Arrival to NYC

June 23, 2044- Thursday

Tall trees zoom by like large, green blurs outside the SUV’s tinted window. Rise sits on the amble seat feeling the cushions on his body. He stares out the window longing for home in his heart. On the highway, many cars pass by the car as they make their way to Columbus, Ohio to catch the flight to New York City. Rise leans forward from his seat placing his hands on the seat in front of him.

“Can you roll the window down?” asks Rise wanting to feel the breeze on his face.

Agent Vermont looks up and nods her head. The window rolls down halfway allowing fresh air to hit Rise’s face. The air reminds Rise of the times he ran back home through the country roads. He leans back and inhales a breath of fresh air. A notification lights his phone. It is Kevin: Take care, Rise. We’ll hang out when you get back, promise.

Rise sends back a thank you text to Kevin then he presses his phone’s off button.

The tall buildings from the city come into view after an hour of driving. The buildings loom high above the cars driving by. The car turns into the airport area finding a parking spot it comes to a halt among other cars. Agent Vermont opens Rise’s door to let him out. Rise steps out of the car onto the parking lot; his duffle bag clutched close to his body as he stands in the parking lot.

“This way, Rise,” says Agent Vermont walking with long strides toward the airport building.

Rise walks fast behind her to keep up. Other passengers are entering and exiting the building, its bright lights reflect on its white tiled floors.

They walk to the automated ticket machine shaped like a metal frame square. Agent Vermont enters their information on the touch screen, two tickets are expelled from the slot of the machine. One ticket has the name Rise Prongs on top with the number 257 B for his flight on the other side. Their bags are checked in and they pass through to the gate area after passing through a detector. Rise stands in the boxed-in area of the machine until it beeps and a green light gives the okay. Agent Vermont gives him his ticket to hold onto while they find the location of the gate.

Sitting down on the ergonomic chairs of the waiting gate area, Rise moves his feet in a beat that reflects his nerves. He takes out some earbuds from his pocket holding them in his hand with his phone. Yesterday Kevin shared a new playlist with him with LoFi and pop songs. Rise looks through the song list when their plane number is called out. Agent Vermont ushers Rise onto the boarding dock outside.

While in his seat Rise plays his playlist of songs keeping one ear open to the outside background. He has a seat by the window with Agent Vermont next to him. The songs bring comfort to Rise who watches the sky from his window. Agent Vermont opens her purse to read a book. She flips through to the next page of the small book every few minutes. They do not converse much during the flight.

“You’ll like it at the track center. Practicing running in the afternoons mostly,” says Agent Vermont.

“Is it near where I’ll be staying… for sleeping and such?” asks Rise looking at her.

“You’ll see when we get there how it is all in the nearby vicinity,” says Agent Vermont.

Rise nods his head, turns up his music, and looks out the window. Even though he wouldn’t want Kevin to be in his situation he can’t help but want a friend to come along on his journey to the track center.

By evening, Rise looks down the window to see the skyline of New York City in the distance. The lights are bright like a beacon. The plane lands smoothly and Agent Vermont and Rise leave their seats. Outside of the large airport, there is a ride waiting for the two of them in a red car. Rise sits next to Agent Vermont in the backseat of the car his duffle bag between them. As they drive through the city, Rise looks into the evening sights. The bright lights of the buildings are a sight to see. Numerous entertainment advertisements fill the spaces available in flashy colors.

After turning into a more residential area they come up to a gate. The driver shows his badge and the car moves through. Rise sees the expense of a well-kept lawn with flowers planted under the large trees in the hues of pink, yellow, and orange. Beyond a line of the trees on the right is a glimpse of a track field. There are multiple buildings scattered inside the bricked fence, all beyond the gate. They stop at a two-story stone building that is in the center of the well-kept grass and other buildings. The building’s stone architecture is a beauty to behold with columns on the exterior. It looks directly copied and pasted from a magazine for fancy wedding venues thinks Rise.

The building’s wooden doors open with a heavy push allowing Rise to enter. The first room is full of sofas and chairs in a lounge area and an information desk nearby made of black and white granite.

“These are the dormitories. Why don’t you sit while I go find someone,” says Agent Vermont.

Rise picks a fluffy green sofa and sits down his bag on his lap. He looks around. A fireplace occupies one of the walls with virtual flames moving up in red and orange light patterns.

A bookshelf full of books is next to the fireplace. The table in front of Rise is made of the same black and white granite material. On its side is a charging port. Remembering his Ma, Rise pulls out his cell phone. After the second ring, the phone line picks up.

“Ma I made it to the training center…” says Rise.

They talk for two minutes in which his mother asks if everything went well. The phone call ends too soon.

“Love you dear,” says Ma.

“Love you Ma,” says Rise.

Rise ends the call by clicking the red button. When he ends the call, Agent Vermont comes back with a man in a sports outfit. Rise stands up from the chair. The man introduces himself as the head coach of the training, Coach Palmer. His handshake is very firm in Rise’s hand.

“Let’s get you to the dormitories and you can come to dinner after,” says Coach Palmer.

Rise begins to follow down the cream-colored hallway with floral decorations.

“Take care, Rise,” says Agent Vermont from the front door as she exits the building.

After dropping his duffle bag at one of the beds in the room with 5 other beds, Rise is escorted to the dining hall. There the other teenagers, boys and girls have already begun their meal. A piece of meat with potatoes and veggies. Finding an empty seat next to a sandy blond-haired boy, Rise eats his meal.

“What’s your name,” asks the boy looking over at Rise.

“Rise Prongs,” says Rise coughing from his bite of food.

The boy gives him a smile saying, “My name is Jackson Smith,” he pours more orange juice into Rise’s glass.

“Thanks,” says Rise after he drinks from the orange juice.

There is an hour left before they shut the lights off. So Rise asks Jackson where the showers are. Jackson takes him back to the dormitories where the bathroom is nestled in the corner. Inside are two showerheads with stalls in between for privacy. Jackson shows him the toiletries in the cupboard with soap, shampoo, shavers, and towels. Rise thanks him and picks gras the items he needs.

The knobs of the shower turn easily in his grasp; Rise steps into the warm water. He feels the exhaustion from the long day roll off him. The warm feeling on his skin runs down his body, he closes his eyes and imagines he is in his home bathroom. For a second he believes it. Then he opens his eyes to see the gray stalls around him beyond the mist and reality comes crashing in. Rise cleanses his body well then he dries off his body. He sits on his bed in the room, shortly after the other boys arrive to sleep for the night. He at least knows Jackson from dinner. The other boys keep to themselves, but Jackson seems to want to talk to Rise.

“Where are you from?” asks Jackson.

“I’m from Ohio. How about you?” asks Rise.

“I’m from New Jersey,” says Jackson.

Jackson lets Rise know that there is practice after summer school, which ends at 1 pm. Rise thanks him and lays down on the hard bed mattress, pulling up the bed cover. He stares at the ceiling until all the lights turn off completely in the room. Rise thinks to himself there is only one thing to focus on now- running.