Chapter 1:

A goodbye party and departure

Friday March 31st, 2017

A large gathering of people, most of whom were in their mid to late teens, socialised together in the large hotel ballroom as many danced on the dance floor. At his station, the DJ was playing many of the latest songs for the teens to dance to. Off to the side along one wall was a line of tables laden with snacks, drinks, and other treats for people to enjoy as well as hot food, such as chicken wings and cocktail sausages, in heated metal containers with plates close by for people to place their food on. One table was piled high with different types of small cakes and pastries, including rich ones with chocolate and custard.

On two tables was a large selection of different non-alcoholic punches, soft drinks and sodas, together with two large bowls of ice cubes and plenty of cups. At another two tables near the main entrance, a hot chocolate station had been set up and different flavours of ice cream, as well as plenty of toppings for sundaes, were being readied to serve.

At one of the many tables round the dance floor, four teens, all aged 18, sat together and sipped their drinks while they chatted with each other and watching their fellow teens, most of whom were between the ages of 14 and 16, dance away to the music.

"This is one fantastic party…your parents did a very good job setting it up, Jack." one of the girls at the table said, as she emptied her cup of punch.

"Yeah, they did Laura…it's incredible this little set up they put together." Jack said, as he took another swig from his second can of Coca Cola. That was no trick really; his parents were reasonably well off. His father worked in a leading position for an Irish pharmaceutical company and was doing well, while his mother ran a very successful bakery and confection business with 20 shops spread around the island of Ireland, 17 of which were in the Republic of Ireland with another three in Northern Ireland.

Laura smiled at Jack and then she stood up and went over to dance on the dance floor.

"I can't believe this is gonna be the last time you'll be with us all until early June, Jack." one of the boys said as he sipped his can of cola.

"I know Henry, but at the same time I'm really excited to be going on this little adventure to a new country and one which I've always had a great deal of respect and admiration for." Jack said, with an excited smile on his face.

"We wish you the best of luck over there, Jack; and try not to get into too much trouble." another girl at the table said, with a cheeky but friendly smile on her face.

"Well, Jenny…I'm sure you know me, I always try not to get into trouble at all if I know I can avoid it." Jack said, giving her a wink.

Jack Sullivan then looked over to his sisters; the three girls in their mid-teens were together on the dance floor with their friends. Each was wearing a pair of blue jeans and had a different colour top; Catherine was wearing yellow, Grace in red and Louise in light green. Their hair was also slightly different to each other; Catherine and Louise had fairly light brown hair, while Grace's hair was almost black. The three girls were triplets and today was their fifteenth birthday. Jack was their brother, and he was older than them by nearly four years; his nineteenth birthday would be in just a little under two months from now, but he would have to celebrate it in a different country.

He'd been chosen to go over to the United States for two months on a student exchange programme and the results of his studies there would go towards his Leaving Cert.

When his family received the news only four months before, they were all thrilled with the news, but still more than a bit concerned as it would be the first time Jack was going to go to another country by himself. But now everything had been arranged and all the necessary documents gathered, including the necessary visa and a new passport, the flight was booked, his bags almost packed, a flight on an Aer Lingus 747 in First Class and apartment ready and waiting at the other end. There was no need to worry about schoolbooks as these would be supplied at the school he would be attending; Ewen High School in Chamberlain, Maine.

Henry and Jenny stood up and went over to dance leaving Jack alone at the table. He sat for a few moments in his own thoughts, thinking about what the future of the next two and a half months would bring. He was a popular guy at the school he went to in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland's capital, and was particularly renowned in the school's wrestling team and won several medals and trophies in various competitions he'd taken part in.

Standing at 5 foot 11 inches, he was also very fit and had quite a strong body, with strong arms, well-toned legs and the beginnings of a six pack on his chest, clear evidence of daily exercise. At home there were a few exercise machines, including a treadmill and a stationary bike, on which he would work-out for at least half an hour to 40 minutes each evening so as to keep in shape.

He also had quite a few interests, including building plastic model kits, reading books and watching documentaries about military history, Titanic and other aspects of maritime history and British steam locomotives as well as writing. He had plans for a novel and had been working on one for some time. He also liked photography and had a digital camera and two different lenses for it, one of which was a telescopic lens for taking photos a distance. In fact, he'd brought his camera with him to today's event and had already taken many photos of people enjoying the party. He also really liked watching movies, including war films, Titanic movies as well as the James Bond movies; in fact, he had all 24 James Bond films, from Dr. No in 1962, with Sean Connery as 007, to Spectre in 2015, with Daniel Craig as James Bond.

