Revised version of Proposed Dan Davin Entry

Japan Trip 2009

She stands out a little from the rest of the group, due to the fact she is sitting down.
“Are you ok, Harley?”
“Yeah, think so.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah-nah.”
The older girl stomps her foot in frustration. What kind of an answer is that? She had been the unfortunate one to have to sit beside this odd child for the 11 hour flight from Auckland to Tokyo, listening to her revisit her lunch for the last three hours and the weird noises she made while playing the in flight games the eight hours before that. To top it off she was now in charge of making sure the kid made it through customs without a hitch, along with four other girls. Not an easy task, especially with the decidedly strange cocktail of travel sickness and excitement this younger girl displayed.

“Oh great! Here it comes again. DAMMIT!”
“Miss! Harley’s been sick!”
“What! Again?”
“Argh....does anyone have anymore sick bags?” Again the head goes down.
“Dude! Just how much did you eat?”
"Yeah Harley, you’ve been spewing for three hours straight!”
“I swear it was the Teriyaki Salmon eh.”
“Or maybe it’s the fact you ate more than all of us put together at breakfast. I totally envy your budgeting skills. Airport food’s real expensive, but you still managed to get heaps with $10.”
“Thanks. I try. Guys....the bags getting soggy. You have anymore?”
“Eww...too much information there Harley!”
“Here you go man, and have some tissues too.”
“Thanks Te, you’re a legend.”
“Honestly bro, I’m not sitting beside you on the flight home.”
“Dibbs not!”
“17...18...19...20, RIGHT! Listen up!”
Nineteen heads snap round and focus on the teacher; one head lifts momentarily from a sick bag, and then goes back down rather suddenly.
“Get into your travel groups and head up to the counters, leaders go through last. Those of you with food in your bags, whether it’s sealed or not, make sure you have it written down on your arrival forms please. Girls, stick together, have your passports ready and we’ll all meet up after we’ve got our bags OK?”
“Yes Miss!” the chorus goes up.

Standing cautiously, Harley hobbles over to the nearby rubbish bin and disposes of the chunder bag before joining her travel group.
“Gee , I hope they recognise me as the person in my passport photo....,” she mutters, coaxing terse smiles out of her fellow group members, “I mean, I’m so changed looking from a year ago, I feel I’m a completely different person.”
Presenting her shiny new passport to the guy behind the counter, she watches as he scrutinises it. A frown flicks across his face and she feels a nervous lurch in her stomach.
“Look at the camera praese.” the man substitutes the l for an r sound. Looking up at the camera her stomach takes another nervous leap. The camera clicks, a stapler clunks and a stamp thumps into her passport.
“Welcome to Japan, Miss Dearlove.”

“Restroom’s over here, Harley!"
Sprinting to where her friend is standing, Harley snaps out an extra airplane sick bag. Pushing past her school mates, she makes it to the loo just before she needs it.

Washing her hands in an ultra modern hand basin with a hand drier built into the rim she notes that they are shaking. Looking in the mirror she notices her skin is only a couple of shades short of being transparent. Urgh, this is ridiculous, she thinks splashing her face with water, I come half way around the world only to have to make a mad dash for the loo. We haven’t even got out of the airport yet. I really want to travel, but if it’s like this every time I think I’ll have a mental breakdown! Why did the travel bug have to bite me both ways?
“Is Harley in here?”
“Yup.”
“Bridget’s got your bag.”
“OK, coming.”
Feeling slightly better Harley exits the restroom, takes her massive suitcase from Bridget and makes her way to the customs table. She hands over both her arrival form, neatly filled out by someone in a better state to write than she was, and her passport.
“All clear. Welcome to Japan.”

Moving with the rest of the group their enthusiasm and excitement mixes with her own.
“This way girls!"
Twenty students, trundling one 20kg suitcase each, follow three teachers to the escalator headed for the train station. At the foot of the escalator the girls push their suitcases together and are told they have fifteen minutes to check out the huge convenience store while the teacher finds out what platform their train leaves from. Harley’s not feeling that great now, so she gives Bridget some money and asks for some water before rolling up her travel vest and lying down beside the suitcases on the floor.
“I’ll stay here; with any luck they’ll think I have the plague or something.” Someone giggles.
Staring across the wide hallway she sees a weird terracotta statue. Its eyes are hollow and it looks like an evil orange Dumbledore. She snickers at the prospect. Ye gods, I’m delirious she thinks.
“Here Harley, your water and change, drink it slowly. The water...not the change.”
“’Ta, got it, thanks.”

As the fifteen minutes wear on, Harley steals continuous furtive glimpses at the evil orange Dumbledore’s name plate; it’s too far away for her to read who he actually is though. The girls trickle back in dribs and drabs.
“Look! Pocky!”
“Yum! Strawberry or Chocolate?”
“Strawberry!”
“Oi! Has someone brought Yuki a newspaper yet?”
“Yeah, I think Courtney did.”
“Cool, sweet. That’s sorted then.”
“See what I found!!! Cell phone charms!”
“Dude, you can’t even use your cell phone here.”
“Yeah I can, it’s got global roaming.”
“Really? Man I’m jealous!”
“Hey Te! Come and look at the hand driers in the loos. They’re real weird!”
“17...18...19...Huh? Who’s missing? Oi, girls, travel groups! Leaders, do a head count and report to me quick.”
A scramble of feet and plastic bags rustles above Harley’s head.\
“Crystal’s group, over here.”
“Emma’s group over by the terracotta...uh...thing”
“Bridget’s group, come over here please!”
“Marina’s group, get here pronto!!!”
A quick count of heads is done; the leaders make their way over to the teacher.
“That adds to twenty. Who didn’t I count before?"
“Probably me.” A hand attached to a drink bottle floats in the air, just visible over the suitcases, one of which Te is sitting on.
“Oh, right. Now that’s sorted, everyone get a ticket off your group leader and follow me. Our train leaves from platform 3A in five minutes.”

Harley sits up, grabs the outstretched hand of her group leader and her ticket.
“You right there, Harley?”
“Nah...I’m left.”
“Hahaha...very funny. Not.” The group leader rolls her eyes in mock irritation, glad to see that the younger girl is lucid enough to crack terrible puns again.
“Guess what Danielle?” Harley asks a girl behind her over her shoulder, whilst helping Te up after the suitcase she had been sitting on had flown out from under her.
“What?”
“We’re in Japan!!!” A wide grin travels across Harley’s face as she steps trough the ticket gate onto the platform. She is still clutching at a wad of airplane sick bags like her life depends on them, but thrilled that she’s actually in another country. Bitten by both travel bugs, Harley is now sure she can survive anything, at least she believes it will be so, after her stomach’s calmed down a bit.

Words : 1, 253

Hannah Dearlove