, all the flights are canceled and the airport run out of the cars to rent" I cried on the phone. Markus tried to calm me down and told me that it was gonna be alright.

 "But how, how it's gonna be alright?! I'm stuck at Montreal without a place to stay or any kind of plan what to do!" I almost shouted to Markus.

"I'll try to figure something out" Markus said to me with a calm voice. "It's going to be okay, trust me!" He then added. 

"Okay okay, I'm gonna go to get something to eat and then I'll make a plan" I told him and hang up.

Only then I realize how tired I was. I'd been awake like twenty hours straight. My thoughts run wild and I felt little panic attack coming but I breathed it away. 

I looked around trying to find some place to eat but I couldn't help thinking if I should try to find a place to stay or a flight home. How did everything went so wrong. 

I was deep in my thought when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I looked up with tired eyes and saw the same boy who was in front of me on the line. 

"Hey I heard your phone call. Not like I was listening! No, god no that would be creepy. OK. But I was thinking" he kept stuttering "that, well I'm going to Vancouver too.. so maybe I could share my car with you? If you want I mean. OK." he finally stopped talking. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Also I was sure I knew this guy from somewhere. 

"Hey" I answered, not sure what to say to this kind stranger. "You sure you want to take a total stranger with you for a almost two-day-drive? I could be a serial killer or something," I finally said. 

"Yeah I think I'm. And to be fair I could be serial killer as well, so maybe we could share some tips and experiences," he answered with a grin. "I heard how important this trip is to you and I thought this is least I could do" he continued little more seriously. I smiled to his words.

 "Well then, I'm Aino, nice to meet you!"

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Author's note

Im sorry if my English sucks! I don't speak English as my first language. So I hope it doesnt bother you too much. This is also the first time I have ever wrote anything. I just felt like I would give it a try. So I hope its not too bad :))