He was excited about going on the student exchange programme over to the United States as he'd never been there before and looking forward to having the U.S.A. as the seventeenth country he had visited, having visited sixteen other countries in Europe in the last few years. Yet he was also nervous about being away from home for a long while and visiting another country by himself, which he'd never done before, but he was determined to do his best for the coming trip and this party was one of the ways he was being given a good send off before he went. Many of his relatives and cousins, and a small number of the teachers at the secondary school he went to, were also present at the party, as they wouldn't be able to able to see him off at Dublin Airport when he left on Monday morning.

Then he suddenly noticed his mother coming over towards him.

"Hey Jack, come on. Your father needs you on stage now…for that little speech you're gonna give to everyone." his mother said, as she indicated to the stage at one end of the room. Jack, knowing what was to be done next, stood up, his half-drunk can of cola in hand, and made his way up to the stage, while dodging people walking by all the while.

As the DJ finished the song and everyone stopped dancing, Jack's father stood on the stage behind the podium and, clearing his throat, spoke into the microphone.

"Okay everyone, now may I have your full attention please?" he called, as everyone quietened down and all heads within the room turned to him.

"Thank you; now I hope we're all having a good time this afternoon." and with that remark, everyone cheered for a few seconds before quietening down again.

"Now everyone…this little get-together we're having isn't just a fifteenth birthday party for my three daughters, it's also a special going away party for my son Jack who, as you all know, is going away on Monday on the student exchange programme to the States for the next two months. That means this'll be the last event we'll have with him until he returns in June. So, Jack…if you'd like to stand here and say a few words for us." his father said, as Jack stepped behind the microphone while everyone briefly clapped and cheered.

"Thank you…thank you." Jack paused, noticing all eyes, or nearly all, were turned to look at him. Taking a deep breath to keep himself as calm as he could internally, knowing public speaking made him a little uncomfortable, he continued.

"Well, everyone…I'm not one for speeches and I know you all want to enjoy this party, so I'll keep it short; basically, I'm very honoured, privileged and pleased to have been chosen to go over to the United States for the student exchange programme. It's gonna be a tough challenge for me to be away from home in another country for the next two months since I've never gone abroad by myself before. But I can promise you all this; I'll do everything in my power to make my trip a successful visit for two countries; Ireland and the United States. Thank you." said Jack, and with that everyone clapped and cheered for him as he walked away from the podium.

Around half an hour or so later, Jack was dancing with his friends on the dance floor among his three sisters and many of their friends. Above, the disco ball on the ceiling turned, casting sparkles of light around the room. Then, as the song ended, there was another announcement from one of the staff who were helping with the party.

"Okay, everybody…it's time for the big event…the one you've all been waiting for…the birthday cake!" she cried, in excitement, and all the guests cheered. And, as if on cue, the double doors to the kitchen opened and four of the wait staff rolled out a very large three tier birthday cake on quite a large trolley.

Each individual cake tier consisted of three layers of chocolate cake with a rich, fudgy, luscious butter cream in between each layer and each tier was a little smaller than the one it was sitting on. The icing on the outsides of each cake tier was in different bright colours and the middle cake tier was covered in brightly coloured sprinkles while the top of each cake was covered with chocolate shavings or little figures made of fondant.

Once in the middle of the room, Catherine, Grace, and Louise gathered round their enormous birthday cake as did nearly everyone else in the room, friends, family, and guests alike. After the candles were lit and "Happy Birthday to you" sung, the three girls blew out the candles which brought cheers from everyone and many bright flashes from the cameras a lot of people had on them, Jack among them.

A few minutes later, Jack and his three younger sisters sat at one of the tables around the dance floor, each had a plate in front of them with a big slice of birthday cake. Jack placed the first bite of cake in his mouth and savoured how rich and moist it was as well as how luscious and soft the fudgy buttercream icing between the layers was.

Many of the guests were already lining up at the trolleys for a slice of cake, but Jack wasn't too worried about cake running out, as the three-tier birthday cake was more than large enough for seconds, or even thirds, if push should come to shove.

At the same time, service was underway at the table where settings for ice cream sundaes had been set up, and many guests were having ice cream with their cake. Some were even having pastries, including doughnuts, as well as mugs of rich, thick hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and grated chocolate.

"This is the best birthday I think the three of us have ever had." Grace said, with a giggle as she ate through her slice of cake.

"Well Grace…it's only our fifteenth birthday; just wait til next year when we reach our Sweet Sixteenth. That should be much more exciting than this." Louise said, taking a swig from her third can of 7Up.

"Yeah, let's hope our Sweet Sixteenth next year is bigger." Catherine said, as she took another bite of cake. Their older brother just ate and stayed quiet; with the trip coming up very soon, Jack had far too much on his mind worrying about events that were to happen in the very near future than to think about events that were to happen in a year's time.

"Hey Jack, are you okay? The upcoming exchange programme on your mind?" Catherine asked, noticed the look on her older brother's face.

