Chapter 2: Flashbacks of the alone travelled
Aaron Langemann - Taipei, Taiwan
Looking at the exterior of the EVA Air Boeing 777 from a tinted window, Aaron L sits waiting for flight 35 to be called so he can go see his friend Aaron Collins for his birthday in Toronto. The flight from his adopted home of Manila, Philippines was a quick but rocky 2 hours and 10 minutes (the prop planes of Asia are notoriously older and more unstable, not unlike the plane in the KHL crash). This layover however, had been over 3 and a half hours, in a room that was normally reserved for EVA Air club members. Mr. Langemann had just finished a Taiwanese noodle dish where he may or may not have eaten Ram cooked medium rare. Static filled the cold, sterile club room: "女士们，先生们，我们想从台北到多伦多宣布所有头等舱的乘客登机航班35" (English translation "ladies and gentlemen, we would like to pre-board all 1st class passengers for flight 35 from Taipei to Toronto")
"I hope my Chinese is half as good as Aaron C.'s!" mutters Aaron L. as he heads down the corridor and steps in the door to the plane to go and find his seat.
"Excuse me sir, I need to see your boarding pass to point you to your seat"
"Oh, sorry. But of course." Aaron hands the boarding pass to her
"Ah, 3c, just on the left, welcome aboard! Anything to drink before takeoff?"
"I'll take a Sapporo beer please."
"Ahh, excellent choice Mr. Langemann"
Aaron L. nods and leans back in his seat to get a better look at the Taipei metropolitan area. What he sees is the north half of a city looking post-modern in its architecture, while the south half beyond it would be beneath even being called a ghetto. This is typical of the industrialized areas of Southeast Asia. Aaron L. chose to instead focus on the plane's interior before the idea of a possible several million people starving on the streets of Taipei depressed him.
"It's amazing this thing can hold 301 people." spoke Aaron L. in bewilderment. "Better get my journal and pencil out of my carry-on before we start to taxi out". His opening flowed as quickly as his tray table came down:
April 18th, 6:00am. Got on the plane alright, NOT looking forward to Canadian customs. Sometimes I wonder why I left Canada, then I see the buttload of money they pay me and my wife that had to stay behind.
He shuts his book and leans back, waiting for his beer to come. It wasn't long before a flight attendant addressed him:
"Sir, here is your beer but we need your tray table up and your book back in your carry-on, we're taxiing out."
Aaron nods and complies, then sits down and buckles up again. The stewardess walks off satisfied. The plane makes sounds of acceleration, it starts to move and Aaron looks out of the window 1 more time to see the plane lift off the ground. Not wanting just his beer to occupy his mind, Aaron L. takes out a map from his shirt pocket, looking at the route ahead. 14 hours and 15 minutes where 10 hours are all ocean. Perhaps Aaron's beer will suffice in the distraction department: "Oh Japan, you make a great lager." He hears a bell go off on the plane…"Huh, that was quick. Back to work on the journal!" He sits his drink down and then grabs the journal again:
"Ever since Aaron's 28th birthday, I've always wanted to go to another birthday of his. He has such a diverse cast of friends."
He smiles (He knew Aaron the longest out of those attending), then start writing something else.
For what it is worth, I heard that Aaron got married to a girl named Ida. She seems sweet but I hope she likes me. It was nice talking to her on the phone as she took care of everything. Normally I have to change 3 times to fly home but she got it down to 1 stop. God I hope that wasn't Ram I ate at the airport, but I WAS starving. First class ROCKS!
He laughed, took a look around then thought of something else about Ida
I hope she is ready for people from 4 continents!
He closes the book, then grabs his drink again, "Oh shit, I forgot to call Ida to let her know I took off." He picks up his phone but remembers he cannot call cause he was in the air: "Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, the captain has turned off the fasten seat belt sign which means you are now free to move around the cabin, use the bathrooms and earphones"
Aaron unbuckles his seatbelt (which had been cutting off circulation to his lower extremities for some time now) and grabs the phone to dial Ida's number he hear a small, New England voice mumble what he thinks is "I think this 1 is my last Asian call"
"Hey Ida, are you ok?" Ida speak but her voice sounded shaky
"Yeah Aaron I am ok, just a lot of calls coming from all over the world. Thank god most of you are travelling in groups."
"Good to hear I am on the plane right now so I will be in tomorrow afternoon after you factor in the time zones and the captain adjusting the speed of the airplane"
"Don't forget to use the new train. It will take you from Lester B. Pearson airport to Union station, which is across the street from the hotel."
"Yes but if you remember the P.A.T.H. tunnels like I do as a kid growing up near Toronto, you're almost never outside." He giggles and follows up with "I will not forget the new train. Thank you Ida I will see you soon."
"Bye"
"Bye"
He hangs up the phone and then sits back down…still tasting the Taiwanese mystery meat.
Corrine Thain - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The scene changes to seeing the world moving fast. A woman rollerblading down the street, then jumps on the curb seeing people walking toward her.
