Literary Arts Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 30

Level 8 Leaving Home (Excerpt) by Abraham Terrero ...Once inside the airport, my mind turned against me. I resolved many days before that I would remain calm. You need to think objectively, I said to myself, but when sorrow invades you there is no turning back. I cannot even remember all things Ihad to do in the airport, my body was there, but my thoughts were far away, flying back straight to the hearts of the people I love. For a flashing instance I could see them in my mind, sorrowful but proud of me. My strength came back at that moment. This is for me and for all of them, I repeated as I passed gate by gate. The Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba is very small. I had never flown in my life before, so, besides the fact that I was leaving home, I was experiencing something new. I can’t deny it, I was scared but excited at the same time. It was a long and tedious waiting. I scheduled my flight for 6:30 am, but it ran late and was rescheduled to 11:30 am, a bad experience for a first time flying. Once on the plane, almost touching the clouds, I could see my Havana. It looked very small. I thought that I could grab it with my hands and put it in my pocket, and with it, my friends, family, and memories. Exiting the Miami International Airport also took a lot of time. My father was waiting for me outside. Before boarding another flight to DC, I took advantage of that weekend to visit some friends there in Miami. All of them asked how my mother was. I couldn’t avoid becoming sad, but I held my breath, and remembered her wanting me to persist strong. This is not a pitiful moment; this is a new period of opportunities. 30