{WC: 468} {Created for the Tropetember event: Reunions}
Thunder like sounds rumbled overhead. Planes were almost constantly leaving and arriving at the country’s largest airport. I had just sqeeuzed through a small family of four trying to organize their bags, to grab mine of the conveyer belt. I put my suitcase on the ground with a grunt and swung my backpack around my shoulder. I grabbed the handle of the suitcase and started pulling. I must have accidentally ridden over the toes of some child on my way out, because I left one crying behind me, but I could not make myself go back to check. When I had finally made it to some clear air, I yawned. It had been a long nine hours of flying. I reached my arms in the air and stretched my back, resulting in a relieved sigh. Then I took a large breath before mingling with the masses again. The hustle and bustle of all these people moving about was quite overwhelming.
I followed the stream of people entering the tunnel towards the meeting hall. Brighter light hit me as I stepped into the large hall. Here and there stood groups of people eagerly looking toward us. Parents, families, friend, all waiting to reunite. There was movement among us. Some started speeding up, some ended up sprinting, some stopped to stand on their tippy toes before stepping outside of the flow. All were hurrying towards the warm hug that was waiting for them. I smiled at the sight.
The flow approached a pillar where it turned right towards the exit. The excitement of the people around me made me skip some steps, made me walk uncertainly towards the turn, looking this way and that to try to see over the heads of them in the hopes of spotting him, my friend. The flow turned right, becoming thinner and thinner. A spike of nervousness caught my breath. Not yet.
My smile turned into a grin that got wider and wider the longer I moved. We were almost approaching the exit now. I stepped outside of the line to look past the people and there he was. His eyes scanned the crowd, moving from his right to his left until... He smiled. I had frozen completely. Emotions rushed over me like a wave in the sea, making me unable to move. Tears welled up in my eyes. It had been so long. He opened his arms for me. I took big uncontrolled breaths. My feet started moving themselves, faster and faster, until I was bolting straight at him. My arms were flinging in the air around me as I hastily tried to wipe my tears, but they kept coming back. I came at him so hard that he almost lost his balance. He grabbed me firmly.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” he whispered.