The Airport(Marius Robbertze) The Airport
Author: ©IMPISI

Here I sit at the airport, one of the busiest places on earth.
How many have had the pleasure and opportunity to do so?

As I sit here waiting my turn to climb onto the big bird to my final destination in life, I look around and observe everyone in the airport with me.

I sit there in silence alone, all alone, and ask myself, who are these people, where are they going, and why?

There sits a couple, young and energetic. The man was tall and thin, the girl short and petite with long red hair. The Jesus sandals she wore we old and falling apart. Her feet were dirty brown and tanned from years in the sun. Their clothes are old and tacky from continuous wear and very little laundry. Their laughter and happiness fill the air as if they do not have a care in the world. The backpacks next to their chairs tell me they are off on an adventure far away from the luxury of hotels. I noticed no wedding rings on any one of their fingers, so marriage does not seem to be their main objective. The young girl has a serious scar on her face that stands out and is so noticeable. She is very conscious of it and keeps trying to cover it with her hand from time to time. The man’s right-hand fingers are covered in a very yellow stain, from years of smoking who knows what. They are still young and full of life. A life I had many many years ago. I smile, that was a good life I had, enjoyed it so much.
Done with them I scanned the rest of the airport. My eyes came to rest on a young woman with a little boy by her side, she was young. The little boy must have been about eight. She also had no ring on her finger, so I guessed a single mother. The little boy was sad. Small little tears filled his eyes and ran down his red little cheeks. He was dressed very warmly with a Spider-Man backpack on, full to the brim. The woman had no baggage, just a moon bag around her waist. She was doing her best to comfort the little boy. I thought to myself they were going to be parted, and the little boy was going somewhere without her. As I thought that two air hostesses approached them and knelt in front of the little boy. Then I knew. One of the air hostesses hugged the little boy and stroked his little head and whispered something into his ear. The little boy looked into her eyes with his tear-filled eyes and smiled. It was time. The little boy kissed the young woman on the cheek, gave her a big hug, and left with the air hostesses. As he walked away, he turned back to the woman and waved. I thought to myself, was that going to be the last wave…..

I took a sip of my coffee and scanned the airport again. I thought to myself this was better than reading a good book.

In the far corner huddled together were two old people. Squeezed together holding hands, very tightly. They were immaculately dressed. The old lady had a beautiful green dress on with stockings and high heels. The coat she had on was black, its length all the way to her ankles. There was a skin of a silver fox draped around her neck as a scarf. Poor animal I thought. The old man had on a suit that was bought at a well-known men’s dresser. His black shoes were so polished they were like mirrors connected to his feet. The love they had for each other was a plain as the nose on my face. These two old people were married for ever and they loved each other so much. They seemed out of place here and I guessed this was their first time at an airport and their first time flying anywhere. I then understood their silence as it was more being afraid than being excited. I thought, it sucked to be so old and having to go through something like this. But then life was not always fair.

My coffee was almost finished, and I needed to visit the men’s restroom. Not a place I enjoyed visiting at the airport. It was always so dirty plus the overseas visitors used the restroom as a bath area. Standing there using the basin as a bath was not my idea of fun. Restroom done and new hot cup of coffee in my hand I sat down and continued my book of the airport.

My gaze stopped at a man so well dressed. He was handsome. He was under thirty. He looked like a mannequin in a shop front window. He wore a three piece dark grey suit, white silk shirt and a black tie. His black shoes were made of ostrich leather. His hair was so well kept, there was not a hair out of place. He sat with his legs crossed and was glued to his cell phone. I imagined what a hit he would have been to any lady. Every person that passed him by, male and female gave him a second look. I realized we were all on the same page. Then to my shock and horror, another man approached him. Very casually dressed in jeans t-shirt and takkies. He carried a packet of food in his right hand made by the airport takeaway vendor and two bottles of coke in his left hand. Then it happened. As he got to the seated man her knelt down and kissed him full on the mouth. The seated man immediately relaxed and opened himself to this gent. So, I was wrong, the well-dressed handsome man was gay. I thought, just shows you how deceiving looks can be.
I kept looking around and my gaze stopped on the security guard and his dog patrolling the airport. They were both focused on the task at hand. I immediately came to the conclusion the guard loved his work and the authority he had. The dog was beautiful. From this distance I could not see exactly what breed it was but by the thin body sharp pointy ears and pitch-black face I thought it could only be a Melanois. As the guard and the dog walked through the crowded airport, he was friendly and greeted everyone with a smile and a nod. Everybody wanted to touch and pat the dog, but the guard would have none of it. I watched until they slowly disappeared into the growing crowds.

