Marionette

Chapter 11: The Airport

The bus stopped every so often to pick other passengers up from other towns, and every time, Posy jerked awake, worried that she'd miss her stop. At last, at around nine in the morning, the bus pulled into it's final destination and Posy disembarked with the other passengers, rubbing the last of sleep from her eyes. The blinked into the sunlight and looked around.

She'd made it, but Calgary was not the big glistening city she remembered it as. Instead, she was stuck looking at the concrete and traffic around the bus terminal at the Calgary Airport. A plane roared by overhead and Posy adjusted her backpack before going into the airport. She was determined to make an adventure of this.

The airport was one of the biggest buildings Posy had ever been in. There were people hurrying in every direction with their luggage trailing behind them, and there were crowds of people doing nothing, waiting in lines, staring at boards, checking their phones.

A man entered behind Posy, jostling her aside in his hurry.

"Sorry!" they both said.

Posy began to walk, but didn't really know where to go. She hadn't planned this very well in her hurry to get away from me. So she attached herself to the nearest crowd and looked at the lit board they all stared at. It had lists and lists of flights and times and numbers and companies and every few seconds would change to another list, and another. The possibilities for adventure were endless.

More people were stopping to check their flights, and others were leaving having found theirs. Posy stood still in the middle of it all, letting her eyes glaze over and her mind wander to all those other places, cities much bigger than the town she lived on the outskirts of. She should've been nervous, but she wasn't.

Eventually, she managed to tear her eyes away from the hypnotic list of adventures and began to walk through the airport, not caring much where she was going, only following the general direction of the crowd. That is, until the crowd reached an entrance with some intimidating security people asking for boarding passes. Right, Posy thought, turning on her heel and walking the way she came. She'd need to get a boarding pass.

In order to avoid questions and odd looks, Posy used her phone to look up where she could buy a ticket, rather than ask one of the airport employees. Then she put her hair up in a messy bun because it made her look older, and she approached the nearest service desk. There was a short line and soon enough Posy was called next.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" the agent asked, looking at Posy over her glasses. For a moment, her eyes glanced past Posy, probably looking for parents, and then returned and took in Posy's big eyes and small frame.

"I'd like to buy a ticket to Montreal, please," Posy said confidently, already digging through her backpack to get her wallet out.

"Adult or youth?"

Here Posy hesitated. "Are adult tickets for eighteen and up?" she asked.

"No honey, sixteen. You can get a youth ticket if you're between the ages of twelve and fifteen."

"Oh," Posy said. "A youth ticket, please."

"Round trip?"

"Sorry?" Posy said.

"Would you like to buy a returning ticket as well? Or is this one-way?"

"I-I don't know when I'll be returning."

Posy was starting to lose her composure now. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and imagined the stares of the customers in line behind her.

"Are your parents here, hon?" the service agent asked, her eyes going soft.

She was suspicious now. Posy's heart started beating hard. She swallowed.

"No, they're in Montreal," Posy said. "I'm supposed to join them."

"Is that where you're from?"

"No, my grandmother lives there. She's sick."

Now Posy allowed tears to prick her eyes. She allowed herself to feel the nerves, the uncertainty of running from home. Her parents might be awake by now. They may have discovered her disappearance, or maybe they hadn't. They wouldn't be suspicious if her door stayed closed a little longer. It was summer, after all.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Your parents didn't buy you a ticket online?"

Posy shook her head. "Our wifi has been down and they were in a hurry to go. Apparently they've been busy over there. Am I not allowed to buy a ticket? My parents gave me money, if that's the problem."

"Oh no, hun. I just think you're a brave to be making the trip on your own. But why don't we get you a one-way ticket for now and you can fly back with your parents, alright?"

Posy nodded, smiling politely at the nice lady as she typed things into her computer.

"Our next flight is in three hours. Will that work?"

"Perfect!"

The lady smiled. "That will be $989 with tax."

Posy's insides froze. She hadn't expected to spend that much on a ticket.

"Do you have anything...cheaper?" she asked.

"Nothing today. Late flights generally cost more. You could get a flight tomorrow for about five hundred dollars."

Darn. Why did running away have to be so expensive?

"I'd better check with my parents," Posy said, and walked away from the counter before the lady could respond.

Posy walked all the way outside and to the bus stops again. She boarded one of the city buses to downtown. Calgary would have to be big enough a city for her adventure.