I leave Athens at 16:00. Slight delay. Long lines at security. Please remove your laptop. Place your phone in the basket. Enjoy your flight.
Touch down at 18:05. Rubber spinning on the cold black ground. It's dark outside. Thursday evening. GMT +1. Barcelona. Brand new airport terminal - white, bright, with floors so shiny they make you dizzy. My mom and brother are waiting for me behind the sliding doors - 'hi Steven' is written in the dirt on the back of the car. Follow the arrows and leave the glittering multi-layered parking building. Now we're driving on the toll-road, heading south along the coast. Tunnel after tunnel burrowed through the coastal mountains. I look out, attempting to make out the surroundings as they speed by in a dark blur. I see myself reflected in the window. I look tired.
We get to the newly rented house on the edge of town (there's a river running behind it). My upstairs room overlooks a school - small energetic voices echoing across the wintry fields and surrounding hills and mountains. When the river's dry, people walk their dogs in it. Melville is jumping, embracing me as another human to love and be chased by. Throw Garfield! Throw Garfield!
My brother is in love. Returned from England on Monday. Cambridge. Did you know Cambridge has canals? Couples rowing, discussing Chaucer and last night's television. Possibly.
He's considering a move there. Bright white future mornings. Rented films. Fish and chips and Easyjet trips.
E is arriving on Sunday and I miss her. The outside temperature is 11C degrees. Enjoy your stay. Click click click on the shiny black floor.
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