"Next block, YEG!"
As she said that there was big hill that came down she bent her knees slightly and whipped into the airport terminal's departures section. 5 metres into the opening gate was a bench where she sat down to take off the rollerblades and put on her sneakers. An airport security guard asks,
"Ma'am, will those be going in a suitcase?" sounding like a genuine harass.
"Yes, they will be."
"Ok...Can I get an Autograph, Wytchy?" sounding like a derby fanboy.
"Of course you can, do you got a notebook so I can sign 1 of the pages?"
"I have a notePAD"
"That will do nicely"
She signs the notepad then tapes a small trinket onto it as she closes it. The guard is smiling
"Wow, an Oil City Derby Girl Keychain, thank you"
"You are welcome"
She smiles, talking to fans has become much more enjoyable since she retired (what with them not mobbing her and all), and then walks over to the desk to put her suitcase up on the scale, hoping it were not too heavy.
"20kg, you are ok"
She smiles and nods "Thank you where do I go now?"
"The self check-in desk, to your left"
"Staff at airports is getting lazier and lazier" mumbled Corrine silently. Shifting 2 feet to the left for computer, she types her name. The person nods, then gives Corrine her ticket. "Where's the ladies room?", by then the desk clerk was onto the next customer, affording only a point down the hall. She walks to the bathroom and checks her ticket
"WOOHOO! 1ST CLASS!"
She claps and says "Thank you Aaron. Nice to know your new wife is opening your wallet a little since you will not even donate to us derby teams." After finishing her business, she shakes her head and walks out to the security check point.
"Please empty your pockets and eliminate all metal from your clothes"
Laughing at the comedy of errors that was about to ensue, she emptied her pockets and all the metal from everything on her. She then turned, smiled and walks through the metal detector. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! She paused (while giggling as she expected this) and backs up, addressing a guard.
"I have metal in my knee and a doctor's note that verifies it"
The guard stuck out his hand while she went through a fanny pack. After a minute or two she presented the note. Normally airport security would call the doctor's office to verify, but there was a line-up building so the guard was satisfied.
"Have a pleasant flight, Ms. Thain"
Once she was far enough away from the airport security she began talking to herself, "I think I'm going to ask Aaron to donate to the derby girls as soon as I get him and Ida alone." She walked all the way to the gate so she could sit at the first chair that was near the door. She gets her phone to dial a number that she knows so well. A soft voice answers:
"Hi Corrine!"
"Hi, they have not boarded yet but I am calling anyway"
"That is fine. Hey I have been thinking and I want to donate to derby girls. Aaron told me so much about it!"
"We will discuss it when I get there. We have teams in 16 countries so it is quite tricky to help everyone. Ok, so what were you saying about the train from the airport when I called last night?"
"Make sure you get on the new train so you get here if you do not you will get lost. It SAYS it is Toronto's Airport but it is actually in a town called Malton."
"I remember, Malton is the city where the Avro Arrow was built and tested."
Ida grew confused due to only being in Canada for about 1 year, "The what?"
Corrine cleared her throat, "The Avro Arrow was a series of 5 planes designed for the Canadian military in the 1950's. We were on schedule to break Mach 2 BEFORE America did but the government scrapped the project. Malton has never recovered."
Ida gasped, "That is so sad. Anyways, the train heads southeast to Toronto almost like the train Aaron's and my group took."
"And it is from the airport to union? How do I get to the hotel?
"It is called the underground mall it goes right into the hotel basement"
"Oh right, the path…"
"We would like to board all passengers on flight 630 from Edmonton to Toronto"
"I got to run Ida."
"Ok, bye Corrine"
"Bye"
Corrine hangs up the phone and then walks over to the gate to board. Wheels start to turn in her head and wonder why Ida mentions giving money to derby girls.
"Excuse me, may I see your boarding pass?"
Corrine gives the boarding pass to a male flight attendant that looked more like one of those bouncers at a seedy strip club. Heavily tattooed, septum piercing, you know the deal.
"Ah, 1A, right at the front" said in an odd falsetto voice as he hands it back to Corrine. Corrine grins and walks through the door to go look for her seat. The 1st class section was easy enough to find, but Corrine found it odd that it was only 2 rows deep with the ugliest burgundy trim she had ever seen. "Still…" she thought, "Wow, westjet seats are huge!" She looks around 1 last time and finds her seat, all by itself. "Woohoo, right by the toilet!" She sits down and leans back in the seat. Her attention divided 3 ways. First was how awkward the chair felt, second was an awkward observation that 1 of the baggage handlers had his fly open, third was the relative lack of other passengers.
"The plane seats over 100, how could we have only sold 7 tickets? There are more employees on the plane than passengers!" asked the captain with some frustration and whine in his tone of voice. Corrine laughed then goes and grabs an mp3 voice recorder:
"I may be retired but the girls still playing want me to blackmail Aaron...I don't want to but we need $ somehow"
She closes her eyes to think how to do that but then speaks something else
How much should I try to get? And what do I have on Aaron?
