J's Homecoming

暖冬cool夏
楼主 (文学城)

Em walked into the master bedroom, which she has been tidying up for days. This is the room she sleeps in, with a big TV on the dresser that she sometimes turns on nightly to watch. Now she was cleaning it up for her daughter J’s homecoming, for her to stay in the best room in the house.

She put on her “new” eyes to scan the familiar room, the room vacuumed and mopped, to see if she missed any corner. Her eyes were laid on the queen bed, where a newly changed white bedsheet was covered by a soft quilt, washed and sunned. The room was as nice as ninepence.  She straightened the bed corners one more time to her heart's content before turning off the light. Then she plugged in the Christmas light projector, tilting the angle to the roof. Soon the dark room was illuminated with dancing white snowflakes, big and small, swirling silently across the ceiling.

Em hurried downstairs, to prepare for J’s meal. She steamed the live lobster in one stove and stewed the soup for noodles in the other. J likes the home-made noodles, and it almost becomes a routine that her first meal home would always be served with a bowl of hot noodles, with rich soup broth from fresh meat, shrimps and veggies, sprinkled with sesame oil and diced green onions.

It was almost ten, half an hour away from the plane’s landing time. Em’s husband was downstairs, ready for the pickup. Em turned off the stove, untied the apron, and put on a coat.

“What!?” blurted out her husband in the corner, his back facing Em, his head buried down in the coat, but the surprise in his voice unsubdued.

“The plane is diverted to Las Vegas!”

Em was shocked too. She was reminded of the canceled flight two years ago when J tried to come home for Christmas. All flights were canceled due to iced road conditions.  J was stranded in the unprecedented icy Seattle. Luckily, a smaller airport in the area was found to be offering a flight to Las Vegas, a day afterwards at $700 (plus $100 taxi to the airport) one way, almost three times the normal price. Their Christmas that year was spent in Las Vegas after picking up J at the airport.

Communications were promptly ensured between Em, her husband and J, who had Wi-fi on the plane. With minutes J confirmed from what she heard from the captain that due to the foggy weather in the destination city, they had no choice but to land at Las Vegas.

Em’s husband turned on the real flight tracker, watching closely the moving plane on the screen. Em was checking the weather. She later learned that even if the fog cleared, the city regulation would not allow any flight after 11 pm to land. When the hope dimmed that her much-expected daughter wouldn’t be home for the night, Em sighed and sunk in the seat.

J overnighted at Las Vegas Airport hotel, the expense of which would not be vouchered, as any delay caused by weather is not covered by airlines. Her flight would be resumed at 10 am the next morning.

Then came more chaos the next day. The flight took off around 10:53 am, almost an hour late. Once it landed it, it took more than two hours to find a gate. Em and her husband waited in the Cell Parking lot for hours, impatiently as minutes ticked by. It’s workday Friday, and their lunch hours were way past. And much to Em’s chagrin, when J finally got out, Em’s husband,  in backing off the car, bumped into the long pickup truck by its side.

 

Some pics taken in this holiday:

 

 

最西边的岛上
Wow, what a troublant homecoming 4 J! U r a very good Mom!!
最西边的岛上
Very beautiful pics! I felt more sorry 4 Ur car than the
最西边的岛上
truck 4 some reason;-)). Hopefully all well ends well …
最西边的岛上
Very good writing. Thx 4 sharing.
暖冬cool夏
Tks,Xidao,4 your caring. The guy let us go,even though we
暖冬cool夏
gave him the information. We are lucky he is generous:)
7
7grizzly
Well done! Writing can&often relates better. J'd be moved.
妖妖灵
Vivid writing as usual!The last sentence 亮了:)
移花接木
a Cybertruck exploded outside Trump hotel Vegas yesterday
妖妖灵
The last pic looks like a hanging bridge of Costa Rica which
妖妖灵
I‘ve just gone through during my vacation~:)
妖妖灵
I read the news. “The sheet specified for Cybertruck has
妖妖灵
been described as ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled
妖妖灵
stainless-steel” is proved.
移花接木
The explosion worth Musk to brag 4 long time, C wht he said

The Tesla founder, Elon Musk, later posted on X that “the evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.” 

Did he too rush?  Police hasn't confirmed it's terrist attack.

7
7grizzly
I heard it takes a reservoir to douse a lit cybertruck.
移花接木
Last year Ravian EV parking lot fire, Fire fighters only to
移花接木
contain the fire letting the vehicles burn down by themselve
最西边的岛上
knowing littleOfCars, thought it was aTank whenSeeingIt1st
最西边的岛上
sorry 暖冬 4 歪楼ing ;-))
暖冬cool夏
Thanks my friend 4 your compliment!
暖冬cool夏
J was just laying over at Vegas airport before the explosion
暖冬cool夏
No problem,Xidao:) thanks!
暖冬cool夏
Interesting! This kind of plant is exotic indeed:)
妖妖灵
Like ur writing!The last sentence,笔锋一转,嘎然而止,充满悬念:)
暖冬cool夏
Thanks, 妖mm, for your compliment! Happy New Year!
7
7grizzly
It might not work in the underground parking of a building.
天边一片白云
Like your writing as always. beautiful pictures of 加州。
天边一片白云
I am touched by how you prepared for J's homecoming.
天边一片白云
feeling your disappointment and worry for the delay of plane
天边一片白云
节日出行不容易。
暖冬cool夏
Thanks 白云 for your compliment! Better keep kids around:)
J
JoyAnna.
Beautiful. 暖冬新年快乐
暖冬cool夏
Thank you, JoyAnna ! Happy New Year!