I look at the departures board. I could get lost here. I could vanish. I could board a plane and disappear… and no one here would notice. After I left, someone else would take my seat as if I never existed in the first place.

That was, in fact, my plan. To quietly disappear.

I am haunted by the memories of this place. I watch travelers pass by me intently headed to and from exotic locales. Rolling luggage trailing behind them; each is lost in their own world. An infant is screaming in the distance.

Even though it had been many months since my last pass through here, I am sitting in my “usual” seat near the gate. A tasteless large woman in an equally tasteless pink shirt is squeezed into the seat next to me. I listen to her speaking some foreign language into her cell phone very loudly; her words punctuated as if with a shotgun. I feel violated by the intrusion. She leers at me disapprovingly. I grimace as I change seats.

The distinct smell of fried food is assaulting my nose causing my stomach to rumble in tumultuous rebellion. I realize that it’s been hours since I last ate. I get up again to escape the sickening scent. I can’t even remember the last time I ate… I have lost more weight than I care to discuss.

I always seem to have something on my mind when I’m here. This particular moment was yet another one of those times. The situation was remarkably different, but the emotions were eerily similar.

I am taken aback as a man wearing a tattered orange baseball cap walked in front of me. It couldn't be him. He’s been gone for too long. Regardless, my heart starts beating a painful hollow rhythm in my chest as ghosts from the past suddenly flash into focus.

I am convinced that the ghosts live here now, visible only to me.  I'm getting used to it.  It happens entirely too often.

I am thoroughly preoccupied by my melancholy recollections as the young, well-dressed stranger sits down next to me. I barely notice him.  I didn't want to notice anything.

Do you have a cell phone charger?

I barely heard the words. I certainly couldn't comprehend what was being asked of me. The sound of my own mental reverie was like cotton in my ears, muffling the outside world.

I sort of hoped that if I didn't respond, the interruption would just go away like an ignored call goes to voicemail.

No such luck. I looked to my right; the young stranger was staring at me expectantly. I looked into his eyes and realized with absolute certainly that I could not ignore him. His bright green eyes seemed to look right into my soul.

Uhm, yes. It’s around here somewhere… I fumbled over my words as I clumsily searched through my bag. I was transfixed by his eyes.

He gave me a slightly crooked smile as I handed over the charger. His eyes remained locked on mine. His gaze made me feel exposed, like I had somehow been caught.  Caught doing what, though, I had no idea.

After what seem like an eternity, he broke off his gaze. His whole demeanor shifted as he looked down to plug in his cell phone. I watched a teardrop form in the corner of his eye and slowly make its way down his cheek.

You don’t recognize me. We've met before, you know… right here in this spot.

Surely there was some mistake.  Of course, there was a mistake.  I could only stare at him.  His face.

This is where we met... so many years ago.