Free England or Bust by Georgiana Louis

 One
    December 1 st
     
    Michelle groaned aloud as her eyes confirmed the fear that had been formulating in her brain. She’d been hoping that she was dreaming, or hadn’t understood the Airline staff correctly. But what she had been told, was indeed correct.
    Her flight to London had just been cancelled!
    “Are you serious?” she asked no one in particular as she stood in the centre of the airport, staring up at the flashing screen. The screen that was decorated in the first array of Christmas decorations for the Season. Red and green tinsel, so tacky.
    Anger and frustration combined, causing hot tears to gather in her eyes. She had planned everything so well, she had almost been free. Almost.
    She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, feeling helpless and alone - not an unusual state for her as of last week – but a state she wanted to leave behind in Australia, never to be seen again.
    “Can I help you?” An elderly woman with black hair shot through with grey, who obviously worked for the airline, reached out a hand and laid it on Michelle’s arm. The pressure was a welcome distraction and she inhaled deeply.
    Clearing her throat, Michelle turned towards the woman. “I, ahh… I was supposed to be leaving for England today, but they’ve my flight.”
    The woman with kind brown eyes nodded. “I know sweetheart, there is a huge storm moving over the city. They have grounded all flights for the next twelve hours. Would you like me to organize a taxi to take you home, or would you like a hotel voucher?”
    Michelle looked around the airport and her breath hitched in her chest. It was going to be chaos soon and she needed to find somewhere quiet. “I don’t have anywhere to go, so a hotel voucher would be lovely.”
    The lady smiled kindly again and pointed to an area to their right. “Take everything over to the British Airways desk over there and tell them Maria sent you to get a hotel voucher for tonight. I’d do it quickly though.”
    Michelle looked around at the people gathering in the foyer. Angry and confused voices rose high around them and she realized the lady was right. She needed to move fast.
    “Thank you so much.”
    “Good luck.” The woman, who was as close to a fairy godmother to Michelle as she had ever come across, wandered away.
    Michelle hurried over to the desk and waited behind two other people. She jiggled and fiddled, visions of herself sleeping in a chair overnight making her bite her lip.
    The people moved away and she stepped up.
    “Hello, my name is Michelle Smith. Maria told me to come here and ask for a hotel voucher as my flight has been cancelled.”
    The male clerk looked surprised and his eyes darted around the room at the growing crowd.
    “Could I have your passport and plane tickets?”
    Michelle handed over her plane tickets and took a deep breath. She was still okay. She would get to England soon enough. She had to remember that and not let the panic overwhelm her.
    The man printed out several tickets then placed them on the counter top.
    “Here is the voucher and your new flight details. Assuming the weather gets better and doesn’t get any worse, your new flight leaves in twelve hours.” The man handed her the voucher and tickets with a smile and she couldn’t help but smile back.
    Michelle took all of the tickets gratefully. The hotel voucher would buy her a few hours of peace and much needed moments of reprieve until she could get away.
    She moved out of the queue and stood, wavering like a tree in the wind. Picking up the papers, she stared down at them. Her eyes blurred due to lack of sleep, then she closed them.
    Breathe, just breathe. Michelle heard her mother’s voice inside her head and it was enough to keep her calm.
    What was the first thing she wanted to do? Food, she needed food. Then she would retire to the hotel to wait out the storm.
    She forced her legs to move and started walking towards the food court.
    “Food, food…” she