Really pissed that she could not think of anything, she hears the memory of the voice of Ida, wanting to help her then the proverbial light bulb went off in her mind. She spoke into the voice recorder again:
I will tell Ida about Aaron's criminal past, that should ruin the marriage if he does not fork over the money.
She nods, but wonders if he did not already tell her.
No, he would not have. He is a private guy. Ok, I will use that on him or there the other thing that the derby girls suggested last week: Ida is not that strong, they heard she was sick for awhile. Yes, I will get that money from him...at any cost.
She makes a weird smile, then gets a weird laugh.
Elizabeth Bowman - Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
"Wow, this plane is small! I had a feeling it would be though!" Said Elizabeth as she got on the plane. Us Air has been cutting back for years. In fact this looks like a prop plane brought OUT of the junkyard. She makes a disgusted look on her face as she looked to see where her seat was. "Well, at least the seat looks comfy" She finds her seat and sits back and mumbles "I hope my not-so-new hips can handle a second plane ride." 1 could only wonder how bad her artificial hips were at the moment as her flight from Knoxville to Charlotte was only 67 minutes long. Then again, her layover in Charlotte was even less than that, so running was likely done. Charlotte (even in fast-forward like Elizabeth saw it) had become an incredible business hub for the south. Many outsiders (Including Aaron Collins himself in his teens) were shocked at how many people in suits frequented the terminals. The Airport itself looked somewhat like a spider, with each leg serving as a terminal of passenger gates and the body of the spider serving as the entertainment for travellers with many restaurants and shops to suit all needs. She looks around a little then jumps because she need to call someone but has to wait until the plane reaches cruising altitude. She sits back realizing this:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are soon to be taxiing out for the runway. Please fasten your seatbelts"
She fastened her seat belt and watch as the plane lifted off the ground. "At least I will have a nice view of the Atlantic ocean for a while" She smiles and goes to lean back for awhile. After half an hour a beep hits the p.a. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached cruising altitude. Feel free to move about and use your cell phones" Elizabeth unbuckles, grabs her cell and dials Ida's number. Ida picks up:
"Aaron's party headquarters?"
"You sound happy Ida! It is Elizabeth."
"Oh good, you changed in Charlotte Ok"
"Yes I did I am on the plane right now"
"Ok, you should be here well before dinner tonight."
"Right, do I have to get on the new train today?"
"Yes, yes you do."
"Ok I will see you soon then the plane will be landing in 75 minutes."
"Farewell."
"Bye"
Elizabeth hangs up the phone and then the wheels in her head start to turn in her head. "Aaron and Ida are sinners in the eyes of god, it is my job to bring them back. I just need to figure out how." Elizabeth looks around and decides that she will use Ida to get to Aaron. If she does not agree to make Aaron return to the church, I will go and threaten her in front of Aaron. "But what threat shall I give?" Her mind starts turning again. "You are both going to hell seems so cliché, but that should work". She smiles then leans back, still seeing the Atlantic Ocean out of the window.
Heather Stitt - Over the Atlantic Ocean via Glasgow, Scotland
It was a lovely sunset waking Heather up from her red eye flight to Toronto. Both Heather and Aaron shared a mutual sense of frustration that her hometown of Edinburgh cancelled all of it's' direct flights to Toronto years earlier. Unlike Aaron however, Heather took some solace in Edinburgh's 2 and a half hour train ride to Glasgow as it was loaded with views of Scottish countryside before she got on a plane for a 7 hour and 15 minute flight . She had been asleep for most of it up to this point, in fact she had no idea what time it was. She glanced at a pocket watch she recently inherited:
"Halfway there, time to call Ida I suppose" said Heather as she sat up, grabbed her cell phone out of her carry-on and dialled Ida's number. It rang once and someone answered:
"Aaron's party line, Ida speaking"
"Hey Ida it is Heather I was calling to tell you my flight is almost halfway done"
"Do you see North America yet?"
"No we are still near the ocean"
"Then you have a few hours to go."
"About 3 hours and forty five minutes"
"Ok, you should see Quebec and/or Newfoundland in about an hour or 2"
"Ok. Hey, what do I do when I get into Toronto?"
"Go through to Canadian customs, answer their questions, and exit on the west end then head towards the section called 'trains'"
"Ok am I taking the new train?"
"Yes you are."
"Ok, Ida I will see you when I get there"
"Ok, later"
Heather hangs up the phone and then she gets up to go to the bathroom. As she did that her mind start to ponder "Why is Aaron with her? I never knew he could love someone, his autism always seemed to keep him from...connecting to anyone. It took him awhile to connect to me how he can do that with a girl that does not know much about him. He once told me he was better off having never been mainstreamed. I am actually helping him if I break them up. Unless he is happy but I doubt it." She stood up from the toilet seat (an auto-flush was distinctly heard behind her), and returned to the cabin. Satisfied that her free spirited plan would work once she landed.
