To the Unknown

She turned back with a tear at the edge of her eye, threatening to flow down her already flushed cheeks. Her future hanging in the balance, she didn’t know whether to strive forward or leap back. Then she heard on the overhead speaker, “last call to passengers travelling to New York, please call to Gate 20”. It was just the nudge she needed. She looked forward, it was going to be striving forward, she decided in that split second. She lifted her bag to her shoulders, wiped the unfaithful tear from her cheeks and walked to the gate. Her past was to be left behind. Her broken heart was to be left behind. Her “everything” was to be left behind. She wanted to start her life anew. As she walked, she could see families waiting to start their vacations with their loved one’s flock together, couples in embrace impatient to start their new lives, businessmen waiting to get to their meeting on time, and yet here she was travelling aimlessly, on a journey where she did not see a destination or a familiar face to look forward to. She was merely a bird on flight, searching for a branch to rest. Where she would end up, she did not know. And did not want to think of. New York, they said was a city of dreams. And she only hoped she would find hers there. Unconscious in her thoughts, she had reached the gate. She handed over the documents to the friendly lady at the counter, trying to gather herself for a friendly smile and failing, she collected the documents back and set forth on what was to be a long flight to the unknown.