“Oui, mama, I’ll be careful.” Nicolas smiled and waved a goodbye to his family. "Au Revoir!"
He was miserable. He was happy. He was excited. He was hopeful. He was apprehensive. He felt a knot of dread in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t keep track of what he was feeling anymore because of the sheer variety and speed the emotions flashed by and decided, finally, that it would be useless for him to try to decide what he should be feeling.
Well, he was never that great at being decisive anyway and there was no reason for a sudden change now. Unless the physical change in his global location could somehow miraculously make him more decisive. It didn't seem likely. He was sure everyone could see how petrified he'd been when he'd said goodbye. At least the terrified feeling, like all his other current feelings, lasted no more than a split second.
He checked the contents of his backpack again, just because it gave him something to do while waiting in line besides thinking himself into a paranoid frenzy. Passport? Check. Wallet? Check. Papers about student visa? Check. A book for the long-and-tedious-over-the-Atlantic-flight? Che—
He stopped. Then flipped through his backpack again. He waited another five seconds before doing it again just in case he had somehow overlooked something the time before. The five-second delay was to give the book a chance to show up. The book didn't.
He forgot to bring a book to read.
Oops.
It was going to be a very long plane ride.
Misery took a detour and led the next procession of feelings through his head.
Nicolas tried to think about something else. He thought about his little sister, Adeline, and discovered with a pang that he was starting to feel homesick already. That wouldn't do. He tried to strum up some optimism, some excitement, something—anything—positive.
He was going to the USA! Les États-Unis d'Amérique!
"Mon Dieu," he muttered as the plane lift off.
He was miserable. He was happy. He was excited. He was hopeful. He was apprehensive. He felt a knot of dread in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t keep track of what he was feeling anymore because of the sheer variety and speed the emotions flashed by and decided, finally, that it would be useless for him to try to decide what he should be feeling.
Well, he was never that great at being decisive anyway and there was no reason for a sudden change now. Unless the physical change in his global location could somehow miraculously make him more decisive. It didn't seem likely. He was sure everyone could see how petrified he'd been when he'd said goodbye. At least the terrified feeling, like all his other current feelings, lasted no more than a split second.
He checked the contents of his backpack again, just because it gave him something to do while waiting in line besides thinking himself into a paranoid frenzy. Passport? Check. Wallet? Check. Papers about student visa? Check. A book for the long-and-tedious-over-the-Atlantic-flight? Che—
He stopped. Then flipped through his backpack again. He waited another five seconds before doing it again just in case he had somehow overlooked something the time before. The five-second delay was to give the book a chance to show up. The book didn't.
He forgot to bring a book to read.
Oops.
It was going to be a very long plane ride.
Misery took a detour and led the next procession of feelings through his head.
Nicolas tried to think about something else. He thought about his little sister, Adeline, and discovered with a pang that he was starting to feel homesick already. That wouldn't do. He tried to strum up some optimism, some excitement, something—anything—positive.
He was going to the USA! Les États-Unis d'Amérique!
"Mon Dieu," he muttered as the plane lift off.
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