“Good morning. You all set to go?” he asked as he kicked the snow from his boots before entering the main living area.
“All set,” she said in a tone that was less than enthusiastic.
“Well, that doesn’t sound like someone who’s about to go on the adventure of a lifetime. What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just not sure I’m cut out for solo travel.”
“Listen, you’re going to be fine. I think it’s high time you go and do something adventurous,” he said in a comforting tone. “I know what will make you feel better. Look what your mother made you,” he said, holding up a tiny brown paper bag from the bakery.
Nora took it from him and peeked inside. At the bottom was a lemon poppy seed muffin with lemon drizzle icing, her absolute favorite. She looked up and smiled.
“I thought maybe she would come by and say goodbye this morning.”
“She wanted to, but she had to go to the shop a little early to make up for me not being there for a few hours. The muffin is her way of saying she loves you and that she hopes you have a fun time.”
Nora highly doubted that last part. She wasn’t entirely convinced of her mother’s seeming acceptance of her trip. She knew her mother loved her, but she also understood her tendency to become stubborn when things didn’t go her way and figured her absence this morning wasmore out of spite than anything else.
“Let’s get going. We don’t want to be late for that bus,” her father said, bringing her back to the present. Nora smiled, grabbed her muffin, and followed him out the door with her bag in tow.
Chapter Six
The Turbulence of Courage
The ride to the bus station went by far too quickly and by the time they arrived, Nora’s nerves had reached a new high.
Her father handed her bag to the driver as Nora pulled up her electronic ticket on her phone for him to scan.
“Have a wonderful time, honey. Remember, we are only a phone call away,” her father said as he pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, then boarded the bus, waving to him as she walked to her seat.
The inside of the bus was hot, and she took off her jacket before sitting down. With her queasy stomach, she knew frompast experiences to avoid sitting at the back of the bus. As she looked around, she noticed the worn-out seats covered in years of stains and emitting an unpleasant mix of odors reminiscent of sour milk and stinky feet. She prayed her stomach would hold out for the three-hour trip, but with her nerves taking up residence there, she wasn’t very confident.
Putting in her earbuds, she rested her head back on the seat, listening to an audiobook she had started a few weeks ago but hadn’t had a chance to finish. It helped pass the time and before she knew it, they were pulling into Boston International Airport.
As soon as the large gray airport came into view, her heart sank back down into her stomach. Was she actually doing this? She swallowed hard as she began gathering her things to depart the bus.
The airport was a chaotic tangle of people rushing from one gate to the next. Nora’s stomach flipped as she followed the signs that led her down a long corridor to the security point. Once she was through, she found her gate and sat down in one of the cold plastic chairs that faced the large windows overlooking the tarmac. Snow began to fall softly from the thick cloud cover overhead and she almost wished a snowstorm would roll in and force the flight to be canceled. It would give her an excuse not to go ahead with the trip without looking like she chickened out. But there would be no such luck today as the loudspeakers announced boarding in ten minutes.
She broke out in a cold sweat as the unfamiliar energy she had been experiencing since the crash raced inside her rapidly, causing the room to spin. Dropping her face into her hands, she rested her elbows on her knees and began taking in long, deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
“You okay?” an older woman next to her asked, seeing the panic taking over her.
“I’m just a little anxious about flying. It’s my first overseas flight,” she told the woman as she peeked up from her hands. “I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to do it,” she confessed, tucking her phone into her pocket and standing up as though she had made her mind up to leave.
“Oh, don’t you worry, you’re going to be just fine. Everyone gets the jitters their first time on a long flight. Where are you headed?” the old woman said, trying to talk her down from the edge of the panic attack.
“Scotland, on a kinda spur-of-the-moment adventure. How about you?” Nora asked, feeling her anxiousness subsiding a bit as she talked.
“Oh, how fun. I’m headed over to visit my sister in Bristol.” Nora smiled at the woman, who seemed pleased with herself for helping her calm down. She was about to ask if she was also traveling alone when a woman’s voice in a thick Boston accent announced over the loudspeaker that the flight would now begin boarding.
“Come on, let’s go up together,” the old woman suggested as she stood and grabbed her bags.
Pulling her phone back out of her pocket, Nora and the woman headed to the gate where a long line was forming. She pulled up the scan code for what must have been the twentieth time before she got to the flight attendant. She thought her nerves had calmed down, but she was wrong. They came racing back to the surface in just the few steps she had taken toward the gate.
As Nora presented her phone for the attendant to scan and boarded the plane, her heart thundered in her ears, drowning out the lively chatter of fellow passengers. Swallowing down the mounting panic, the fear of traveling alone to another country gripped her chest like a vice.
“You’ve got this,” the old lady said as she walked by, patting her shoulder and giving her just enough encouragement not to turn and make a run for the terminal doors.
Navigating through the jumble of passengers stowing luggage and settling into their seats, Nora found her seat three rows from the back on the aisle. It wasn’t the most ideal spot as she would have rather had a window seat, but at least it was close to the bathroom—a small comfort, knowing how uneasy her stomach had been feeling.
