365 Writing Prompt: Tell us your story

Tell us about a journey — whether a physical trip you took or an emotional one.

This trip was physical as well as emotional. It was one of those trips you hope no one will ever have to take. It was necessary for the family to find out whether there was any hope to get their most important family member get well. The first trip was within the country, where the physician without hesitation gave his verdict, it was pointless to have heart surgery because the patient would not be able to survive it.

Next step was to go somewhere else, the said patient was already too weak to undergo any kind of surgical procedure. The physician treating him was the best one, who admitted it won’t be easy, but he’d be able to operate.

The day of surgery was tense for the family members, on the appointed time the guy came to the hospital room to take the patient to the operating room  for surgery. As he was leaving he said, “do not wait in the hospital, go to your hotel, it will take hours to operate.”

The family members went back to the hotel but came back a few hours later. This is when the waiting game started. All the family members of the patients were leaving with a smile on their faces.

This family had no idea whether the surgery was completed, how was the patient, there was no one to give an answer. At about 10 pm the family was called, the physician showed up and gave his account of how the surgery went. The surgery was successful but the family needed to wait for seventy-two hours, before the physician would be able to say, if the patient will be okay.

After seventy-two hours the family was told the patient will be okay and he’d have to stay in the hospital for a month to recuperate.

A month later the patient was released and was allowed to take the flight home!

……………………………….:)

DP Daily Prompts: Back to Life

After an exceptionally long and exhausting drive or flight, a gruelling week at work, or a mind-numbing exam period–what’s the one thing you do to feel human again.

I actually experienced this in 2010, I was flying from Dhaka Bangladesh, to St. John’s, Canada.

We boarded the flight at 6  am on our way to Doha as soon as we landed and came into the building we were called to board the flight to Heathrow, London,UK , once again we were hardly in the building the video at the airport was showing “Air Canada” boarding, it’s a long walk from the lounge to the building. This time we  were on our way to Montreal,Canada.

After twenty hours of flying I waited to catch another flight to St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. I sat on one of the benches, to catch my breath, everything seemed to be too fast for my tired body. I tried to stay awake but fell asleep the moment I sat on the bench. I felt someone trying to wake me up gently, I opened my eyes and saw the concerned look of the flight attendant, “Are you okay?” she said.

I straightened up and apologized for falling asleep, she was very kind she took me to board the flight immediately. There was another two and a half hours of flight time for me. When the flight took off I felt relieved this would be the last time taking off and landing and I’d be home safely.

When I reached home, I took a shower first to feel better oh it was heavenly, after my shower, I ate something and went to bed, knowing I would not take another flight in the near future and it will only be a short flight if I go anywhere!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/dp-daily-prompts/

 

365 Writing Prompts: Far from home

Tell us about the farthest you’ve traveled from home.

A few years ago I traveled to Dhaka from St. John’s, it was a long flight. I had a stop over at Frankfurt, it was a long ten hours wait at the airport. There was nothing at this airport that could delight anyone much less write about it. There  was a long unattractive lounge, it had scattered benches, which seemed to say, “why are you here,you’re not welcome?”

It gave the impression of a first come first served basis benches, e.g too bad you came late here, there is no place  for you to sit . The scenario was so unfriendly I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Finally when I thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, I had the misfortune of meeting this sour, ill mannered gentleman who refused to answer my question. He worked for Qatar Airways which was the airlines I’d taken to fly to Dhaka.

After more than twenty four hours I finally reached my destination, Dhaka, my siblings were there to receive me. Getting out of the airport was long, there were all kinds of forms to fill in,  the lines were too long I was tired.

Going from the airport to my sister’s home was not that easy, there were traffic jams,bad drivers, buses, rickshaws , private cars, taxis, there were all kinds of transportation, trying to go faster than the other one. It was a picture of chaos. I was visiting after a long time, it seemed the population of Dhaka increased by leaps and bounds.

After more than three hours I was home, I was thankful I got home safely.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/365-writing-pr…-far-from-home/

 

DP Daily Prompt: Exhale Post by Ranu

English: The waiting area at London Heathrow airport’s terminal 3. Terminal 3 uses a centralised waiting area rather than seats at each gate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It happened at Heathrow airport in London. We were traveling to Dhaka,Bangladesh. It was evening,we were patiently waiting for the flight. I looked up and saw our flight was boarding, I told my husband, we then dashed off to get to the gate, I cannot recall the gate number now,but we knew we had a long walk ahead of us. As soon as we reached the gate,my husband looked for the boarding passes,he couldn’t find them. I was nervous,what are we going to do,”I said”?

The look my husband gave me could give anyone a heart attack.I guess I have a strong heart, nothing happened to me. As you can see I am still alive. It never helps when we are nervous,we fail to realize things are not that bad. My dear husband had the passes in his hand. Neither he nor I thought of looking. That was one long deep exhale for us,Wow!

DP Daily Prompt: Imagine All the People Post by Ranu

UK – London: Heathrow Airport – Welcome to Britain (Photo credit: wallyg)

My most favourite place to watch people is the ,’Heathrow Airport’ in London. Here people from all over the world gather.Some wait for connecting flights,others are coming home after a long vacation,then there are  tourists of all sorts. This is where I sit observe and imagine. Once I mistakenly arrived at the airport ten hours before my flight. Instead of going back to my brother’s place I opted to stay. While there I watched the passengers running to catch their flight. I however was in no hurry.

There is a restaurant at the airport named, ‘EAT’, I bought a sandwich and found a comfortable place to sit for , ‘people watching’. I noticed a young girl possibly in her twenties,sitting quietly. Immediately my mind went to work. Who is this girl,does she have any sibling,why is she traveling alone? Maybe she is waiting for her family or a guide who will take her to her destination.

Suddenly I felt she looked unhappy, she doesn’t want to study, her parents are forcing her to continue her studies. No, there is something else, maybe her uncle has invited her to visit them.She likes the uncle but hates his bossy kids who treat her badly.Can this be a cause of her unhappy face?

No like me she is at the airport too early and hates the thought of waiting,hence the sour face.  I then saw a young man coming towards her,they looked at each other,the girl was all smiles she was talking a mile a minute. I was glad to see she was laughing and talking. I soon realized while I was busy with my imagination,I heard an announcement that my flight was leaving in twenty minutes. I picked up my bags and ran to board the flight.

Can you imagine what would happen if I missed my flight? It would be in the news , ‘A lady misses her flight after getting to the airport ten hours before her flight’. Shocking isn’t it?