Sky

My heart pounded as I hoisted the heavy bags into the car. I took one last look at the white, paneled walls of the old house with its blue shutters and cluttered drive. Edith, my tiny cat and best friend, skittered past in an upstairs window, and a sudden lurch rose in my stomach. It would only be a month until I saw her again but still it hurt.

As we backed slowly up the drive, and Edith disappeared behind a pale, silken curtain, the excitement took over once again. This was my great adventure, my final destiny commencing. Ever since I had been little, I had dreamed of this moment - it was finally here.

The interstates and two-laned back roads were choked with traffic. Thick, stinking clouds of exhausted gathered behind the large commercial semi-trucks and broken down old junkers of backwoods Alabama. The stinking air filled the car, snaking its long pungent tendrils through the half-cracked windows of the small Chevy Malibu. You would do anything for respite in that thick, moist Alabama summer heat, even in breath in the noxious fumes of interstate pollution.

A long line of cars filled the drop lane at the airport. The excitement was at an all-time high, filling my chest and my stomach. I was equal parts excited and nervous. Everything was about to change for me, the world as I knew it was at an end.

At the last moment, my father pulled the car slowly into the cool shade of a short-term parking area.

“The least I could do is see my daughter off as she leaves America.”

I smiled thinly at him, afraid my bile would betray the nerves that now wracked me. Slowly, we excited the car, and hoisted the heavy bags back into the world, dragging them heavily behind us as we approached the glistening glass windows of the Birmingham Airport.

The line to the luggage desk twisted and wrapped upon itself, layer after layer. The girl at the desk smiled when she finally read my destination. Scotland was a magical place, she’d heard, one where knights and castles existed in more than the mind of little girls. She took my card, and checked my details, wishing me luck. The excitement was back. My heart was racing. This was my destiny.

Free of the heavy and cumbersome bags that now held my entire existence, we made our way slowly to the final security line. It was the moment when things got real. My father hugged me, and wished me luck.

“This is it. You’re gonna be great. You’ve been waiting for this forever. Enjoy it.”

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m finally going back.”

“Enjoy it while you can. It’s going to be so much fun.”

“I don’t know if I can do this.” Tears filled my eyes, and my stomach heaved.

My father laughed.

“You can do anything. That’s the great thing about you, you can do anything you want and more! Call me when you get there, and be safe!”

With a final hug, and tears in my eyes, I made my way through the security line, passport and tickets in hand. This was it.

I went through the motions, numb and unbelieving. In two hours, I would be soaring above the United States, then above the Atlantic Ocean. In a few more hours, I would be touching down into the cool, damp air of Scotland, my feet back on that ground that made everything make sense.

I sat in the terminal, my stomach and my mind rolling. I watched as the people passed to and fro. Each one had their partner, their companion. Some held hands, some walked with their arms intertwined. Some pushed their partners along in strollers, carriers and wheelchairs, others walked distantly and blankly side by side. I was alone. There was no partner here to keep me company, no friend, no lover, no pet. This was my big adventure, and mine alone. This was a leap that could not be made in pairs.

A voice finally came over the intercom. It was time to board my flight for Edinburgh.

I walked along the cool, grey and white hallway that led into the shaded and stiff interior of the hulking white plane. The great adventure had reached its final launching stage.

This time tomorrow, I would wake in the arms of a new city in a new country. This time tomorrow, I would be in a world equal parts foreign and familiar. This time tomorrow I would be cradled in the arms of history and culture, past and present.

This time tomorrow, I would be hand in hand with the lover that I missed.

This was an adventure I was sure to never forget.