Vacation

Head to Florida: 24 hours. Mom and her sisters scheduled Grandpa’s funeral a month out. Booked a redeye. Flight delays at noon; again at three; wait long as I can bear. Get on a bus, then get told to take another bus. Go up the wrong escalator. TSA pulls twelve bags in front of me. Conveyor belt backs up, no room to move my bag through the X-ray. Head to the terminal. Stop for a water bottle—$7.99. Read a book. Flight delays. Flight delays again—now the connection is ruined. Won’t make the funeral. Cancel the flight. Wait to talk to the airline rep. Fill out a refund form. Return trip on the bus: a family gets on at the international terminal. They stand in the aisle. Bus rocks and sways, starts and stops. Feel regret for missing the flight. Bus u-turns at economy parking. Family’s son bends his neck, projectile vomits all over a stranger’s luggage. Rush past them and back to my truck, careful to step over the thick liquid.

No. 135