The World Beyond

It has been a few days since the screams from the town have stopped. The voices of the people around me filled the air as we took the escalator to baggage handling. You always get to have some familiarity with those around you during a long flight. Unfortunately, I was stuck in the middle seat between George and Jeanie, the freshly married couple who couldn"t get two seats next to each other. During the flight, I was told about their whirlwind romance that started with Jeanie accidentally spilling coffee on George"s lap. Their excited giggles always made me smile as they prepared for their honeymoon. I don"t know if I would exactly say it was my most enjoyable flight, but it was very illuminating. Once we all got off the escalator, we were directed to the baggage carousel. I always admired others" efforts to differentiate their bags from others. A zebra print package might seem a little strange, but my zebra print bag made it very unique and easy to identify. I stood there with the others on our flight, waiting for the bag to arrive. I saw George and Jeanie were on the other side of the carousel. Now that they didn"t have me being the wall between them, they couldn"t keep their hands off each other. I looked outside one of the windows of the airport. The sun had fallen about an hour ago, and it was raining. A bright flash lit up the surrounding area outside to show the multitude of buildings and parking structures. It felt as close to a neon sign as I would ever get saying "Welcome Home." I turned around just in time to see the black and white lines of the bag rounding the corner of the back side of the conveyor belt and pushed my way closer to wait my turn to grab my stuff. I began to feel warm standing so close to the others. Bag after bag kept going by until, finally, I saw mine and pulled it from the belt. I set it on its wheeled base, extended the handle, and dragged it behind me as I made my way to the security checkpoint and out of the concourse. There was one final escalator, and I could see a crowd of people standing around waiting. Each face seemed to be expressing a different emotion. The children I saw were bored, while their parents tried to keep them focused and under control. Voices started to get louder as some began to call out to the ones they were waiting for. "David!" A familiar voice in the crowd called to me. I couldn"t see their faces as we slowly approached the ground floor. "David!!" They cried out again. I could see a waving hand in the distance. A smile on my face began to appear. It had been quite a while since I"d been back, and an unexpected sense of happiness began coming over me as my legs moved me in their direction. I began to wave around as I walked through the many people around me. "Meghan!" I called back when I got close enough to look her in the eyes. I took my hand off my bag and gave her the biggest hug. "Where are Mom and Dad? They sent me a message saying they would pick me up." "They"re at home. I offered to pick you up.." This caught me as a little odd. My sister doesn"t usually offer to do anything nice, like picking me up from the airport, unless there is something in it for her. "Uh-huh. Something came up, and they are paying you, right?" "Can"t I just miss my brother so much that I really wanted to see him?" She asked as I stared at her incredulously. After a few moments, she finally broke. "They said they would pay for my concert ticket if I came to pick you up." I couldn"t help but chuckle a little bit. It felt good to know that I still understood my sister. "It"s good to see you, Meghan," I said with a smile as I reached back down to grab my luggage bag, and with my left arm still on her shoulders, she led me out of the airport and to the parking garage where her car was waiting. "I"m hungry. Want to grab something to eat on the way home?" "As long as you"re buying." "I wouldn"t have asked otherwise." I laughed as we popped the trunk and stuck my bag in the compartment. I opened the passenger door to her car and saw the buildup of trash on the seat. This wasn"t out of the norm for her as I cleared off the chair and sat down. "You couldn"t have cleaned up a bit? You knew you were picking me up." "Eh, I knew you"d be fine with it." Her voice showed a significant lack of caring. "Where did you want to eat?" "How about some burgers and fries?" "Are you trying to make me fat?" "Well, that"s always been my evil plan; I thought you knew that." She gave me a sideways look as she began to back out of the car and drive down the road. Even in the dark, everything seemed to be as I remembered it. Almost like a picture. The sight of seafood restaurants every half mile screamed: "Welcome to Maine." It looked as bad as the invasion of major coffee shop chains. Not to mention trees everywhere you looked. Out of everywhere I"ve ever traveled, this was the defining characteristic of the Northeast in general. I have been living in a state with a much higher elevation for the past couple of years. Just stepping outside, I could feel the moisture and pressure of the air around me. We picked up our food and talked about the many things I had missed while away. It was obvious that even in two years, so much had changed. Some of the stores had either been updated to something