Jason Carman - Newmarket, Ontario
Walking outside wit 12 cabinet speaker, Jason looks around to see if he had time to go get a snack. He decided against it, when he saw the panicked look in the bus driver's eyes. He runs to get the rest of the stuff out of his friend Rachel's van, then grabs his phone to call Ida:
"Aaron's party line, Ida speaking"
"It is Jason, just loading the last of my gear"
"Ok, you are one of my easier calls as you are not on a plane"
"Yes I know I will be there in a hour. Could you have someone come down and help me with my equipment please?"
"I will tell the hotel staff"
"Ok thank you. I will see you soon Ida"
"See ya!"
"Bye"
He hangs up the phone and smiles. "Aaron has a good woman I hope he knows that" thought Jason out loud. "But why am I pretty much the only 1 from scouts Canada he did not sever his ties with back in 2002? I feel like I am his personal errand boy, and I have never liked that. Especially since I almost never talk to them myself. Ida really should not be with him but if that is what she wants, then so be it."
By now, Jason had finished the second phase of his loading and unloading of major equipment. The 1st being back at his home in Alliston, the 3rd would be at Union Station. "Thank you so much for letting me pack all of my gear in the bottom cabs". The driver merely shrugged and mumbled "No one uses them anyway". And with that, Jason climbed aboard the Newmarket GO bus to take his seat. He sits back and looks outside to watch Yonge Street go by. Jason chuckles to himself, that he is on the longest street in the world. Looking around to see if anyone else was on the bus he decides to get up to clear his head. He sees maybe a dozen on the bus, and the numbers do not change too much throughout his journey. He sits back down as he want to figure stuff out before he go to the party, namely his set list for the evening and if Aaron was going to pay him. All of a sudden, his cell rings:
"Hello?"
"This is Stephen Hsiung, I work at the front desk at the Fairmont Royal York…"
"Ok, are you going o be the one to help me?"
"Yes I am, but we are going to be moving pretty quick. I will meet you in the basement where the hotel meets the P.A.T.H. Try to remind me to give you an envelope Aaron set aside for you when you are done for the night. It is cash in addition to your room for 14 nights."
"Oh sweet thank you"
"You are welcome, see you soon"
"Bye talk to you later"
He hangs up the phone and revisits his frustration at his shared past with Aaron in scouting. "Why did he keep me around but ditched everyone else? For some reason I wish he did that to me too, I wonder how deep my resentment for Aaron goes. Most of Canadian scouting still wants to kill him, maybe I do too." He shakes his head then really thought about it as he leaves Newmarket and enters Aurora, 1/3 of the way through his bus ride.
Jess Felix - New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Jess stood there at New York City's Amtrak station, looking around to see everything before she got on her train to Canada. All she saw was part of what she thought was Queens "I have not been to Canada since I left Yfe's secret place. Wonder if it changed at all…" She shrugs and goes to sit down to look at her itinerary, throwing out the bus pass from Spotswood to NYC as she no longer needed it. She saw her train information and a look of shock came across her face. "Wow, Ida set me up in an overnight car. I can sleep and be in a locked room on wheels. Oh thinking of Ida, I should call her as I am going to be boarding soon." She goes to a payphone, slides in a prepaid long distance card and calls:
"Aaron's 35th birthday event planner this is Ida"
"It is Jess, the jersey girl"
"Hey Jess, how are you doing."
"Great, just found out you booked me on a train with a private bedroom…AND bathroom"
"Yes I did are you going to be boarding soon?"
"In about 5 minutes. It will be at least 12 hours at night so I hope I sleep for most of it."
"You should, trains are not that bad there more comfortable then planes…"
"…And nowhere near as expensive"
"Exactly that is the nice thing about them: They are huge but the price is half the price of the planes"
"Aaron made sure that there was a minimum distance needed for you to buy plane tickets, was there not?"
"With the exception of Laura who needs assistance when she travels, yes that is why I went to the train for you instead"
"Ok, the train's doors are opening"
"Ok talk to you later jess. Oh, and please tell me how you sleep when you get here the bed is a double"
"I will, take care"
"Ok, bye Jess"
Jess hangs up the phone, grabs her stuff and run to the door to board the train she shows a boarding pass to a woman wearing an Amtrak conductor hat. After the woman points down the hall and to the left, she finds her room to have a bed, a locker, a bathroom, a lockable door and new carpet. Smiling about this she sits down on the bed and finds a schedule of meal times and staff check-ups (staff will knock on the door to see how you are about every 4 hours). She had an hour until the first meal so she could relax until then. A man looking like a security guard walks in:
"Ms. Felix, My name is Frank and I work with Amtrak. I am here to open your locker for you to put your private belongings inside". He shows her a Valid I.D. establishing his employment
"Oh thank you!" She stands up and brings her bag over with her
"Please turn around while I enter the combination" She turns around as she hears him type in the code.
