História: Ten Hours

The machine buzzed loudly as it cleaned the floor. I was wearing headphones. I was listening to my mum’s tape called ‘Music for Sleep’. But I could only hear the cleaning machine.

I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was one seventeen AM – the middle of the night – but the bright white lights of the airport terminal made it feel like the afternoon.

I turned around, feeling uncomfortable. My rucksack was my pillow, my coat was my mattress, the metal bench was my bed. Nearby I could see my parents, and a few other travellers, snoring.

Our next flight was in ten hours. “Let’s save money!” my mum had said. A direct flight was very expensive. It was much cheaper to stop here in the middle of the journey. We could have stayed in a hotel for the night, but that was very expensive too. “She’s only seven, she’ll sleep anywhere,” my dad had said. I watched him snore.

I took off my headphones and turned off the tape player. Then I saw a boy crouching behind a bench. He was using his fingers like a gun. “Bang! Bang!” he whispered.

I pretended to be shot. I rolled off the bench and laid down on the floor. The boy ran over and put his fingers on my neck. Then he put his hand against his ear. “The enemy is dead,” he said. “Understood, commander!”

“Bang!” I said, getting up and pointing at the boy.

He ran behind the bench and sat down. I heard his voice: “Commander, I’ve been shot! The enemy tricked me!”

I ran towards him and pointed my ‘gun’ at him. “Don’t move!” I whispered. “Who are you?”

“Special Agent Fourteen,” said the boy, pretending to cough.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I’m Special Agent Seventeen. We aren’t enemies!”

“Take these bandages,” said the boy. He held out his hand. It was empty. “If you stop the bleeding, I’ll be ok.”

“Where did I hit you?”

“Here,” said the boy, pointing to his heart.

“Hold still,” I said.

That was the first chapter in the story of Special Agents Fourteen and Seventeen. Over the next few hours, we fought terrorists (other travellers), robots (the cleaning machine) and aliens (the airport staff). Together, we saved the world.

The next morning, we woke up before everyone else. We walked up and down the airport together, talking and looking in all the shops. We spent a long time in a toy shop.

“When I grow up, I’ll have a big house, with toys in every room,” said the boy.

“I’ll visit you. But only if you have a toy train.”

“Of course I’ll have a toy train. And loads of toy cars.”

“Cool!”

“There you are!” said my mum as she came into the shop.

She took my hand. The boy’s mum had arrived too. She took the boy’s hand.

“Can we get this?” the boy asked, pointing to a toy.

His mum looked at it quickly. “It’s too expensive,” she said.

“Darling, our flight is leaving soon,” said my mum. “We’ve got to go.”

“Come on,” I said to the boy. “We can sit next to each other on the plane.”

The boy’s mum looked at me. “We aren’t getting the same flight as you, dear,” she said kindly. “Our flight leaves in three hours.”

“Come on, we’re late,” my mum insisted.

She was pulling my arm. I continued looking at the boy as I walked away. He looked sad, but I couldn’t see him clearly. There were tears in my eyes.

I continued crying, quietly, in the queue at Gate Thirty-Two. Then I saw the boy running towards me. I quickly wiped my tears.

He held out his hand. There was a plastic ring in it.

“It was the cheapest toy in the shop,” he said. “Mum bought one for me, and one for you.”

I took the ring and put it on. The boy smiled at me. His eyes looked wet too. Then he ran away.

In those days, there were no mobile phones. There was no email or social media. There was no internet. I never saw the boy again, but I wore the ring until it broke.

Even today, I still imagine visiting his house. The door opens. “I’ve found you at last, Special Agent Fourteen,” I say. We never told each other our names.