Echoes in an Empty Room

Just then, the airport speakers called out his flight number and asked the passengers to have their passes ready and begin boarding. There was the chaos of passengers and airport personnel scrambling here and there, but not really going anywhere. Both his parents tensed up, and mom began to tear up even more. His dad then walked over to him and gave him a strong hug, but David could not return the hug.
“I’m going to miss you, son,” was all he could say as they remained in embrace for a few seconds. Then it was her turn.
“I… love… you, my…son, and I’m… going to miss you terribly…,” she whispered in broken words that were barely audible, but in fact these were prayers.
David did not say anything, but the look on his face told them both that he loved them too. But he could not speak. He felt the air quickly leaving his lungs, not giving him the strength to say anything, nor continue to hug his mother goodbye. David turned slowly, picked up his bag, and walked over to the check-in. He gave the airport personnel his boarding pass and walked through the sensors. Before he entered the tunnel, he turned back and saw his mother and father enjoined in a side hug. His father was now tearing without ceasing while mumbling words that only He could understand, and his mother was crying as her tears soaked the tissue in her hand. To her the entire episode was just a bad dream, so to wake from the nightmare she lunged her body forward and reached out for him while inaudibly screaming his name, but her husband somehow managed to grab on to her and pull her back. David heard her voice over all the sound and chaos of boarding and suddenly stopped his soft gait. He looked back at her and with an air of childhood innocence he lovingly smiled and waved. He heard a still, small voice coming from inside, turned and disappeared into the tunnel.
The parents remained motionless for a few moments, both praying for their son. Then they mustered the courage to move over to the window where in a few moments they saw the airplane move down the taxiway amongst the discordant movements of the runway personnel and other airplanes trying to find their own place in line, and finally position itself for takeoff. His parents stopped breathing as they saw the jet plane sitting on the runway, just waiting for its turn to move and eventually take to the sky. The mother continued to cry without ceasing, and the father worked to undo the difficult knot in his throat, but to no avail. In a sudden roar of the turbine engines, the airplane began to move and gained speed. Suddenly, his mom crashed her semblance onto the large window as she gave out a loud, final cry calling out her son’s name at the moment the plane lifted off the runway and soared into the sky. There was nothing she could do to stop it. It was too late. It was gone, and David was in it. The other people in the airport heard her scream, but failed to turn or acknowledge her interruption of their moments of silence with their families. David’s father remained rigid and motionless, and they both continued to cry to see the airplane enter the realm of the sky and disappear into the orange-hued cumulus clouds.
He soberly pulled her away from the large window and they held hands as they turned and slowly walked toward the exit, past the tunnel.
As they got to the car during the twilight hours, he helped her into the vehicle as she could not find the strength to do it herself. He was a dutiful man and he gently lifted her and secured her in the front seat. He secured her seatbelt over her lap and slowly closed her door. He walked around the back of the SUV and looked up at the scene before him. The dull, grey hospital looked busier now, as more people arrived and many more left. Ambulances crowded the emergency entrances, and the wail of sirens was heard to the distance as more made their way there. The overall scene was a busy one, but controlled.
He looked up at the blue sky once again hidden behind the thick, puffy clouds that were hanging from an unseen ceiling in the hope of locating the airplane that departed earlier, but to no avail. It was nowhere to be seen. It had disappeared amongst the serene clouds in the heavens high above, beyond the capacity of human knowledge and reason. He turned and got into the driver seat, clicked his seatbelt, waited a few minutes as more and more tears flowed from his stinging eyes. After some time, he regained his senses, turned on the car and headlights. Slowly he backed out of his parking spot and made his way out of the congested lot. And after a series of turns, he made his way to the entrance of the freeway. He looked over at his wife who remained motionless and appeared dead, but he knew that was from the emotional exhaustion of seeing her son go. She was silent but for the tears and gentle sighs that landed as mist on her window. His eyes freed more tears as he looked at her, a broken woman and he a broken man. He reached for her hand and she gently caressed his in return.
Then he entered the busy thoroughfare that evening. They drove through the many miles of thick darkness amid millions of lights that mimicked the stars in the sky. It was surreal to him to think of the precariousness of this life and how parallel worlds could coexist. Many more confounding thoughts and emotions crowded his mind as they made their way back to their cold, empty home in the distant suburbs. She remained still and silent, immersed in profound emotion. And he kept his eyes forward as his lips mumbled a few inaudible words. It would be a lengthy and tearful drive for both through the thick night. And they would not stop to get something to eat, as they had planned earlier.