Saviour

Happy

“Bye, babe.” Cecilia smiled, tears forming in her eyes. 

“No! No crying! You’ll ruin your makeup.” I ordered her. 

She pulled me into a big hug. “I’ll miss you so much Jenna! Call me as soon as you get there!” 

“I will. Oh, your flight is boarding. I’ll talk to you soon Cecil! Have fun in London!” I waved as she picked up her bags, and with one final glance over her shoulder at me, walked down the ramp to her plane. 

I smiled sadly to myself, and picked up my carry-on bag. Uncle Jeff picked up his going away present and followed me through the terminal. The PA system announced that my flight was now boarding. 

“Come on!” I yelled to Uncle Jeff, setting a quicker pace.

“Calm down honey, they won’t leave without you!” He wheezed, trying to keep up.

I was just so excited. Sad to be leaving my one family member, my home and all of my friends, but excited to be going somewhere new, all by myself. And I really loved flying. 

I reached my gate, and turned to say goodbye. I felt bad that I wasn’t crying or anything, but I think Uncle Jeff knew that I would miss him. I grabbed him in a tight hug. 

“Thank you.” I whispered in his ear.

“You’re welcome, darlin’. Now go.” He whispered back. He handed me the present, and made me promise not to open it until I was in the air. I promised, then said goodbye one last time. 

I handed the flight attendant my ticket, and walked down the ramp. 

I only looked back once. 

I walked to my seat, passing those couple of seats that were always reserved for kids traveling by themselves. I sucked in a breath, and kept walking, my head held high. Those days were over. No more memories, no more.... Harry.

I buckled myself in, and turned to watch out the window. I was surprised when we started to take off, nobody was sitting next to me. I grinned to myself as we gathered speed down the runway, more room for me! 

The second we were in the air and the seatbelt signs had dinged off, I took Uncle Jeff’s package in my lap, and ripped off the paper. I loved how Uncle Jeff always used newspaper to wrap presents, especially when he used the comics. 

I turned the object over in my hands. It was a leather bound photo album. I carefully opened it, and gasped to myself as I flipped through the pages. It was full of photos of me with my parents as a baby, and as a toddler growing up with my grandparents. Later on in the album were more recent photos of me going through my teenage years with Uncle Jeff. There was a nice one on the very last page of Cecilia and I with our graduation caps on. That had only been a few days ago, but it seemed much longer. On the back cover Uncle Jeff had written me a note.

‘The past is not something to be pushed to the back of your mind. Even when you’ve had a past as rough as your’s darlin, memories are precious, and they make you who you are today. Don’t forget that not all memories are sad, either. Have fun on your new adventure, but don’t use it as an excuse to abandon your past. All my love, Uncle Jeff.’

I leant back in my seat, closing the album and putting it on the seat next to me. What Uncle Jeff had said reminded me of Harry, and for once, I didn’t stop the memory in it’s tracks. 

Harry had really pulled me out of my grief, if only for a few hours. Being with Harry had made me laugh, focus on something other than my misery. Maybe that was why I had been desperate to hold onto him for all of these years. Because Harry had made my world all about laughter, happiness and love. He had been my guardian angel. 

My saviour. 

I pulled out my little neck pillow. It had been on my list of necessities. With no-one to cuddle up with this flight, I had made sure that I would still be able to sleep.

Sliding it around my neck, I closed my eyes. It was going to be a long flight, but I had finally figured out something that had bothered me for years.

And I fell asleep happy.