“Leaving in 5 minutes …..” sounds over the PA system.
At last. Finally. The long-awaited moment!
A suitcase, packed to bulging point, sits beside me.
Crammed with seemingly essential items.
A challenge.
I am on ground level – the departure gate/lounge is on a higher level.
No escalator, no lift, only a narrow flight of stairs, teeming with people going nowhere.
“Departing in 4 minutes ….”
The suitcase is too wide, too heavy to negotiate the stairs.
Too many people coming and going.
I need to lighten the load, unburden.
Assess my situation.
“ …. 3 minutes …..”
No time to unpack, to re-assess what is essential, what is not.
Must I leave it all behind?
“Last call, 2 minutes until departure “
Final decision. I must!!
I clamber onto the flight of stairs, suitcase-less, alone.
Struggling through the mass of people, through their heaviness.
Reaching the departure level, a mad dash.
Made it!
I leave it all behind.
I alight!
