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"The Great Airport Escape" is a compact, humorous personal narrative built on irony and contrast—between exhaustion and urgency, high-tech promise and low-tech mishap, triumph and loss. Its strength lies in the lively voice, the vivid pacing, and a resolution that delivers both comedy and thematic closure.
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The Great Airport Escape
By Harry Arabian
After spending the whole day at CES in Las Vegas—with its buzzing lights, shiny gadgets, and more sales pitches than a used car lot—Andy and I finally flew into Orange County around 8 p.m. My brain was fried, my feet were sore, and all I wanted was to reach my couch, only four miles away.
I shifted the weight of my overstuffed backpack, bulging with CES loot and my iPad—the crown jewel of my haul. Every step reminded me how much I wanted both me and the bag safely home.
As we walked toward the exit, Andy’s phone rang. Rosie, his friend, was running late.
“Sorry, traffic’s a nightmare. I’ll swing by around nine,” she chirped.
Nine. My soul sagged. Andy, ever unbothered, replied, “No problem, take your time.”
It was absolutely a problem. I was already picturing myself crawling the last four miles on my hands and knees if it meant getting home sooner.
Out on the curb, I spotted salvation: a city bus lumbering toward the airport, headlights shining like a beacon of freedom. A hundred feet away, a lonely bus stop sign beckoned.
“I’m catching that bus,” I told Andy. “You can wait for Rosie.”
Before he could protest, I bolted like I was in the 100-meter dash finals. The driver, clearly amused, slowed down and opened the doors.
“Lucky night,” he said. “This is the last bus. But fair warning—only goes to Jamboree.”
“That’s perfect,” I puffed. “That’s where I live.”
I collapsed into a seat, dropped my precious backpack beside me, and felt smug. Not only was I arriving home before Andy, but I was also doing so for $2.50.
The bus trudged along its route, passengers hopping on and off. I distracted myself with the news, waiting for my landmark: the glowing H-Mart sign across from the bus depot.
Finally, there it was. I stood, ready to exit, basking in my brilliance. But then—oh no. My backpack.
I spun around. Empty seat. No bag. No iPad. Just air.
A rush of panic surged through me. Did someone really just walk off with my entire CES haul? My free gadgets, my notes, my iPad—all gone? My mind replayed every stop, every passenger, every second I hadn’t looked.
“Driver!” I shouted. “My backpack’s gone!”
He glanced at me in the mirror. “I thought you already got off with it. You had that FIFA bag with you.”
I stepped off at Jamboree, hollow. Andy would soon roll up with Rosie, rested and cheerful, while I trudged home empty-handed.
In the end, I obtained what I had wanted: a quick trip home. Just not the way I wanted it. CES may have been about the future of technology, but mine had just disappeared into the night on a city bus.
In The Great Airport Escape, the narrator recounts a comic misadventure after a long day at CES in Las Vegas. Exhausted and desperate to get home quickly, he abandons his friend Andy—who is waiting for a late ride with Rosie—and sprint for the last city bus. Victory seems his: not only will he get home faster, but done it for $2.50.
ReplyDeleteBut triumph turns to disaster when he realizes they’ve left behind his overstuffed backpack filled with CES treasures and, most importantly, his iPad. What began as a clever shortcut becomes a lesson in irony: the narrator reaches home quickly, but emptier than when he left the airport.
Through humor, vivid detail, and a rueful twist ending, the story highlights themes of impatience, irony, and the limits of human control in the face of bad luck.
❓ Discussion Questions
Character Choices:
Was the narrator justified in abandoning Andy to take the bus? What does this choice reveal about their personality?
How does Andy’s laid-back response to Rosie contrast with the narrator’s urgency?
Themes:
What does the loss of the backpack symbolize in the context of coming from CES, a celebration of cutting-edge technology?
How does the story use irony to deliver its punchline?
Narrative Voice & Humor:
How does the narrator’s tone shape the reader’s response to the story? Would the loss feel different if told in a more serious voice?
Which lines or descriptions made you laugh the most, and why?
Relatability:
Have you ever taken a “shortcut” or made a quick decision that backfired in a similar way? How did you react at the time compared to how you tell the story now?
Ending:
Do you find the last line satisfying as a conclusion? How might the story change if it ended on a different note—say, with a recovery of the bag, or with Andy arriving at the same moment?