Flying Solo

______It was as dark as it could have been along an ice-encrusted highway in Iowa at four in the morning. Wind blasted the windshield. There were heaps of snow at the shoulders of the road from the plows that had shoved them there the night before, and a thick blanket of white covered the fields the airport shuttle whizzed by. Stars speckled the clear, inky sky like lint on a black T-shirt, winking and blinking and probably trying to flirt with each other under the cover of night. I glanced at the dashboard in the shuttle: in lime green, the temperature professed it was a toasty -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

______I made my way through the first airport easily enough; it was rather small and the signs were massive and colorful with writing even giants could read, kind of like Airporting For Beginners. The plane began boarding and I sat next to a kind middle-aged man on the plane who was more than content I switched seats with the woman-and-baby duo previously sitting there. When the plane descended from Iowa into Atlanta an hour and a half later, the man generously offered to show me my way around the airport and to my next gate. I was quite thankful for this as the Atlanta airport is a eclectic smorsgaboard of escalators, subway systems, moot stores, and human beings who shuffled eagerly from one place to the next.

______It was definitely not Airporting For Beginners. It was Airporting: Expert Mode, Gold Collector's Edition.*

______*with voiceovers by special guest Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.




______The man and I paced through the airport like two bros on a mission, speedier than any subway system could ever be, and he even implored to carry my bag. My bag was a one-hander opposed to a backpack that distributed weight evenly, and it was weighing me down like a willow tree that sagged one way after a heavy rain shower.

______It was safe to say I did not turn down the offer. We passed a bar filled only with two bored employees who wore white shirts and loosened black ties; both were scrolling through their phones to occupy their slow morning. There was a Sonoma store boasting wireless noise-blocking headphones and a Swarovski store stocked with glistening jewels that dazzled under hot white spotlights. The smells of various fast food joints--hamburgers that sizzled on greasy grills, spicy Thai cuisine, and slimy burritos--all permeated our noses.

______I wondered if people ever went there solely to shop and eat. I would.




______As it turned out, our flights were in the same wing of the airport. We got coffee between our two gates had a jolly conversation pertaining to dogs, Alabama football, the state of the economy, and a strangely similar tradition our families had of going out to watch a movie on Christmas Day. I discovered he had five dogs in his residence, three of which his wife had brought in as shelter dogs. I could only wish my life would be as exhilarating and dog-filled someday. There is no sarcasm whatsoever in that sentence.

______I hopped on the plane, hugged the kind stranger goodbye, and after a second 34-minute flight, was reunited with me mum and pop in the land of Alabama.




Top: Forever 21 (similar)
Skirt: Forever 21 (exact)
Heels: Jeffrey Campbell (similar)
Sparkle tights: TJ Maxx (similar)
Necklace: Forever 21
Bow ring: c/o BornPretty
Bone ring: c/o BornPretty
Rhinestone cuff bracelet: c/o BornPretty
Twist bracelet: c/o BornPretty