"Now I am the only one who knows this combination. You will not see me until an hour before you get off the train."
"Ok thank you for your help. Oh, one question do I get my meal here or do I need to go to the dining room?"
"You order here and they deliver it to you. Now, if someone who claims to work with me knocks on your door, press this orange button. In fact, press it if you feel that you are in ANY danger" He then points to the orange button located next to the closet and central air conditioning system.
"Ok. Um, what do I look for if an employee or fake employee knocks on my door?"
"Ask for Amtrak or Via Rail I.D., there is a list of employees on this train with recent photos for everyone. I apologize for this security but we were hired for a fee by a (checks paperwork) -Collins. You will find the list in that dresser. He points to a simple wooden 4-door dresser, painted blue almost in front of her private bathroom"
"Ok thank you I was going to keep my back pack out if you did not mind I have stuff in there I need."
"Of course I do not mind."
"Thank you I will look for everything and I will see you when you come back. Oh, where do I find the menus?"
"On the bed"
"Ok"
"Enjoy your ride"
"I will"
Frank, the guard left and Jess walks over to look at the menu. She sees 5 meals a Mussel Pasta dish, a Sirloin Steak, Chicken Marsala, Vegetarian Lasagna or Rock Lobster Tail. "And this is the late-night meal menu? I cannot imagine what their regular meal menus are like." She laughs, "I hope they got snacks." The opening whistle is heard, and the train starts moving. She goes and picks up the phone to order some food since she really did not eat much today (New Jersey is the diner capital of the world, and the bus's only food stop was at a gas station"
"VIP Club car room service, Chet speaking?"
"Hello Chet, I was calling to order food my name is Jess Felix."
He briefly glances at a laminated white chart that has the names of all of the VIPs' travelling and where they are on the train "Ah, you are in club car #3, what can I get for you?"
"Can I get the mussel pasta dish?"
"Absolutely, it should be at your door in 45 minutes."
"Ok thanks."
She sits on the bed and fetches a voice recorder out of her backpack. She turns it on and starts to talk into it:
10 years ago, there was a big plot to get Aaron blacklisted from the fanbase of Your Favourite Enemies. It worked for a while, but he came back and earned enough respect that his main opponent (a girl named Amy Smith who ironically got him into the music to begin with) was herself kicked out. A few days ago, I was contacted by a few of their staff (that I used to be a part of) to "get rid of him" because of his "anarchic and dissenting behaviour". I am normally on Aaron's side (in fact I wanted him to take Amy's job and I was the 1st to defect of what he calls the YFEniverse and into what he calls the Cult of Aaron) but now I do not know if I should ignore this or help them eliminate him.
She lies down, hoping the conflict will not stop her from sleeping. Finally getting relaxed for the first time since she left her house earlier that day, there was a knock on the door. She hears a shout: "YOUR MEAL IS READY!" She walks over and opens the door. A tall, black chef lifts opens a metal lid, revealing her mussels. She smiles and hand a five dollar bill to the guy, ironically named Dick Halloran.
"I cannot take that madam, we are sending Aaron and Ida the bill!"
"Ok thank you for bringing my food that looks very good."
"Enjoy!"
She did, as the conflict within her grew…
John Grim (aka Hellion) - New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
"Yes Honey, I need you to run the wrestling academy for a few weeks. That is right, I got to go see Aaron up in Canada. Ok honey, I love you, bye" Hellion hangs up his cell phone as he heads for the gate for the flight in New Orleans for Toronto. New Orleans finally finished the post-Katrina cleanup so when John took a seat to wait to board, he saw the vibrant, jazz meets French custom town fully restored. It momentarily struck John as funny how the pastoral, pre-Katrina architecture blended so nicely with Futurist Americana vibe of the new buildings, but then another thought crossed his Cajun mind: "Shoot I should call Ida! But I better make it quick so I do not screw up the takeoff." He grabs his phone and dials Ida's number:
"Aaron party central station, Ida speaking"
"Hey Ida it is Hellion"
"Oh good, someone I actually know that is not associated with yfe. How are you?"
"I am good."
"And you are not changing planes are you?
"No, I am not changing planes"
"Ok, so with the plane, customs, the train to union station and the P.A.T.H. You will be here in 4 and a half hours!"
"Right so are you excited to see me?"
"Of course, Aaron is too."
"Sweet! Make sure both of you come tackle me when I come in."
"Will do."
A pilot taps John's shoulder, "It's ok sir, we do not have many passengers so just go ahead and board." John nods in acknowledgement then resumes to Ida:
"Thank you. I will see you in a few hours I got to get on the plane!"
"Ok, take care."
"Bye Ida, I will see you in a little while."
