The Tragedy Paper Read Online Free

said, putting his finger to his lips. Withhis other hand, he pointed to my backpack, which was propped up against a wall. Then he pointed at the gate agent. “She’s going to tell us something.”
    What she told us was that all flights were canceled. Every single one of them. The relief at finding my backpack was quickly replaced with panic. A night with absolutely no place to go—a night of being in a huge, crowded room with nothing to hide behind—was one of my nightmare scenarios that had not even occurred to me as a possibility. Why did I think I could do this? It was turning out to be more than I could handle. I did what anybody would do. I called my mother.
    She didn’t pick up, so I left a voice mail telling her about the weather and asking if she could get me a room at the hotel that was connected to the airport—which happened to be affiliated with her travel business—since I doubted I could get one myself. I also mentioned that I had sent the bunch of CDs I promised her with the noises from our house and neighborhood. I was actually pretty excited about them because there was a bird that drove us crazy, and I was able to record it the afternoon before I left.
    I quickly calculated that they were seven hours ahead, so it was almost midnight for them. It could go either way if she’d get the message today or tomorrow.
    Next I called the hotel. I was right: no luck, all sold out.
    I hung up and closed my eyes. When I opened them, Ilooked across the room and saw the girl, her shearling coat spread out behind her in the same way it had been on the airplane. Maybe it was her weapon against the germs and dirt of the airport. She was listening to her iPod again, but her eyes were open this time. And, without giving it too much thought, I let my eyes meet hers. She smiled quickly—almost tersely, I would say—shifting her eyes to the window. My phone vibrated in my hand.
    “Hey, Mom,” I said. “Or should I say
ciao
?”
    “Hey, sweetie,” she said. I missed her already. “I just happened to check my phone one last time before we hit the hay. You’re all set—there’s a room waiting for you. Just give them our last name—it’s paid for. Go check in, order room service, and watch a fun movie. Call me in the morning and let me know what the status of your flight is.”
    “Thanks, Mom,” I said, not wanting to hang up yet. “How are you guys?”
    “We miss you, but it’s beautiful here,” she said. “We can’t wait until you visit in March. We keep talking about all the things we can do together.”
    At that moment I wished I could go right then, that I could forget about getting myself to the East Coast and just go straight to Europe.
    “That sounds great, Mom,” I said.
    “Bye, sweetie. Don’t forget to call me in the morning,”she said. “Oh, I almost forgot. Sid wanted me to say ‘Go, Bulldogs!’ ”
    Usually I would say
Go, Bulldogs
back—we’d been saying it back and forth since October. But I didn’t feel like it.
    “Tell him I miss him” was all I said.
    Slowly I put my book into my backpack and slipped on my coat. I could have avoided walking by the girl, but I would have had to squeeze between two tight rows of seats—it would have been so obvious. Besides, I had nothing to lose, so I walked toward her and turned left just before her seat. She looked vaguely annoyed.
    “Where are you going?” she called out, surprising me.
    I stopped. She still had her earbuds in. I didn’t know if she had turned the music down or off, or maybe it was still blaring in her ears.
    “To the airport hotel,” I said.
    “Don’t bother,” she said. “I called and they’re all booked up. I also called a cab company and apparently the streets are almost impassable. So I think we’re stuck here.”
    “I got a room,” I said.
    “That’s impossible,” she said. “I called even before the final announcement about tonight’s flight.”
    “Huh,” I said. “Well, I have a