"Yeah, it is Kate." Jack said, looking at his younger sister, whom he and a lot of others sometimes nicknamed "Kate" as it was a bit easier to say than "Catherine".

"Don't worry, big bro, you'll do fine in America." Grace said, as she and Louise put their arms around their big brother's shoulders.

"Thanks." Jack said, and they went back to eating birthday cake.

A good few hours later, partied out, exhausted from all the dancing and absolutely stuffed to the brim full of birthday food, everyone went home, but not after Jack made his farewells to those who wouldn't be able to be at the airport on Monday morning to see him off and promised to keep in touch with them.

The next day at their house, Jack began his last preparations for his trip to the United States with a vengeance. With two large trolley cases to take, which would be put in the hold, as well as his laptop bag and a smaller trolley case to bring onto the aircraft cabin with him, he was kept quite busy that weekend with the last preparations. He spent the whole day going back and forth, making sure that nothing was forgotten or overlooked while packing.

Packing clothes, some blank note pads for his schoolwork, a few of his books, his iPad, power adapters, some toiletries, a spare pair of shoes, two pairs of slippers, his laptop, and many other things he might need. When he was fully packed, his two larger cases were between two-thirds to three-quarters full; the extra space was for the things he would inevitable be bringing back, be they clothes, books, food gifts like cupcakes or whatever it may be.

At one point, Jack's parents commented about taking so much stuff with him, even though he would be gone for just a little over two months. But Jack said that it was best to bring a lot of stuff with him and not need it, rather than to need it and not have it with him when he wanted it. His parents saw the value of that and agreed with what Jack said, and left him to continue on packing his three cases.

Monday April 3rd, 2017

Before anyone knew it, Monday morning arrived and, after a hearty breakfast at home, which was a full Irish breakfast with the works, all the necessary documents in hand and a last check of his luggage, as well as packing two more books, Jack was on his way to Dublin Airport in the family's minibus with the rest of his family present. Leaving their home within the Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown, they joined onto the M50, which, thankfully, wasn't too busy at this time, and headed to Dublin Airport not too far away.

Jack was sitting in the single seat by the sliding door on the passenger side of the vehicle with his luggage beside him and his laptop bag on his lap. The triplets sat in the row of three seats at the back immediately behind him and the parents were sitting up front. The triplets were in their school uniforms and had their school bags with them under their seats, as they would be going straight to school once they'd seen their older brother off at the airport.

"And remember Jack, if you're gonna be with a pretty girl over there, or sleep with her…use protection." Louise said teasingly, which drew a few giggles from Catherine and Grace.

"Well…I'm really sorry to disappoint you and the others, but I don't plan on going that far…at least not yet anyway." Jack said, slightly annoyed as he rolled his eyes, while quietly muttering the last bit.

"Well try not to; us three don't wanna be aunts before the age of 18, much as we'd love to be aunts though." Catherine said.

"And your father and I don't wanna be grandparents just yet." his mother added.

"And do your very best over there, Jack. I want you to be a credit to our family by not getting into trouble over there." his father said, as they approached the airport.

"Okay I will." Jack said. He looked out the window at the changing scenery along the M50, which was very familiar to him, as well as the many different vehicles going by in the other lanes, and the trees on both sides whizzing by as the minibus went along; he knew they were getting closer and closer to the airport, having gone along this way many times in the last few years, particularly when the family went on flights to go on holidays in Europe in summer.

Soon, they turned off the M50 and arrived at Dublin Airport. After parking the minibus and unloading Jack's luggage and placing it onto a trolley, they made their way into the large terminal building, Terminal 2, to the check-in desk for the flight to Bangor International Airport, not too far from Chamberlain. After his two larger cases were checked in, they made their way over to the security area where passengers would go through the x-ray machines and the carry-on bags scanned before being allowed into duty-free. One of Jack's uncles, who worked at Dublin Airport, would help him get to US Border Preclearance and then, when that was finished, get him to the gate where he would board his flight.

Stopping before security, Jack paused before he turned round and faced his parents and three younger sisters standing behind him.

"Well…I guess this is it." he said, with his voice sounding a bit shaky.

"Goodbye son, and please take care over there." his mother said, with one or two tears running down her face as she hugged him. Jack then hugged his father and three younger sisters who were just as emotional to see him leave.

"Do your best over there, son…and keep in touch with us via Skype." his father said, giving him a good pat on the shoulder.

"I will dad; anyway, I'd best be off. See you again in June!" Jack called, and he turned and walked towards security before turning and giving his family one last wave. Heading up to the security line, he looked at his watch; it was 9:30am and his flight was due to leave the gate at 11:30am, so there would be more than enough time available to get through US Preclearance and to get some things in duty-free before heading to the gate to board the aircraft.