He hangs up and hands the boarding pass to a flight attendant. The flight attendant looks at him and then starts to speak: "1c, the left aisle seat at the front." "Sweet" He walks the tunnel to the plane's main entrance at the front and looks around once he is inside. His seat is blue leather and large, perfect for him and a Mead composition notebook he had been carrying, he began writing in haste:
"Thank you Ida and Aaron you two are classy friends! But why did Hawking Ripper just up and leave XWF? I have never believed that he 'got bored', I have been mad at him...silently...ever since. Plus Kelsey tried to leave but at least she stayed until last year. I know Hayden feels the same way I do. Kelsey was good but she seemed out of it every year in September. Hawking was writing his role-plays AND matches for the company while competing in professional poker and magic: the gathering. I want them to come back to XWF. If they will not answer to reason, they will answer to aggression."
He grins as he gets an evil grin on his face and lean back when he hears someone one the p.a. start talking: "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to this non-stop flight to Toronto, Canada. Flight time is 2 hours, 42 minutes. We are going to be leaving momentarily so please buckle up and I hope you enjoy your flight."
Yes, Harley and I WILL get them back into XWF…
Karl - Los Angeles, California, USA
"Wow! Homeland Security in America likes picking on us Aussies, trying to confiscate my phone card because 1 edge is sharp. Guess I should call Ida before they catch up to me and take it." Karl dials Ida's number. It rang twice, then a voice came on it:
"Aaron's party line, this is Ida speaking"
"Hi Ida, this is a very sore and humiliated Karl Lean"
"Ah, hi Karl wait why are you sore?"
"Homeland security took me into a room and strip searched me"
"That is too much information. I am glad I do not fly it is a pain in the butt."
"Actually, you are right...literally. Part of the search was a fat woman with darker facial hair than me sticking a finger up my ass 'looking for drugs and contraband'" The phone gets silent for a second and then Ida sighs.
"So, yeah. Pain in the butt indeed"
"Yea that it is? Hey, are you at the plane yet?"
"I am on a payphone across from the gate"
"Oh ok how long until you board?"
"I am in row 6 so unless that is 1st class like the Melbourne flight...thank you by the way...I will be boarding last."
An intercom became active in Karl's section of LAX: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now boarding all first class passengers for the non-stop flight to Toronto. That is the first 8 rows…"
"Huh, looks like I am in 1st class again."
"Yes you do. I booked it that way."
"Thank you so much, I have to run"
"Ok Karl I will see you when you get here then."
Karl hangs up, walks to the gate desk and hands over his boarding pass. "Row six first class window seat enjoy your flight"
"I will, thank you"
Karl walks into the plane, then goes and find his seat. He almost passed out right then and there, what with his flight from his hometown of Melbourne to Los Angeles lasting 14 hours and 20 minutes. Then most of his near 3 hour layover was taken up by that…uncomfortable scene with Homeland Security. A female flight attendant soon approached him:
"Something before takeoff sir?"
"No thanks, I am all set...wait, do you have a pen and a Canadian customs form?"
"Yes we do, I will be right back with that"
"Thank you very much"
"Oh you are welcome"
The flight attendant walks off and comes back about five minutes later:
"Here are the items you requested, sir"
"Thank you again!"
"This is much longer than it was in the 90's", said Karl to himself. He flips to the first page and starts to read:
"How long will you be staying?" He writes, "2 weeks"
"Where are you staying?" A smile came over Karl's face "Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto"
"Are you bringing any fruits, vegetables or animals into Canada?" A no-brainer, "No"
"Are you bringing more than $10,000 spending money?" Another quick decision, "No"
"How many are in your party other than yourself?" Karl sarcastically looks around, "0!"
Karl finishes filling it out and hands back the pen half an hour after takeoff. He leans back in his seat and begins daydreaming...the dream is a phone call between Karl, Aaron and No contracts, just trust records.
"I wonder if I am going to have to talk with Aaron about some stuff. I am hoping that the record label's handshake is as trustworthy as a written contract. Otherwise, I am bankrupt because Aaron introduced me to the wrong guy. It would be a shame to take Aaron to court for it! Especially since he is rich enough to buy himself a win in either the Canadian or Australian. I wonder where he got that much money. I am sure his ideas and gaming skills did not get him all of it."
Karl continues to worry as the plane inches closer to Toronto…
Laura Bradley - Sault ste. Marie
"Nice I cannot believe how big this plane is! I never knew a plane could be this large"
The flight attendant overhears and replies "This is actually 1 of our smaller models, in fact you are 1 of only 4 passengers. May I help you with your bags?"
"Oh thank you"
"We were informed you are not very mobile, do you need help getting to your seat?"
"Yes please"
The stewardess pushes a button and the seat swivels out facing Laura. Laura sits down and wait for the seat to return to its' standard position. The seat swivels back to its' standard position with her in it. She grabs the side because she did not expect it to do that.
"Relax, Mrs. Bradley. It is just an airplane."
"Oh ok it just startled me."
"That is normal. Hope you ate, this flight is only 70 minutes so no in-flight meal."
"I ate thank you for asking."
