There and Back Again: My Tale (Part 1)

A wise old man once said to find joy in the journey. I must say that is a lesson I've been having to learn the hard way. I just returned from a journey to the exotic USA. It was the first time since coming to Europe. But I must say that the journeys there and back were just as exciting as my time there. I boarded my flight from Moscow to London and settled in for a long night. Eleven hours and I'm too cheap to pay for a hotel. Someday I'll have to be a responsible adult with children and whatnot and will have to find appropriate sleeping situations. But that is not this day. So I slept in the airport. Apparently in Heathrow you can't sleep just anywhere. They told me there was a lounge. They lied. It's not a lounge; but rather an area in one terminal where they can keep track of everyone. They cattle herd and head count all those who stay behind after official hours. So I fell asleep on a bench. I was awoken about an hour and a half later by someone yelling "Miss! Miss! This way!" We were all led to another part of the airport. A gate. I heard the airport personnel giving each other the number. I can't remember now but I think it was somewhere around 40. I heard them tell one man that we would be led back out to the waiting areas at 4:00 am. I read a little and drifted in and out of sleep lying across a few seats. Some people stayed up chatting. I wondered what time zone they were coming from. Or maybe going to. Some people watched the news. After a few rests I was cold and decided we'd be leaving soon anyway, so I sat up and tried to figure out what to do. A man walked over and sat down across from me. I had noticed him earlier and, from the back of his head, thought he was wearing an eye patch. With now a full look at his face, my suspicion was confirmed. An eye patch indeed. Peculiar. He had some food that he had sat down to eat. As I looked at what he was doing I noticed something spectacular: not only did he have a black eye patch, but he had a hook for a hand as well! I had enough tact-or maybe just not enough guts- to not take a picture, but, looking back, I wager that he must embrace it by now... Rats. I should have seized that day just a little tighter.  But if you think I'm kidding, think again. I would not joke about something as significant as being present at the same sleepover as a pirate.

I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'.