The stars always shined so brightly upon the people walking around at night, the moon sometimes accompanying them as if to serve as a guide, leader of the stars.
The houses and apartments that appeared from the darkness had several lights turned on, showing that the night was still young. The highway was active with several vehicles driving past.
People in the city were walking around at this hour, having fun or doing late-night errands. Some errands were as light as going grocery shopping while others were travelling either from one city to another or even leaving the country for a few weeks, months or years.
It’s interesting. Travelling has existed since the first animals were created and has only progressed over millions of years going from walking to using boats, horses and cars. The biggest accomplishment in terms of travelling was the aeroplane. Millions of people used it every single day without a second thought, not a whole lot of emotions, usually just excitement.
But for a rare few, it can be challenging.
The sound of wheels rolling on the stone ground filled the somewhat quiet, cold air around the highway where cars drove to or from work.
The sidewalk was littered with trash and filth like usual which didn’t surprise the man who rolled his suitcase behind him. His hands clasped the suitcase lightly while walking up to his stop.
Tonight he was wearing blue jeans, black polished shoes and a long, black trenchcoat and gloves. His footsteps were silenced by the sounds of his suitcase rolling behind him that filled the night air.
Suddenly he stopped walking and saw it was a bus stop. He pulled out his phone and saw that it was nine in the evening. He sat down on the small bench with his suitcase to the side and scrolled through his phone while the cars passed.
The man’s name was Garble, he was a twenty-year-old with spiky orange hair and a small scar under his left eye that he had since childhood.
While scrolling through his phone, he got the urge to open the album where he had pictures of his youth and family. Hesitantly, his thumb hovered over the app before he pressed it and it opened, showing multiple pictures he had taken and downloaded files he had intended to use as background pictures. He clicked on the album he called ‘Family’ and was met with multiple pictures of his parents, brother and sister.
He scrolled down to the oldest when he was about fifteen, his brother was seven and his sister six. He was holding up the camera to take a selfie along with his brother who had a painful expression on his face while the sister tried to climb the younger brother.
Garble chuckled at the memory. His brother, Spike and sister, Smolder never got along. At least until they matured enough to tolerate one another.
He started to scroll through a few pictures he had with his parents and siblings. Most of them were at home or the park whenever they would go there. Garble wasn’t often in the park, but when he was, it was always fun. He would teach his siblings to play baseball while their parents watched with smiles.
A lone tear escaped Garble’s eye as he remembered the last day he was with his family.
The last day he had been with them had been a month ago. They were all getting home from a long day. His siblings had been in school, and his parents and he had all been at work. His dad had picked them up for a family dinner they had been planning for months but…
There was a problem.
The car had some kind of malfunction and they crashed. Garble put away the phone and put his hands over his face to cover the tears that poured from his eyes.
The quiet night that was only disturbed by cars became noisy with raindrops that hit the ground with soft ‘splats’.
The orange-haired man had been the only survivor…
Suddenly there was a sound of an engine getting closer and closer. Garble looked up and saw that it was his bus incoming. He stood up and grabbed his suitcase and pulled out a bus card and waited for the bus to stop.
The bus had red-coloured metal and silver wheels that would have shined if the sun was out. The driver opened the doors allowing the people to step out and allowed Garble to enter and scan his card.
The young man took a seat and pulled out his phone again and began to scroll while putting on his earbuds.
The bus began to move while Garble looked at his phone, this time, he opened his music app and began to play some music that softly echoed into his ears. Music and poetry was something he enjoyed greatly. It made him feel relaxed and calm.
While in High School, he was in a poetry—writers club that was always fun and engaging. That was his biggest motivation to come to school daily, so big that he received a small prize on graduation day that spoke that he had a one hundred per cent attendance. He didn’t get sick easily, so he could never use that excuse.
Music was something he enjoyed listening to but wasn’t good at playing, but that didn’t stop him from at least trying which his former teachers respected him for.
After being on the bus for fifteen minutes, Garble looked up and saw that his stop was getting closer. He pressed the red ‘stop’ button and got up, his suitcase in hand. The driver stopped and opened the doors, allowing Garble to step out of the vehicle that had taken him to the one place he desired.
The airport.
Garble and his family didn’t travel a lot. When they did, it was to visit extended family they saw once or twice a year which was only for two or three days. His father had planned to take them on vacation when Spike and Smolder had finished school…
That would never happen now…
The orange-haired man began to walk to the airport with brisk steps, looking at the large building.
When he reached the entrance of the airport, he turned to look back at the country he had been born and raised in with the family he lost. He forced himself not to cry even if it was difficult.
He had looked for jobs overseas and saw an opportunity in Mongolia that needed his services, interestingly, he had been asked by his boss if he was interested in the same opportunity he had looked at.
With some hesitation, he had agreed.
It may have looked like he was running away, and maybe he was, but he needed a fresh start. Would he ever come back? He didn’t know. But right now, he needed this change.
‘Goodbye,’ he thought with a sad smile and entered the airport, leaving his memories behind.