new or had been shut down completely. It was a little sad to see some things that had been around so prominently while I was growing up disappear only to be left by the shell of the buildings they once inhabited. Meghan would look over occasionally while we were driving. I could see her reflection as I stared out the window. While we might not always see eye-to-eye, I could tell she had missed me when I was gone. "How"s school?" She asked as she continued staring at the road. "It"s good. Making new friends, homework, going to be in debt up to my eyeballs when I graduate. What"s not to like?" "At least you get to spend some time out of state. Explore. See new things." Her voice was a little low. "Aren"t you in your senior year? Next year you"ll get to be just like me." She briefly looked down before returning her eyes to the road. "Maybe." "What do you mean? Aren"t you going to school next year?" "Mom and Dad said there might be a chance I would have to hold off for a year…." A realization I had never really considered came to my mind. "I"m sorry. I didn"t know." I said as I looked at her reflection. The rain started coming down a little harder outside as the water passed through the beam of light from the headlights. "It"s okay. It"s not your fault. I can"t wait to get out of this town." I knew exactly the way she felt. That"s why I had chosen to attend a school out of state rather than staying at one of the schools here. It was that feeling and sense of just wanting to get away. Start something new. Be somewhere else than here. Of course, she would have those feelings too. "You will." I started to sing the song from her favorite movie growing up. "I will show you the world... Shining, shimmering splendid..." She gave me a slightly disgusted look as she turned up the radio and kept driving. I couldn"t blame her. It was something that was weighing on her mind. The rest of the ride home was silent as we listened to the radio. Occasional streaks of lightning had flashed across the sky, revealing the darkened ocean along the road. I could smell the sea air. This is certainly one thing I missed. In the distance, I could see the outline of the town. The lights from the building are shown at night, with the occasional light from the lighthouse on the hill rotating in the sky. I was home. The car pulled into the driveway of our home. I stared out the rain-covered window at the front of the building. The light at the front door was welcoming. The feeling of finally coming back to this town, to this place, started to catch up to me eventually. A strong sense of nostalgia came over me. Meghan, still sitting down beside me, was quietly watching me. It took her a minute before she decided to speak. "You getting out of my car or what?" With those words, I was shocked back to reality and began to move. "What? Tired of spending time with me already?" I said with the most exaggerated act of being insulted. "You"re smelling up my car, and I can"t stand seeing your face anymore." She said sarcastically. "Oh. Like I could add any more smell to the trash heap. Her face twitched as I could see her mind brewing with the multitude of insults she held back. I may have pushed it a little far with that one. I leaned over and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you for picking me up from the airport, Meghan." With that, I could tell her mind stopped racing, as her body seemed to relax. "Now, if you tell anyone we got along, I will tell everyone your secrets." "I hate you!" She retorted with a hidden smile on her lips. I was glad to be home. I quickly exited the car and retrieved my bag from the trunk. The rain was still heavy, so I moved as fast as possible. She ran to the front door and opened it. Just as soon as I was going up the steps to enter the house, she shut the door and locked it. "Meghan!" I yelled over the rain as I knocked at the door. The next moment my father opened the door. The look on his face was one of slight disappointment. It was against his wishes in the first place that I had gone off to school out of state in the first place. Over the years, we discussed my desire to rebel by moving so far away. His feelings about the matter hadn"t obviously changed upon seeing me back. "Still using that strange bag, I see." His eyes were looking down at my luggage. "It makes it easy to find." "So you"ve said before. Your mother is preparing a "welcome home" cake." He stepped aside to let me through. The house had stayed the same since I was gone. The walls were still an eggshell white with family pictures hanging along the walls. Our sickly green furniture was arranged so that all had a perfect view of the television at the front of the room. As I began to walk further into the room, I could see the weather channel playing on the screen. Watching the weather after his shift was my father"s favorite pastime. I walked across the room and straight into the kitchen, where I found my mother with Meghan finishing putting candles on the cake. I let go of my bag and came up behind my mom, hugging her. "Cake, huh?" She looked a little shocked and screamed out to her father. "Mark, you were supposed to ensure he didn"t leave the living room!" "I forgot." I heard him say with the distinct sound of him sitting back on the couch.