29/07/2025
A strange airport terminal—the smoking area was slowly filling up with people catching connecting flights. I moved to a quieter area with fewer people and noticed an airport staff member in a neat uniform cleaning the space for arriving passengers.
I approached a nearby passenger and asked if I could borrow a light, but he ignored me and turned his back. So I walked over to another passenger and asked the same question. He didn’t have a lighter or matches, but he handed me his lit cigarette.
Just as I was about to light mine, I noticed a child sleeping nearby. I immediately put out the cigarette and walked away.
From north to south, a self-driving train transports passengers to the other end of the terminal. I boarded it and let it take me across. At the other side, there was a vast open space—empty, except for me.
I started smoking again. As time passed, more people arrived, until the train I had taken left. I told myself it was fine—it would come back.
But a long time passed, and the train never returned. I was left alone at the far end of the terminal, with a broken heart and a weary soul.
The people who remained there were just like me—living in sorrow, trapped in a dreamlike world, waiting for the train back to reality.
And here I am, still hoping to wake up from this lonely slumber.