The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Welcome Home
Long blonde ponytailed-twentysomething balances on her wedge shoes and tugs her jacket over her leggings and looks as angry as she had in our excessively hot airplane. She waites for her ride at the airport arrivals curb. The minutes grow long and she keeps shifting back and forth, leaning to gaze past the cars fetching passengers. She backs into a police officer who hustles up and down the sidewalk, waving his arms to move cars along. She blushes and glares at the place where her picker-upper should be parking.
A white sedan pulls up with two children in the back seat. The kids are bouncing, singing a song. Their faces light up to high beams when they spot a woman next to the blonde. This woman is their mother, a dark haired and stout woman, patiently waiting. Their car pauses in front of the furious blonde who can’t help but hear the children and their joyous screams. The father calls for the children to stop as they disobediently leap from the vehicle to clutch their mother. Her small daughter wears a pink stocking cap with a fuzzy ball on top and the mother lifts the girl to give her a kiss.
With a furrowed glance at the family, not letting them crack her impatience, the ponytail whips her head away. As the family loads up their mother, continuing their happy reunion, the blonde woman’s eyes narrow. She looks as far away as possible, as tough as possible. She locks her eyes down the road to make it clear that she has not been abandoned, that she is also anticipating something lovely.
-Istanbul, Turkey.
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Reblogged this on The Nice Thing About Strangers.
to read it is kind of being there…
Bin froh! Danke! 🙂
Paige
Thanks, I will see Istanbul in May. I am looking forward to the trip.
Steven,
Istanbul is a remarkable place. If I may make a recommendation, do enjoy the usual sights, but take some time to get away from Sultanahmet and wander lost into other parts of the city. 🙂 Those adventures were always great fun!
Enjoy your trip,
Paige
Oh this tugs at my heart – poor girl what hurt lies there x
I agree! I am usually the smiling woman driving grumpy people grumpier, but they usually seem so vulnerable to me. I couldn’t stop watching her.
Thanks for your comment!
Paige