<< Go Back

Birds of Paradisum

By Stanley Lewis

Order Now!

1
Passenger Drop-Off
As the car pulled up to the front of the airport at passenger drop-off, the back passenger door opened. A man emerged from the back after he paid the driver. He dragged his carry-on bags out of the car as he exited. The trunk lid popped up, and he disgorged bag after bag of heavy luggage. Fortunately, someone had abandoned a luggage trolly nearby, so he didn’t have to hunt for one.

The man was ready for an adventure. As he shoved the loaded-down cart like Sisyphus pushing the rock uphill, he noticed a shriveled old woman who sat on the sidewalk and leaned against the wall just outside the entrance of the airport ticketing area. The woman made eye contact with him and motioned with her hand for him to come closer. Not wanting to be rude, he reluctantly approached, knowing that this would cost him some spare change and a small amount of time.

The woman wore threadbare and dirty clothes. Her ancient blouse still had hints of royal blue but was now deeply stained and faded, and seven ivory buttons that were cracked and stained adorned the front. However, there were two spots where threads extended forth like little hairs where two buttons once had been but were now missing. Her previously white pants were filthy as if they had not been washed in ages. A blood-red leather belt that she had punched extra holes into held them up, which indicated she had lost a lot of weight over time.

The woman’s feet were bare, dirty, gnarled, and chapped, but someone had painted fresh polish on her toenails that represented all the rainbow colors. She had an outer smock that looked like some sort of robe that was matted and pilled but also appeared as if, at one time, it had been a finely embroidered garment.

The ancient leathery face was lively with intelligent eyes, and when she spoke as he approached, her speech was not what he had expected. Rather than a croaky and husky bark as he thought would come out, she had an Australian accent and a lovely soft voice like that of a gentle grandmother.

“Young man, who are you, and where are you going today?”

Perfunctorily, he had already begun to reach into his front pocket for some change when the gentle sound of her greeting surprised him, and she spoke again. “Did you hear me?”

He had not yet removed his hand and replied, “Well, ma’am, my name is Derek, and I am here to catch a flight.”

“Obviously, Derek, you are here to catch a flight; only an idiot would assume otherwise. You are at an airport, you have a lorry full of luggage, and you have a look of anticipation on your face, so plainly, you are here to fly somewhere. So now that we have a firm grasp on the obvious, I asked you where you were going.”

Her sharp wittedness and slight causticness caught him off guard. “Well, if you must know, I am flying to the island of Paradisum.”

The elderly woman shifted forward a bit, and with a slight eye roll, a dubious smile appeared at the word “Paradisum.” Oh, are you now?” By this time, Derek had retrieved some cash from his pocket. The woman looked at his hand, and the smile vanished. She waspishly snapped, “I am not a common street person! How dare you assume I am out here begging! I don’t need your charity!”

Derek saw he had upset the frail woman, for the former pallidity of her checks had vanished, and what remaining blood she had in her emaciated body had risen to her face. “I meant no offense; I was merely wanting to…” His apology was cut short when the angry little crone futilely attempted to stand up. It was clear that age and physical deterioration would not allow that ever to happen again. She fell back to the concrete and against the wall with a thud.

Breathing hard, she demanded, “Young man, come here and sit beside me.”

Derek was peeved that he had allowed himself to get caught in this awkward situation. He tried to excuse himself politely and offered, “I really need to get going, I need to…”

With the irresistible persuasion of a grandmother, she demanded, “Young man! I said come here and sit down, and don’t make me say it again. I have something to tell you; I will only take a moment of your precious time. Besides, no planes are leaving for a few hours, so you have plenty of time.”

Caught and worn down, Derek gave up and came and sat next to the woman. Surprisingly, she didn’t smell as bad as he thought she would, and other than her dirty feet and unkept clothing, she seemed as if someone had been taking care of her hygienic needs. When Derek leaned back against the wall to mirror her posture, her outward appearance changed perceptively. She now looked happy and content. He got the feeling that most people had ignored her for so long that any attention was a cool drink of water to her. He felt pleased with himself and secretly hoped that those who walked past would notice his magnanimous humanitarian gesture.

“My name is Allison Bishop; you may have heard of me.” Derek had a deadpan look, for he had no idea who she was. “Allison Bishop of the noble house of Bishop!”
“I am sorry, I haven’t ever heard of you.”

This clearly caused the woman pain, and her shoulders slumped as she slowly responded, “It’s fine; very few young people have heard of me or my family. I have a hard time accepting that our once proud family and prestigious name has fallen into ruin. I had ten sisters, and I am the last of the Bishops. None of us had children, and our house will vanish when I am gone.”

Derek wanted to get up and walk away. He had no desire to sit and listen to a stranger’s family history, no matter how noble it was.

“I know you don’t have time for an old woman, so I will make this short. So you say you are flying to the island of Paradisum, is that right?”

Derek nodded in agreement, not wanting to talk for fear of encouraging a long conversation.

“A word of advice, be careful with that and keep an open mind for other options. In my younger days, I worked in this very airport, helping people get to that island, or so I thought. One day, I met a very tall and handsome man and we fell in love, or at least I was in love. He convinced me his only goal was to start an airline to help get people to the island. Little did I know that he only wanted my family’s money, and once he got that, we parted ways. Afterwards, I didn’t care much for airports, islands, or flying. As I have matured, I no longer think there is some island called Paradisum. Maybe there is, but me personally, I think there are many islands, and it doesn’t matter which one you go to. Like I said, keep an open mind about this island business.”

Derek could tell there was a hardness in her tone. He listened because her personal story pulled him in, but he felt she probably had some sort of dementia, which made him pity the old woman. Pity or not, Derek still wanted to leave and get on with his trip. As he stood up, he spoke quietly, “I am very sorry for what happened to you, but I just want to have a relaxing trip.”

“Sure, sure, go on your trip. All I am saying is don’t get all wrapped up in all this island talk. Have a healthy dose of skepticism about you. There may be an island, but probably it is all just good marketing.”

“Are you sure I can’t give you some money to help you out?”

“I told you, I am not homeless. I have more money than you could imagine.” She coughed up a laugh and spoke bitterly, “My money will last longer than I will.”

“Allison, it was good talking to you, but I have to go. Thanks for the advice, and have a pleasant day.”

And with that, Derek turned to grab the baggage cart and stopped. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the cash, and dropped it on the ground next to the last living representative of the noble house of Bishop. The woman looked at the crumpled money with a sneer on her face like it was something repulsive on the bottom of her foot. Derek never looked back at her but pushed his luggage through the airport doors. Allison Bishop sat there and glared at the money, then looked around to see if anyone was watching. She reached out an ancient hand, picked it up, and stuffed the wadded-up bills into the pocket of her once glorious robe.

Order Now!

<< Go Back