"You are welcome." She then starts shouting "Ladies and...More ladies. Please fasten your seatbelts, we are about to taxi out"
She buckles up and leans back to wait for the plane to take off, leaving Sault ste. Marie behind. Sault ste. Marie was decent enough sized town, but it was the only 1 in Northern Ontario with an "international" airport (and that's a loose term). So there were a lot more…old-fashioned things about the town. Namely how everything was arranged and built, there was also a lot of First Nations' influence in every facet of life. In fact, most flights to Toronto had been cancelled in recent years due to a lack of business, so Aaron and Ida had to make special arrangements with a charter airline to keep Laura from taking an uncomfortable bus ride (Via Rail didn't even like going into Sault ste. Marie). The props start buzzing. After 5 minutes, the plane takes off with Laura looking out of the window as she see every thing shrink. But it's mostly a view of the great lakes so she keep her window viewing to minimum. After a while the pilot just yells behind him, "Attention passengers, you have 15 minutes to use your cell phones!" She grabs her phone to dial Ida's cell phone. It rings and someone answers, someone distracted by the last minute details of the evening's activities:
"Hello?...No just put 6 tables in the dining room...Whoever this is, I am sorry you heard that"
"It is ok Ida it is Laura."
"Oh hello Laura, glad you are not on the bus now?
"Yes I am going to be in soon they told me I only have fifteen minutes to talk."
"Ok, I am not sure if the new train is handicapped-ready so be careful."
"I will be fine, I will make sure I get help."
"The P.A.T.H. Is flat though so you will be ok there."
"Ok I should get off soon though, we are about to land."
"Ok, bye Laura."
"Bye Ida, see you soon."
Laura hangs up and sit back to look outside again despite not having much to see:
"I flirt with Aaron, he rejects me because he prefers guys. Now he is married to Ida? I am married now myself but that is so wrong I could...kill them."
Marcel Bulling - Frankfurt, Germany
"Alle erste-Klasse-Passagiere bitte einsteigen in das Flugzeug nach Toronto beginnen würde?" (English Translation: Would all first class passengers please begin boarding the plane to Toronto? Marcel hands his boarding pass over to a male flight attendant. The flight attendant points and says "Reihe 2, Platz am Gang. Willkommen an Bord von sir" (English translation: Row 2, aisle seat, welcome aboard sir!) He nods, goes and find his seat then grabs his notebook to write some stuff down:
"I am writing this down in English as opposed to my native German because of who it is about. It is about
Aaron, I do not even know why he invited me to this, we are not especially close."
More frustrating to Marcel however, was the fact that his hometown of Dresden had an airport that was not capable of flying to Toronto directly. At least if he had changed planes outside of his own country, he might have met up with someone else travelling to Aaron's birthday party. His frustrations were distracted by a captain's page on the P.A. system:
"Meine Damen und Herren, dies ist der Kapitän sprechen, wir werden für den Start um 30 Minuten verzögert werden. Wenn Sie jemand telefonisch kontaktieren müssen, holen Sie dies jetzt!" (English translation: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking, we will be delayed for takeoff by 30 minutes. If you need to contact anyone by phone, do so now!) "Sweet I can call Ida now", Marcel dials Ida with haste:
"Aaron's party line this is Ida"
"It is Marcel, we are delayed by 30 minutes before my 8 hour, 40 minute flight to see you guys"
"Ok so are you on your plane right now?"
"I am. Wondering why I had to take a 75 minute flight on a plane that was older than I am."
"Yes, I understand what you mean so you are going to be late then to Toronto then?"
"Yes, I am. Sorry, but there is nothing I can do."
"I understand you do not need to worry we are not starting until 5 tomorrow night."
"Ok."
"Oh, make sure you take the new train when you get in."
"There is a new train?
"Yes there is it will drop you off at the path take that to the hotel."
"Oh right, those tunnels at union train station."
"Right! Well, they are all over downtown Toronto."
"Ok, guess I have to just sit here in the plane until then."
"Ok, just make sure you get a hold of us if some other stuff happen it should not be delayed more then a half hour. But if it is call us!"
"I will."
"Enjoy your plane ride."
"I will try, bye."
"Bye Marcel see you when you get here."
He hangs up and resumes writing:
"Great, we are going to be delayed. Oh well, at least Alex is not going to be there to throw a microphone stand. Actually, if Aaron is the reason Yfe has not played in Toronto in so long, he has a LOT to answer for."
The plane begins moving unannounced. Marcel quickly put his seat belt on and puts his seat back in the upright position, yet another in the secret Yfeniverse plot to silence dissidents.
Phoenix Christa - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
"1 terminal and they have enough staff to 'check my bag' 4 times? What do I look like? An under-aged crack whore?" Phoenix looks around to make sure she was not being followed and decides to sit until her plane number was called. "All passengers on westjet flight 576 to toronto, please begin boarding at gate 3"
Phoenix gets up, grabs her carry-on and heads for gate 3. She finds a few flight attendants twiddling their thumbs, no passengers have boarded yet. She heads over to them and shows her boarding pass to the oldest looking of them:
"Oh good, our ONE passenger showed up."
