Today you will go to the islands, the ones you thought about many times but never had a chance to visit, always too busy doing something else. You arrived way too early to embark. The ferry was not here yet, the benches were empty. You knew it would be so, and you wanted it that way in order to fully enjoy the excitement of the wait. Not the wait until deciding on the trip, that one was lost in the day-to-day concerns of your life, but this wait. Now you know you are going, you must enjoy every bit of the adventure and it begins right here, right this minute, on these old benches. You are eager to see how your other still unknown companions will settle around you. Your guess is the first ones will most likely choose to sit at a distance; you will discreetly glance at each other to get a sense of who you are, yet as time passes, space will become scarce, some people will have to be next to you. Will they be young, old, alone, couples, with or without children? Will they be nice, interesting, grouchy? Will you make friends right from the start, not that you need new friends at this time, but who knows? Will they ignore you, which is perhaps what you would prefer, as it will give you more time to be spectator? In any case, you do not want to miss this part of the trip, this expectation that is the sure sign of a special day. Here they come, two young guys with a bag each, but they already prove you wrong. They do not sit on the benches, they lean on the railing in front of the sea, next to the chain that closes the way to the embarkation dock. Could they be students coming back home for a vacation? Seasonal workers hired to help in a restaurant? You do not have time to find the answer: a group of adults and children is coming noisily towards your seat. For sure they are going on a day trip to the island; you can see that they have everything they need for a day at the beach. Yet they go further and disappear behind a corner. Never mind, you start to smile as you contemplate all that has already happened in such a short while, and you know you were right to come early. It is going to be a memorable trip.
Extract from the ebook Images, Voyages, Impressions
Extract from the ebook Images, Voyages, Impressions