We were off to Scotland with Mike and Margie for a much deserved vacation. The first hint of trouble was a phone call. "We're not on the plane yet, but they assure us there's plenty of time." The second call caused a little nag. "We're still not on the plane, but there's plenty of time." The third call was making me nervous. "We're on the plane, but we're not taking off." David and I left for the airport. The last call was "We're taking off, but it's gonna be tight".
David and I got to the airport. We whisked through check-in and security. We got to the gate. We checked the arrivals board. The flight from Richmond landed after the flight to Scotland took off. We paced, we read, we watched the weather channel. We checked the arrival board again. They were gaining time, now they were landing before the Scotland flight took off. It was almost time to board and they had 20 minutes to get from Terminal A to Terminal C at Newark Airport. Remotely possible if there wasn't another soul in the airport. Maybe they could hit the teleporter and be at the correct gate instantly. Oh yeah, that only works in Star Trek. Perhaps they would fly faster and gain a few more minutes. Maybe it would be enough.
Boarding started, and David and I got on the plane. We tried to dawdle. We asked the flight attendant if she could check on them for us. She couldn't. We wondered if they would, perhaps, hold the plane. They wouldn't. Boarding continued. We fidgeted. The door closed and we took off. Finally, the Fasten Seatbelt sign went off. David got up and walked through the plane. He didn't see them anywhere and then he spied it. The two empty seats where Mike and Margie were supposed to be sitting. He stood over them in silence for a couple of minutes. It was sad.
We talked to them when we landed. They had run, as fast as they could, but it just wasn't enough. They even saw the plane backing away from the gate. At least they were on the next flight out and they would catch up with us shortly. Oh well, the luggage never would have made it.