Page 55 of Goodbye To Tomorrow

A tiny green light blinked from afar; I traced the direction of the light, taking baby steps and trying not to trip on anything along the way. When I was close to the blinking light, I moved my hand towards it and tapped with my index finger. The room became illuminated at once by the bluish light that came from the computer on the table. I pulled the chair in front of the table backwards and sat in it, adjusting it until I was seated comfortably and directly in front of the screen.

The living room was a large area of space tightly packed with furniture which lay scattered around. Karine had not come back since she had left on Saturday morning. The light revealed the room's unkempt nature; clothes strewn across chairs and couches. It had a couch centrally located, backing a small opened door that revealed the passage to the rest of the house. It was relatively small, yet tasteful.

I headed straight to the kitchen and switched on the lights. I opened a few cabinets that hung on the wall one after the other and got out a mug and a few containers. I made myself a cup of cold coffee and went back to my computer. With a few clicks and taps on my mouse and keyboard, a list of today’s available flights popped up on my screen. I slowly scrolled down, rolling the ball at the center of my mouse downwards.

I noticed that all direct flights heading towards Canada had been fully booked for the day. I patiently scrolled downwards, looking for direct flights. As I scrolled, my gaze caught the open icon on the airways; it was the only direct flight heading towards Ottawa, Canada that was not fully booked. Departure time read 2100 hours. Gently and rhythmically tapping my fingers on the table, I tried to weigh the option of leaving for Canada at eight o’clock through a direct flight.

I had made up my mind to leave everything behind. I was going to leave my parents, my business, and my Karine behind. I did not want them to go through the pains of watching me die. I had made up my mind. I wanted to go somewhere far away, and Canada seemed like the best option. I made up my mind and clicked on the “Book It” option. I followed the instructions, and with a few clicks and taps, I was done booking my flight.

The details of my booked flight stared right at me from the screen of my computer. I clicked the “Close” icon at the top right corner of my screen and the page disappeared. Noticing the time at the bottom of the screen, I emptied the remaining contents of the mug and jumped to my feet, heading straight for the bedroom to have my bath.

Just around that time, my alarm clock started to buzz from the room. I reappeared after a short while in dark shorts that reached just below my knees and a grey top that had "The Bridge is Blue" imprinted on its front. I meditatively scanned through the whole length of my room before exiting through the front door.

I closed the door to the house Karine and I had rented for the weekend—the house we had never used—and stepped into the dimly lit street. At exactly seven thirty p.m., the front door to my apartment flung open, I stepped in immediately and closed the door behind me. I reached for the wall and pulled the light switch, immediately awakening the ambience of the room and overwhelming the green light of my computer.

I walked briskly towards my bedroom; I immediately reappeared with a small piece of luggage in my hand Moving across the room, I hit a button on the computer; it jumped to life. I took a quick glance at the screen; there was nothing new on leukemia that gave me any hope of survival. I ejected my modem and moved my mouse to the power off icon on the screen.

In seconds, the computer went dead. I switched off the processor, took one last glance around the living room. With that, I disappeared through the front door of a house for the second time after switching off the lights that had once brought back life to the living room, sending it back into total darkness. A taxi waited for me just outside my apartment.

"Thanks," I said, as the taxi driver took my luggage from me and carefully dropped it into the trunk of the car. I climbed into the back seat and we drove off.

The drive to the airport was relatively fast. I occasionally checked my watch, nervous that I would miss my flight.

I swiftly got out immediately after the driver; we were both heading towards the rear of the vehicle. The driver got out my luggage as I in turn got out my wallet from my back pocket and brought out a few notes, handing them over to the driver as I received my luggage.

"Keep the change" I said as money exchanged hands.

"Thank you, sir" the driver responded kindly before closing my trunk and I started to move away, heading towards the main terminal ahead.

There was a short queue of three in front of the airline desk; I waited my turn throwing polite greetings to people around. As it got to my turn, I sighted the desk agent, a young beautiful dark-complexioned lady.

"Hello, sir. Welcome," she said with a wide smile on her young face.

"Hello," I responded politely with an equally wide grin.

"Passport sir and valid means of identification, please," she asked, still with a smile on her face, nay, a formal smile.

I handed over my passport to her and got out my wallet from my back pocket to get my driver's license and handed it over. She glanced through it and glanced back at me before punching a few buttons on her keyboard. She waited a while and got out a small piece of paper from a printing machine.

"Are you traveling with any luggage, Mr. Sampson?" She asked politely, calling me by name having gone through my identifications.

There was another short queue at the security post; I waited my turn behind the line and when it got to me, I brought out my boarding pass, the small piece of paper that had been given to me and my passport, handing it over to the man dressed in airport security uniform.

"Please take off any metallic object you may have on you sir," the man asked politely.

"Belt, phones, keys," I added as I started to take off my belt and empty my pockets.

I deposited all the items inside a plastic tray and went through a metal detector glass, receiving my items on the other side.

It took a while for me to get my belt back on, after which I identified my gate through the light signs that hung above differentiating gates and went to take my seat. At exactly ten minutes before nine o’clock, I got to my feet as I heard my gate number being announced, stretching my body before moving. Just as I made myself comfortable on the plane seat, there was a woman who came searching for her seat number.

"I am sorry; is this seat 114W?" She inquired with a small smile on her face.

"Sure; this would be it," I responded politely.

"Phooey!" She exclaimed as a soft smile started to grow on her face. "Thanks," she added.

"You are welcome," I said as I got up to allow her in, helping her with her bag.

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