short story draft: The Delayed Reunion

Sophie Magan

Mrs. Belden

Honors English II

6 October 2014

The Delayed Reunion

    The whole military plane is silent, but filled with emotional soldiers who will soon be reunited with their loved ones. Unfortunately, some of my fellow airman do not have any relatives or friends to come home to after being deployed for an extensive amount of time in Afghanistan. I, on the other hand, will be awaited by my beautiful girlfriend Sadie. I will also get to see our growing black lab puppy, Milo. I always feel bad when I see Milo misbehaving in the background, during our monthly video chats. Other than those long-awaited video chats, Sadie and I have been staying in touch through brief phone calls and through the exchangement of cheesy letters. Due to the fact that we haven’t been able to talk much, I hope that Sadie misses me and is excited to see me, too.

    I get off of the military plane and say my farewells to the other soldiers. I soon board the veteran shuttle to take me to the J.F.K. International Airport. I hear the shuttle radio talking about something weather related in the west, but I zone out because I have much more important stuff going on through my mind. After a one hour layover, I am supposed to board the plane to the Denver Airport. One step closer to Denver, means one step closer to seeing Sadie.

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    I am planning to head towards the airport in about five hours, along with Milo. I hope Grayson realizes how difficult it’s been trying to train the disobedient four-legged rascal on my own. We bought Milo to raise together, and Grayson soon decides it would be a good time to go to war for a year in Afghanistan, which I think he could’ve timed better. I’m excited to see him again, but I feel like he should’ve been putting more effort into our relationship. Whenever I go to social events, everyone assumes that I’m one of those lonesome single girls, and I  feel the need to continuously explain why I am alone, which is somewhat humiliating. Before Grayson was deployed, I warned him that his choice to leave could affect how strong our relationship would be.

I get dressed up in my favorite outfit in hopes that Grayson will take me on a well-deserved date that I’ve been lacking for a year, after his plane lands. I’ve been tracking Grayson’s flight online and it is expected to be landing in about two hours. I strongly hope that I don’t have to wait even longer for him to arrive, due to the weather that I saw was predicted on the news.

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My level of patience is decreasing, for I am surrounded by crying infants and obnoxious tourists, who are overreacting about the slight bumps the plane is experiencing. Fortunately, my experience has caused me to become used to turbulence. The majority of the people around me are most likely on this flight so they can go skiing once we land, but I have more substantial intentions after our arrival in Denver. Once I see Sadie, I plan to pull out the diamond ring that I recently purchased and ask her to marry me. I can just imagine the perfect life we’d have, assuming that she would accept the proposal.

I remember the last Christmas we spent together, two years ago. We sat on our fuzzy rug, with the fireplace on our left and the illuminated tree on our right. We listened to the Christmas music channel on the TV, which played our favorite holiday songs. I also recall Sadie saying that she couldn’t wait to spend every single Christmas together until we grow old. I hope she wasn’t too sad this past Christmas, because we were thousands of miles apart, which we were both totally unaware of, the previous year.

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    As I’m heading out the door and into our garage, I suddenly recall the predicted “Christmas-like” weather reports and go back inside to put on my heavy coat. I grab Milo and we proceed towards our four-wheel drive, and shortly pull out of the garage. As soon as we make contact with the outside air, I can not see anything past the windshield. Our heavy-duty windshield wiper begins to work hard in order for me to have any sense of vision to drive safely. Typical Colorado weather. I hear the soft whimpers of Milo as we drive towards the airport in the blizzard. I check my phone to track the flight as we arrive in the airport parking lot, but I no longer have any reception. I decide it would just be best to wait until I get any signal. Grayson is lucky to have a me as a girlfriend who is willing to wait for him in this twenty-degree weather...thank goodness for seat-heaters.

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    I soon come to the realization of how perfect my life will be when the plane lands, with Sadie and Milo. I also will not have to worry about war getting in the way; a huge boulder will be lifted off of my shoulders once I arrive in Denver. I cannot wait to create new memories and have a new life with Sadie.

I stare out the fogged up airplane window towards the setting sun. My focus becomes directed towards to the puffy and thick marshmallow-like clouds that separate me from the underlying world where Sadie is waiting. I place my earbuds into my ears and turn on my Christmas music playlist to remind me of Sadie. I drown out the world around me, only allowing the thoughts of my reunion with Sadie flow into my mind. While keeping the relieving fact that I will see her in less than an hour in mind, I begin to doze off into a deep slumber.

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It has been over a half an hour, so I build up the courage to walk with Milo through the slippery parking lot to the airport entrance. As I walk in, relieved as the coldness starts to rush out of my body, I stare up at at the departure & arrival sign. My eyes scan across the arrival side of the board and I finally find the correct flight: JFK- DELAYED. Great. I have to wait even longer, as if a year isn’t long enough.

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I wake up to the song, “All I Want For Christmas is You”, playing on my phone, but quickly begin to fall back asleep. As I’m drifting off, I hear dramatic ruckus and screaming of the people on the flight, but I try to ignore it. I then feel a sudden jolt, but think nothing of it. Crash!