Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport
July 12, 2015
8:30 AM
I dragged my dollar store luggage through airport security with the worst headache I think I'd ever had. Traffic had been horrific on the way to the airport, leaving me barely enough time to stop and buy some jeans and a T-shirt, not to mention the 20 minutes I waited in line for my boarding pass and the overly invasive body check courtesy of airport security guards. By the time I arrived at the waiting area, I was ready to give up on this ridiculous trip before I begrudgingly remembered I had nothing to go back to.
With a half an hour remaining until I had to board, I walked to the nearest Barnes and Noble to browse. Eventually, I found myself in the comic book aisle, my eyes fell upon the new edition of Berserker. 'Milo,' I thought with a small smile as I picked it up, reading an advertisement for Comic-con 2015 on the back. It read, 'Comic-con 2015, San Diego, CA, July 13-16.' 'Just my luck, it's over 100 miles away from L.A.,' I thought as I brought the comic to the counter.
Behind the counter a grungy hipster type took Berserker from my hands before grinning oddly at me.
"Berserker is fucking awesome," he semi-wheezed at me, "Milo Ventimiglia is genius."
"We agree upon that," I told him with a smile, "Heroes was like my favorite TV show." At this he frowned and finally cut to the chase and rang it up.
"That'll be $11.50," he told me placing the comic in a bag. 'That's practically thievery,' I thought, coughing up the cash, 'I hope I still have enough to rent a car. I can't miss Comic-con or else what the hell's the point of flying halfway across the country?'
"Now boarding flight 815 to Los Angeles, California," a woman announced over a P.A. system.
"Shit that's me," I gasped grabbing my bag and taking off running toward my gate. I reached it a minute or two, sweating and panting. 'I've got to quit smoking,' I thought as I handed the steward my boarding pass. As I took my seat on the plane it occurred to me I mostly likely should have bought an actual book, since I had a four and half hour flight ahead of me. 'Well, I'm fucked now,' I thought with a shrug as I peeled the plastic of my new comic.
Four Hours and Twenty Minutes Later
"The pilot has turned on the 'Fasten Seat belt sign," said the flight attendant over the intercom, dragging me from a wonderful dream about having super strength. I wiped some drool from lips before buckling myself in. My ears popped painfully as we descended to LAX. 'I should've know better than to fall asleep,' I admonished myself silently. As we landed, I stared out the window upon the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen, from the air the Hollywood hills were visible, mountains in the distance took my breath away, Indiana was incomparable.
Los Angeles, California
10:00 AM
Once inside LAX, I felt overwhelmed, I was surrounded by more people than I'd ever seen at once. The first thing I did was check my bank account, for my severance pay from the Museum and happily withdrew an additional $1,500. It had been easy to quit my job at the Museum, after all, I was a glorified tour guide, I had a associate degree in Liberal Arts for Pete's sake, I had never imagined spending my life describing others' art instead of creating my own.
I rented a Saturn with plenty of cash left. For the first few hours I drove around, admiring the beauty that surrounded me and sometimes grimacing at the misfortune of others. California was running rampant with people who needed help. Eventually, I stopped at a truck stop and picked up a map and pack of smokes. As I mapped out my journey to San Diego, it hit me just how much my life had changed in just one day, once again tears made my vision glisten over and at that moment 'Linger' by The Cranberries began on the radio. I dropped the map and leaned the steering wheel as tears forcefully flowed down my cheeks.
When the song finished, I forced myself to put the pieces back together and lit a cigarette to calm my nerves. As I inhaled smoke, I felt myself level out and found the strength to move on, physically that it is. Finally, I pulled out from the truck stop following instruction from the map.
San Diego, California
12:43 PM
I found it strange how in California you can travel 120 miles in 2 hours when in Indiana it take 30 minutes just to drive 25 miles. As I drove up to the San Diego Convention Center, I knew I had arrived. As I drove into a parking garage, I looked around in awe, I was surrounded by characters anywhere from Star Wars to Adventure Time. For the first time in two days, I genuinely smiled. This was where I belonged.