The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
Cheer up, Buttercup.
A little girl with curly blonde hair perches in her stroller with a scowl. Her mother navigates toward their departure gate, and the girl’s lips are twisted, her brow gathered, her arms folded. As mother and grumpy toddler roll past a line of people seated in a line and waiting for a flight to Dallas, the passengers beam at the girl. She glances at the string of travelers, their faces bright, but does not blink or grin as they expect–as would be the polite response to such kind gazes. They stay optimistic as they wait. But when the girl and her frown have rolled on by, the row is crestfallen. They turn their heads, nearly in unison, to await another chance to smile.
-Denver International Airport, Colorado.
A likely excuse. (Vienna airport)
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
Your hard work has made me smile. Thank you for that. 🙂
Thank you for reading it! I love to be able to share these wonderful tiny moments as I can. I’m smiling too!
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You know ,Paige, I was actually at the Denver airport way back in Jan. 1985…so I assume it’s not the same Internat’l airport u were at. My abiding memory is that of seeing a lot of guys wearing cowboy hats. I’m trying to read more of your stories, and am more impressed with you and your eye for noticing things with each new one I read.
I think that was Stapleton airport, where my mother spent a lot of time as a stewardess. 🙂 Thank you for reading the stories, Walt! I appreciate that very much and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy them!
Paige