Morning all and welcome to Friday. I’m a bit slow today. The pollen was high and the sneezing was great. The meds however have kicked in. So a little less bleary eyed and sneezy, let’s jump into the last prompt of the week shall we? Ready, set Jump! or write as the case may be.
I kind of like the character and I am curious about following this scene outwards, but I can’t say I actually found a story for him yet. I will probably write more on this if only to find out where he has been and what is in the bags.
Friday, June 17th: He saw only one person.
He saw only one person. He had not been expecting a crowd, not at this time of night, but a single person to welcome him home seemed almost more of a letdown than if no one arrived. As he struggled with his bags, hauling them off of the rotating luggage return, He tried to put a positive face on it. Someone had shown up to welcome him home. That was more than the rest of the weary, slack faced passengers on his flight could bost. In fact seeing the man’s sign and realizing that he might at least have someone to drive him home while they had to navigate out of the airport on their own cause many of them to cast envious looks in Mikes direction.
He loaded his second suitcase onto the luggage trolly and made sure his small carryon was secure without getting crushed, then he turned away from the carousel and the few remaining scattering of passengers still waiting for their bags.
As his had been among the last hauled from the depths of the plane there were few remaining people and even fewer remaining bags. Mike suspected that several people would be putting in lost luggage claims before making their weary way homeward. Mike rolled out of the passenger’s only section and towards the man holding a sign for him.
If he expected any assistance, he was immediately disappointed.
“The car’s this way, Sir,” the man said. Mike nodded and rolled the cart after his driver. As he was told, the car was indeed there. The driver popped open the trunk of the shiny town car and stepped to the side. Mike rolled his cart forward and began to load it. The car was polished and waxed to within an inch of it’s life and he could see the airport lights reflected in it’s surface. They looked like yellow eues when he looked at the reflection and jaundiced spots when he unfocused his gaz. Mike looked away and loaded his two suitcases into the trunk, keeping the carry on with him/
As the cases were bulky and heavy, this required a great deal of maneuvering. They were tightly packed and when he started his airport journey he paid the extra weight fees in advance knowing that attempting to remove anything to easy the weight would cause an unholy mess. It was better to pay the fees than to rusk a mid-terminal luggage explosion.
As he struggled with his bags, his driver tapped his keys on the side of his leg, jangling them harshly. As anyone else arriving was heading off to the long term parking they were the only car waiting. Mike tried to be grateful he didn’t have to drive himself even as his annoyance with the lackluster service of his driver grated on him. He tried to remind himself that lack of sleep was making him irritable. It didn’t help.
The luggage stowed and the lid finally closed down upon it, Mike was able to wearily climb into the back seat. His driver started the engine and they rolled away from the airport.
Ten til Midnight 