My butt was getting numb from all this sitting. I looked at my watch and noticed I still had two hours to go before my flight. I checked the notice board and saw my flight was still on time and scheduled to depart at the correct time. I was enjoying this newfound experience at the airport. It was fun and passed the time. The airport book was becoming an addiction.

My next glace found a woman, a lady because she was so beautiful and dressed to the nine. She had more jewellery on than Sterns jewellery in Sandton. She sat there and glowed elegance. She could not have been older than thirty-five. She was reading a Fair Lady magazine, typical for a lady of her elegance and stature. I was confused because the sunglasses she had on, which were Ray Banes, were so dark I did not understand how she could be reading the magazine or was she just looking at the pictures. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an old man walking in her direction. He was in his sixties, by the way, he leaned over when he walked. Life had taken hold of him seriously. He was carrying a huge bunch of red roses. I thought, lucky lady whoever she was going to be. Then the UN expected happened. He walked straight up to her. She jumped up and gave him a huge hug and the biggest most passionate kiss ever. The smile on her face was so big, it went from ear to ear. She took the flowers smelt them and hugged them tight against her well-rounded chest. They walked away arm in arm. So they were married. Interesting.

The last sip of coffee was cold. Had enough coffee for the day I thought. Nothing more to drink for me. No more bathroom breaks. The time was slowly getting close now. Was getting a bit done now sitting waiting. But that was airport life. Sit and wait. Hurry up and wait.

My next gaze fell on a group of teenagers. Their babbling was worse than the inside of a chicken coup. There were about fifteen of them. I could instantly see the rich from the poor. The rich had designer clothes and shoes on. The poor, plain old, faded jeans. Shoes that belonged on the scrap heap. The rich were on cell phones that cost more than my car. You could see how spoilt they were because of the way they reacted. The life of the rich and famous. The rich teenage girls were so skimpily dressed. They had items that hung out like the spotlights of a huge truck. How did their parents allow them to be so dressed? My thoughts went to my own life without children. Some days I was so sad that I did not have kids, but other days I regretted that I did not have children, or so all my family and friends said.
They slowly wondered of, pushing their way through the crowds with no respect for the people around. Typical I thought. The upbringing of today’s generation was really and truly so poor. Not the kid's fault but the parents.


I looked on my watch and there was half an hour to board time. I was thirsty but thought rather wait till I was on the plane, and I could have a lovely glass of dry red wine. Always my favourite and made things better and the pain in my body feel better.

My last gaze I thought, so I had a good look around the airport. There I saw her. She was a black lady, actually very black so I guessed she was a Nigerian. She was quite young with long black braided hair. She was well-kept, her lips had blood-red lipstick and stood out like a strawberry in between a cabbage patch. I could just imagine her husband must be a huge Nigerian man just like they could be with huge muscles. I almost lost interest in her, when to my shock I saw the unexpected. A white man with two little kids, a little boy, and a small little girl came walking toward her. The little kids were not white or black, coloured as I could express myself. I was actually not that surprised as that was the way of the world. Love had no more colour boundaries.

Suddenly I was woken up from my gazing and airport reading to the call of board. It was my time to leave. To leave this place that I had grown up in, a place I loved and cared for so much. I had to go and live the final chapter of my life in another place and time. The cancer had taken over my body and just lifting my bag and walking to the plane was such an effort. Even though my life would end on the beaches under the sun of the UN known, I was excited to end my life where I had chosen to.

So, everyone at the airport had their own story. Their own tale in life.

As I climbed onto the plane, I thought to myself, I wondered who out there at the airport knew my story and my tale.

Maybe it was best they did not know……

©IMPISI

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