How to be Forever Alone [#Wattys2020]

8.

As we finally made it to the gate, I grabbed my stuff and headed out after every other passenger. I couldn't believe we had arrived in Ireland.

Once I got to the front of the plane and was being led off, I thanked the flight attendants. Then, I looked down as I crossed the door into the terminal. This feeling inside of me felt so satisfying. Although, the part of me that felt I was missing my family was still present.

I set foot in the main part of the airport and I took my first glance around. I don't know what I was going to expect. Maybe it would remind me of home a little, but I didn't feel as if I was in a place that reminded me of all of my favourite places. It was different.

For one, it was slightly warmer than at home. Secondly, it looked a little more gloomy then what I was used to.

Eventually, I ended up in front of the baggage claim waiting for my bag to show up. Part of me hoped it hadn't fallen into pieces, because of how old it is. It worried me, but eventually, it came along just like all the other bags, perfectly fine.

"Is that yours?" I hear a voice say.

I look to see Petal beside me.

"Yeah, it's mine," I reply pointing to my bag.

She walks up and grabs it for me.

As she hands me my bag, I give her a smile as I say, "Thanks."

"No problem," she says smiling back.

Petal clearly already had her bag, so I wondered what she was still doing here.

For a second she looks like she's leaving, but then she stops herself.

"I just wanted to say, it was nice meeting you Claire," she says extending her hand.

I shake it and give her a warm smile.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you too, Petal," I reply.

She turns on her toes as she slings her bag around.

Something inside of me told me to go after her, just to talk some more, but my feet felt as if they were stuck and I couldn't get myself to move.

Just shout out to her!

"Where does the name Petal come from anyway?!" I say as loud as possible in her direction.

Really Claire! That's your last words to her.

She turns around briefly but keeps walking backwards.

"It will forever be a mystery to you," she shouts as she twirls back on her feet.

Well, I guess it will be... Goodbye Petal.

Pretty quickly I found myself not knowing what to do... again. I had managed to arrive in the one place I wanted to be, but clearly, my planning skills are pretty horrible. Then as always, I seem to do this almost anytime I try to make any kind of plans.

The only thing I could really think of doing was to just start walking. Specifically towards the exit. It's the most logical thing to do.

Looking around, I was still correct in the fact that it was gloomy outside. Gray clouds covered the sky and it felt as if it could start pouring cats and dogs any second.

Somehow, I was trying to imagine what it would look like on a normal sunny day. Maybe it would appear as this magical kingdom that could go on with grassy fields forever. I would love that.

Seeing as I soon found myself in Shannon, my main goal is to find a place to stay for the night. The main road seemed to go from one end to the other and I knew I would find somewhere to stay. And at this point I didn't really care about a specific price, cause just as Flint said, my dad, he didn't leave me all that money just for school.

I thought about him so often, my dad. One would think that I've not really moved on, but I'm pretty sure that I have.

And on the happier side of things, I could slowly see a crack in the sky. A beautiful blue space filled with what was left of the day's sun.

In a moment, I didn't really notice where exactly I was walking. I was sort of distracted by the cute little townhouses that weren't too far from me, but I shouldn't have been. And without notice, I found myself almost wondering on to the road.

Out from behind me, I hear the loudest HONK! It pulls me back to reality and I almost fall back on myself in the grass at the side of the road.

"Watch where ya going!" a man yells with a thick west Irish accent, as he drives by.

I didn't know what to say, I just took some deep breaths and slowly got myself back up.

After that, I don't really think the luck of the Irish was on my side. I'm probably more of a cursed kind of person if that even makes sense.

But then, maybe the world was finally giving me hope as I came upon a hotel.

It was big and nice from the outside, probably a few decades old, but looked like quite a cozy place.

I walk through the doors and I'm amazed by the interior. The walls are all lined with a dark stained wood that made the whole place look incredibly elegant. I couldn't help but also admire some of the small carvings that lined every archway to the different rooms on the first floor.

I couldn't have been walking any slower towards the front desk. Eventually, I made it.

An older lady stood behind the desk. Her gray hair was curly and she wore a simple floral dress. She seemed to be organizing some papers and looked to make her a little frustrated.

Her expression kind of made me feel uncomfortable, but still I walked up to her.

"Hello," I start softly, "I would like to stay in one of your rooms."

She turns up to me, "Sorry my American darling-"

"Actually I'm Canadian!" I cut her off.

"Oh..." she says awkwardly, then continues, "Anyways, I'm sorry we don't have any rooms available."

This kind of discouraged me, and it helped prove to me that I'm somehow cursed.

"Are you sure you don't have anything?" I ask, pleading.

"Sorry darling," she says again.

Well I guess, I just keep walking. And so I make my way for the door.

"Wait!" I hear behind me, someone different this time.

I stop and decide to look behind me.

"Maybe I can help," this man says.