Taking a deep breath, Jack approached the X-ray scanners and got ready to go through them. He could see his Uncle Mike, his mother's older brother, waiting for him to arrive by the security gate, ready to take him to pre-clearance when he got through security.

By 11:35am, having gone through U.S. Boarder Preclearance without a problem and having gotten some things he wanted to get at some of the duty-free shops in the terminal, including some chocolate bars, Jack was finally in the First-Class section in the upper level of the Aer Lingus 747, buckled up in his seat on the starboard side of the aircraft and ready to take off. His uncle Mike had seen him off at the gate and, after firmly shaking his hand, wished him the very best over in the States.

The fully loaded jumbo jet had moved away from the jet-bridge and was now turning at the end of the runway ready to take off on its long flight. Jack had his camera in hand, ready to take pictures of the take off.

His iPhone and iPad, both having been set to Flight-mode, were plugged in, and charging up while his laptop bag was by his feet and his carry-on trolley case was stored away in the overhead locker. His two larger trolley cases had already been loaded onto the aircraft and were secured safely down in the hold. The crew had already gone through the highly important pre-flight safety procedures, which included putting on a life-vest properly and how to put on an oxygen mask in the event of the cabin depressurising as well as how to disembark the aircraft in the event of an emergency.

Looking out the window, there was only the sound of the engines running as the 747 turned onto the runway, but after a moment, the plane slowly started to move and picked up speed down the runway.

"This is it…Thunderbirds are Go!" Jack said quietly, as he settled back into his seat and looked out the small window.

They went faster and faster until, just as it looked like they would never get airborne, the nose slowly lifted, and they rose into the sky.

Jack snapped pictures on his camera as the ground quickly fell away from them and everything then became smaller and smaller until the land, Dublin city, the roads and the Wicklow Mountains in the distance to the south almost resembled a model scene far below them, and then they all disappeared under the crisp white cloud bank as the aircraft climbed higher over the Irish Sea before it turned towards the north.

"Well…this is it. Goodbye to Ireland until early June." he thought to himself as he watched his native country disappear from view below.

As the aircraft climbed to 37,500 feet and its westerly course, Jack looked at his watch; it was 11:52am and time on the American Eastern seaboard was five hours behind time in Ireland so he adjusted his watch back five hours to 6:52am. The flight was expected to take a little over six hours or so, which meant they were due to arrive at Bangor International Airport only a few miles outside of Chamberlain anytime between 12:30pm and 1:00pm, barring any weather conditions en-route that could cause a delay. He looked below and saw they were already over the blue waters of the North Atlantic and, according to the map on the screen before him, they had just overflown the town of Sligo along Ireland's north west coast.

As soon as the aircraft levelled out and the seatbelt light over his seat went off with an audible "ping", Jack unbuckled his seatbelt, took out his laptop from its carry bag and settled down to enjoy the long flight. The First-Class stewardesses soon began inflight service, including serving snacks and drinks.

"Would you like a complimentary drink and snack, sir?" one stewardess asked, when she came by Jack's seat with the service trolley. Jack noticed on top of the service trolley there was a selection of drinks, including orange juice and sparkling champagne.

"Yes, could I have an orange juice and some salt and vinegar Pringles please?" he said.

"Certainly, sir. Will there be anything else?" she asked, as she handed Jack a glass of orange juice and then a small box of Pringles.

"No, that'll do me for now. Thanks." Jack said with a polite smile, as the stewardess went to attend to other passengers in the First-Class cabin.

Jack connected to the on-board Wi-Fi and settled down to listen to music, watch YouTube videos and do some writing on the novel he was working on. As he took a sip of his orange juice, Jack knew this trip was going to be a life-changing experience; yet what he didn't know at that time was just how right those thoughts were.

(Chamberlain, Maine, U.S.A.: 6:50am)

The sun was rising into the early morning sky and casting its warming light over the town, just as it had done for many a morning over the years. Most of the early risers were already leaving their homes and were on their way to work as others were just getting up.

At the old rundown house of 47 Carlin Street, Chamberlain, home of a certain religious fanatic known throughout town, a young and lonely girl with strawberry blonde hair awoke, slowly got out of bed, and went over to the window.

Opening the curtains and leaning on the window sill, she looked out at the rising sun and dreaded the day of school that lay ahead, particularly after what had happened the previous Friday in the showers immediately after gym class finished.

"Lord, our father in heaven,"

"If you can hear my prayers, please help me."

"I don't want to be alone anymore,"

"I want to be a confident person and fit in with the others at school,"

"Please send someone, or anyone, to rid me of my loneliness,"

"And to give me the confidence I really need to be who I want to be."

That's all I ask in your name, amen."

After a few moments of quiet reflecting, Carrie White turned away from the window and set about getting ready for the day ahead, completely unaware that fate and destiny were on her side; the answer to her prayers was on a flight right now and when they met, he would help to change her life for the better.