straightening himself up and moving over to look out the window.
“What time is it?”
“I don’t know. My watch says 5.00, but the clock on the screen says 10.00,” he said, not taking his eyes from the window.
Suddenly I realized something: a pillow. I had been sleeping on a real pillow. I reached over and smoothed my hand over the soft worn cotton, totally at a loss.
“Where did this come from?”
“Where did what come from?” Ryland asked, not bothering to look.
“This pillow.”
“How am I supposed to know where your pillow came from?”
It was a full-sized bed pillow, with a pillowcase and everything. A far cry from the lumpy postage stamp pillow the flight attendant had given me. Suddenly, something Alex said the night before came to my mind: ‘The trick is to bring your own pillow.’ My eyes popped open and I inhaled sharply –Alex? Was this his pillow?
“What’s wrong with you?” Ryland had turned from the window and was looking at me.
“Nothing,” I said, as casually as I could, then, knowing that little boys can ask far more questions than is good for anyone involved, quickly changed the subject. “You’re a mess, go to the bathroom and clean up.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, and if I have to be seen with you, you’re going to go clean up.”
I started pushing him towards the aisle while he continued to whine, “I already washed my face with the wet towel they gave me with breakfast…”
“Then at least fix your hair, you look like a serial killer.” He snickered and slumped off towards the lavatories. “Use water,” I called after him, to which he answered with a “yeah, yeah” wave behind his back.
I rummaged through my carry-on and pulled out my brush and a hair tie. I combed out my mane, and braided it into one long plait. I hadn’t thought to bring my toothbrush on the plane with me, so I grabbed some gum out of my jacket pocket to get the sleep funk out of my mouth. I stood and stepped out into the aisle relishing how good it felt to be able to stretch. I headed for the lavatories figuring I should check on Ryland’s progress, and sure enough when I got there I saw him stepping out of one of the tiny doors, hair still sticking out all over.
“Nope, get back in there,” I said, pointing behind him.
“But I used water…” he whined as I spun him around by the shoulders and followed him in, closing the door behind us.
After another five minutes in the matchbox bathroom, in which Ryland had to kneel on the closed lid of the toilet in order for both of us to fit, we emerged two respectable-looking human beings.
As we turned the corner heading back to our seats, the first thing I saw was Alex, leaning casually on the headrest of the aisle seat of my row.
“Good morning,” he said, as we approached.
“Morning,” Ryland said with a wave, before dropping into his row and resuming his perch by the window.
Alex stepped aside so that I could re-enter my row, and I slid over to my seat, lifting his pillow into my lap as I went. He sat down next to me tentatively, as though he thought the action might somehow offend me.
“This is yours I assume,” I said, handing him the pillow. He simply smiled and took it. “Thank you.” To that, he gave a funny laugh and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “What?”
“You…” he chuckled again. “You thanked me last night, actually.”
“I did?” I didn’t remember seeing him at all after our conversation, much less speaking to him.
“Yeah, when I gave it to you.”
“Was I awake?”
“Um, no, I don’t think so.” His ears grew red, and I was immediately wondering what I’d said, worried it was something really dumb.
Luckily, before I could find out what it was, the seatbelt sign lit up and the flight attendant announced our descent into Charles De Gaulle Airport.
“Does that mean we’re there?” Ryland was practically bouncing on his seat, shaking my headrest to get my attention.
“No, this is Paris. And sit down and buckle up, what’s wrong with you?” I scolded, shoving his hands off my seat.
Ignoring me, he hopped down and ran out around us, climbing into the row in front of Alex and me. He turned to face us and got up on his knees so he could see over the headrest. “How can we land, we are still really high up.”