10

Kindra sat on the bus in a seat next to a man with a very large beard. He smelled. She got the window seat, which was good, because it was the opportunity for her to ignore him. Who knows what smells would have come out had he opened his mouth.

She didn’t get a chance to ride in things very much. Her town was so small that there was no need. She tried to watch the landscape out the window, but once the bus made it out to the freeway things were passing so fast that she focused on the ground instead. It was hypnotizing how the different spots on the pavement became like TV static.

When she arrived at the airport, she walked up to the counter to buy a ticket but realized she had forgotten her wallet. All she had in her pockets were her phone and her cigarettes. Her heart sank. She thought she was really getting out of town.
She went and sat on a bench near terminal 3 – one of the ones she could sit on without going through security. Even if she couldn't leave, she wasn't ready to go back yet.