"It is only me wow ok. After the bag checks I Could use some pampering."
"Yes, people do not like going to Toronto in the middle of the week. Especially since it is 2 months until summer time."
"Yes well, I got to. It is a good friend's birthday."
"I know, the airline is losing money on this flight just to pay us. Row 6, window seat"
"Thank you."
She walks in, finds her seat then sits down. Her view outside showed a presumably empty new stadium being built. For a new nhl team? A re-location of the Roughriders? Who knows?
"Do I have time to make a phone call before takeoff?"
"Yes but make it fast we will be leaving in ten minutes."
"Ok." She speaks to her phone "Siri, call Ida!"
"Aaron's party line this is Ida speaking."
"Phoenix here, and only Phoenix as there are no other passengers on the entire plane!"
"Hey Phoenix so you are the only one on the plane wow that is weird."
"No, weird was 4 bag checks for little old me"
"Really that is weird. What happened?"
"I went through the metal detectors, that was #1. And security have been bugging me ever since."
"Wow ok how long until you leave?"
"Not even 10 minutes. The flight is only 3 hours so I doubt I will get any food."
"Sweet"
"So I will see when you get here. Do you know how to get to the hotel?"
"Train from Airport to Union, path into royal York's basement."
"Right I will see you when you get here you are going to be leaving soon."
"Ok Ida, take care"
"Bye Phoenix!" She hangs up the phone and then puts on her seatbelt. Moments later, a steel chafing dish of what Phoenix guesses is Mushroom soup.
"Wow, this looks incredible! Is this from Campbell's?"
"Yes it is we made sure about that. And we sent Aaron and Ida the bill"
"Ok thank you when are we leaving?"
The plane starts moving, "2 seconds ago"
"Oh ok."
She leans over and looks out the window to give a monologue:
"I miss the days when Aaron promoted underground bands, when he stopped doing that my chances for playing a gig in Toronto died. Wish he kept doing that so I would not have been without a gig. Him getting off of Myspace made me so angry, he will pay for leaving so many bands out to dry. I want to get him back for that!"
Sherry - Oakville, Ontario, Canada
"Miss, we suggest you go to the upper deck with those suitcases. It will be less crowded."
"Ok thank you so much." Said Sherry as she goes up the stairs and finds a seat to sit in. "For $7, this is a very comfy seat. A pity that baggage compartments do not exist like they do on Go buses. Guess I better Skype Ida to let her know I am all aboard. She gets on her laptop to sign on skype as she see Ida's name on there marked as online. She double clicks an old trackball to make a video call. The call got answered by Ida as she had her video chat and camera on:
"Hey Sherry!"
"Can you raise your webcam? I am staring at your boobs."
"Oh sorry. I was standing up." Ida quickly sits down.
"Much better, I am on the train."
"Sweet so you are not that far away then."
"No, an hour and a half tops and that is if the train traffic is jammed. I have a nice view of Lake Ontario the whole way there. She moves her computer 90 degrees to the left to show the window."
"Wow that is nice I have only been here for a year but I love Canada."
"I love it too."
"I am not sure if I would ever leave here but it depends."
"I understand what being homesick is all about, I used to live in a Central Ontario town called Sudbury."
"Yes I know but I really do not have anything bringing me back to Massachusetts any more. All of my friends are married and with kids so we are all settled now."
"That would be life-changing."
She gets jolted and almost hits her head on the ceiling.
"The train is moving."
"Returning to topic, I want a kid but I do not think that would ever happen for me or Aaron."
"You should talk to him about it."
"Yes but he will not listen. I want my own kid, I do not want to adopt."
Ida gets a tear in her eye. Sherry feels a tad overwhelmed that Ida is confiding so much to her when they do not even know each other. Sherry did however, set them up with a house that she flipped. So she came up with a way to appeal to his inner Sheldon:
"Just remind him that it is part of the human experience to have a family." Sherry giggles and tells Ida, "He came with a manual"
"Yes I know that hey let us see what happens maybe I can get him to have a kid with me."
"Good luck, I am trying to read this P.A.T.H. Map."
"Oh you are already in."
"No I am not, not until I reach union station."
"Ok I will see you later I am going to see if Aaron will talk to me. He has wanted to have a little bit of private time before people get here."
"Ok, see you shortly" Sherry hangs up on skype and start to look at the map of the path"
"Oh ok, I just enter from union, make a right, then the 1st left for the hotel. Aaron is the reason why Pirana Poker Tour went out of business, now I have to go to a real casino for a game. He has cost me quite a bit of money, I wonder what I can get out of him if I try to get in his pants in front of Ida. That would definitely get him to fork over some money. 50 grand should do it hahahahahaha…"
Sherry's train fittingly just past Port Credit, technically just down the street from where she and Aaron first met. Money always comes full circle, whether it is a poker table or reality.