Part I: Six Packages, Six Journeys, One Big Wooden Door

22 23 The Chosen: Battle with a Cerberosian Prince The Package “You saw that too, huh?” The comment came from the girl sitting to his right. He had noticed her earlier; she had apologized to him when her bag hit his leg as she was sitting down. “Saw what?” TJ replied. “The jerk old man in the suit,” she said in a forceful tone. “Don’t you just hate it when people who think they are important, think they can do what they want, when they want? It’s so annoying.” “Um… yeah.” For a moment he had forgotten about the actual incident, since he was taken aback by this random girl, passionately going off at a guy who wasn’t even there anymore. “Sorry,” she apologized. “It just annoys me sometimes, and I see it so often at airports.” “It’s cool. I get what you’re sayin’.” He really did. His football achievements had allowed him to encounter schools from all ends of the economic spectrum. The wealthier private schools often had the best teams, since they could “afford” the best athletes—sports scholarships—and TJ could recall on several occasions where the wealthy parents were treating others, who weren’t from the same circles, as though they were less than. Many of the kids would do the same. He had so many negative experiences with spoiled rich kids, that to him they were all the same. Young or old. “So, where are you headed?” the girl asked. “Well, the flight is headed to Doha, so…” “No, man, I mean where’s your final destination?” she giggled as she responded. “My final destination is Nepal—if we make it.” “Ha-ha, Final Destination reference?” “You’re the one who used those words,” he said with a slight grin. “Yeah, yeah… I must say I did enjoy that franchise, though.” “So, is it the fact that people die in exceptionally gruesome ways that you find appealing, or do you just like death?” “OK, smart guy,” she said as they both laughed. “What about you? Where is your final destination?” “I’m headed to India. A friend of mine is getting married.” “Wow, that’s cool.” While they were talking, TJ noticed that they were almost at the front of the line. He had become quite intrigued by the girl. She had green eyes, with a slight hint of blue. The contrast between her eyes and her olive skin was near perfect. Her dark hair matched her dark clothes, and yet, as dark toned as her clothes were, she was stylish. This he concluded, in his limited knowledge, and perspective as a guy who was clueless about fashion. As they got closer to the front, he was trying to figure out how to get her name and possibly her number before it was time for them to board. He knew the probability of them sitting next to one another was highly unlikely. “So… did you notice that they made a mistake on our boarding passes? It’s pretty bad,” he said. “Really? I didn’t notice. What is it?” “Look again, closely. You’ll see it.”