A New Home?

64 Replies
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

I looked out at the strange city.

We were only supposed to have a four hour lay-over before that long flight across the Pacific.

We watched the TVs in horror.  I didn’t understand a word. I didn’t have to.

Our flight was delayed and then canceled.  I was placed on a flight the next day, but that was canceled as well, as were all flights for the next few days.

The airline put us up for a few nights, but then word came that it would be weeks, maybe months.

I guess it is a good time to learn Korean….

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word count = 100

Friday Fictioneers is hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.  This week’s prompt is here and uses a photo © Ted Strutz . Read more or join in by following the InLinkz “Linky“.

***

I was thinking the aftermath of 9/11, but perhaps something modern and even worse. It could, of course, fit into being stranded by the pandemic…

64 thoughts on “A New Home?”

  3. Bear

    I did see the 9-11 ref, and a more modern one with the pandemic. I imagine that quite a few travelers suddenly found themselves “trapped” wherever they were when lockdowns happened. It is a good take on the prompt, for sure. Have a great week.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I know a few people got stuck during the pandemic, but there was enough warning for most people who were able to travel to get home. An event like 9-11? Nope, you were stuck for those few days… Thanks.

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      That is about how it sometimes goes… I would hate to be stranded, particularly if it was a country where I was just supposed to have a lay-over, but I hope I would make the most of it like this guy.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. trentpmcd Post author

        Much better to make the most of it than sulk, and getting to know Korean food would be a perfect place to start, as long as he samples before he learns what it is… (I went to a small, very authentic Korean restaurant a few times and later discovered that my favorite dish was a raw, fermented fish – might not have sampled if I had known ;) ).

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      lol, I guess being stranded is all bad! The closest I got was being put up in a hotel at the airport and spending hours shoving Euros into a pay phone to change my travel arrangements. I doubt payphones exist anyplace in the world these days…

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      they say that everything happens for a reason. Maybe or maybe not, but we can all create a reason for everything that happens, and perhaps “his reason for it to happen” will be to find a new home and a new place in life.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. GHLearner

    I hardly know where to start, there’s so much in this story. Being forced to start all over in a completely foreign place isn’t something the priviledged experience often, but the millions of refugees everywhere know only too well. Grat story.

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. pennygadd51

    I like the way you capture the helplessness we feel when we’re delayed in transit – and then you turn it round with the positive thought “I guess it is a good time to learn Korean….”

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      There have been that are living it, only in many ways it is worse today since a lot of places have been in lock down off and on – if you are going to be stuck in a different country, you hope you can get out into it some instead of being stuck in a room!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      All flights into the US were cancelled for a few days after the attacks of 9/11 – perhaps there is something like that, but on going and 1000 times bigger – hundreds of buildings not 3. Or a new pandemic. Or the Yellowstone Super Volcano just erupted and there is a couple of meters of ash covering the entire US and Canada. Or, well, something big…

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. theministryofshrawleywalks

        But we don’t know what! Great stuff. We flew out to Sri Lanka on 13th September after the 9/11 tragedy and a previous bombing at columbo airport earlier in the year. I’ve never spent 4 weeks in a country so befeft of tourists.

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        1. trentpmcd Post author

          It’s been a while – was Sri Lanka still in their civil war then? A lot of places really stepped up when air traffic came to a stop. My wife went to Thailand shortly after 9-11, flying from Boston to LA on one of the flights that had been used in the attack. They had a layover in Seoul on the way there and back. So part of the inspiration. Thanks.

          Like

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      My first thought was 9/11 since all Air Traffic into the US was stopped for a couple of days, but as I was writing the Pandemic came to mind. I don’t know how many flights were cancelled, but people were certainly stranded…

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