Gate 21

An unexpected airport Christmas

Jenny closed her eyes with tiredness and relief. Her first year of teaching high school students was at last over. She was so looking forward to spending time with her family in Manchester over Christmas, it had been hard living out of home for the first time.

‘Not great weather for flying, Miss,’ the taxi driver’s voice interrupted her thoughts of seeing her family again.

‘Sorry, did you say something?’

‘Just saying the weather’s not looking good. Where are you going? Somewhere exotic?’

Jenny laughed. ‘I’d hardly call Manchester exotic, would you?’

‘Ah, I dunno, Miss, it has its good points, although it is much colder up there at this time of the year than here in London.’ The driver caught Jenny’s eyes in the rearview mirror. ‘Going home for Christmas?’

Jenny nodded and wished he’d stop talking. ‘Yeah, just spending a bit of time with the family.’ She closed her eyes again and laid her head back on the seat.

‘Airport, Miss,’ the driver’s voice startled Jenny.

‘I must have been more tired than I thought. Sorry.’ Jenny grabbed her carry-on travel bag and paid. ‘Thanks, have a great Christmas,’ she gave him a smile.

‘Just heard on the radio there’s a snowstorm up north, hope it doesn’t affect your flight tonight.’

‘Me too, I’m looking forward to my mum’s turkey dinner tomorrow.’

She waited until the taxi had moved on before crossing the road and entering the airport.

After checking in, Jenny headed off to find a café—there had been no time to eat after leaving work. The airport seemed so warm after the wintry weather outside and she shrugged off her woollen coat and unwound the scarf her mum had knitted for her. A cup of tea and a sandwich made her feel better and she headed to the information board to check her flight. Her flight to Manchester was flashing ‘delayed.’

A disembodied voice announced several flights were cancelled, owing to a severe snowstorm, but as yet the Manchester flight still flashed ‘delayed.’

Jenny made her way to gate 21. It was almost midnight, her flight already ninety minutes late. She surreptitiously surveyed her fellow passengers and saw weariness written on their faces.

I’d better call Mum she’ll be waiting to pick me up.

After the call home, Jenny lay down on a row of hard chairs, her head on her coat, which she’d folded up to make a pillow.

It was a child’s distressed cries close by, which made Jenny sit up from her uncomfortable position and check her surroundings. She saw the child’s mother holding a sleeping baby whilst trying to soothe her daughter who seemed overwhelmed by events. Jenny looked around to see if there was anyone travelling with the little family but there was no one.

‘Would you like me to hold the baby for a while?’ Jenny asked.

With a look of gratitude the mother passed her the baby and gathered the toddler up in her arms. ‘Thank you so much, I’m so sorry for all the racket, she’s overtired. Waiting until her daughter’s sobs had quieted before introducing herself, she said, ‘my name’s Evelyn by the way.’

‘Hi, Evelyn, I’m Jenny, it must be difficult travelling with these two on your own.’

‘My husband will be waiting for us at the airport. I took the children to see my mother in London, but I wanted us all to be together for Christmas Day.’

‘We should have almost been in Manchester by now,’ Jenny checked her watch. It was almost 1.30 am.

The child, whose name was Ebony, began to cry again.’

‘I wonder if this little girl would like to see my gingerbread house?’ A male voice made them all look up. Ebony ‘s tear-soaked face appeared from the comfort of her mother’s chest. A tall, well-dressed businessman, who Jenny had seen earlier carefully carrying a large cake box, crouched down at the child’s eye level and produced a beautiful gingerbread house.

Ebony’s eyes lit up and reached out to touch it. Evelyn pulled her daughter’s hand away, ‘It’s to look at darling, not to touch.’

‘Nonsense. I tell you what, how about we all have a little piece?’ He smiled and broke off a little ginger biscuit door and held it out.’

Flight BA 347 to Manchester will now depart at 5 am. Sorry for the delay.

‘Five? That’s another three hours,’ Evelyn sighed.

‘Would you like a cup of tea, ladies? My name’s William, by the way. Give me your orders and I shall fetch them forthwith,’ he gave a grin, ‘after all it is Christmas Day.’ He put the gingerbread house on one of the chairs. ‘Now Ebony, I’m depending on you to make sure no one sits on my little house.’ She nodded very seriously.


‘Excuse me, sorry to bother you.’
Jenny and Evelyn looked up to see a long-haired youth dressed in ripped jeans and a hoody. He was holding out his phone. ‘It’s flat and my charger is in my checked luggage. I was wondering if either of you two ladies have a charger I could borrow.’

‘There’s a charging station just there,’ Evelyn pointed to the wall next to them.

‘Let me check to see if my cable fits your phone. It’s the same model iPhone by the look of it.’ Jenny rummaged in her carry-on bag and pulled out a charging cable.’

‘Cool, thanks,’ he tried it. His previously sullen face transformed when he smiled.

‘What’s your name?’ Jenny asked as he slid down the wall and sat on the floor next to the charging station.

‘Troy, he replied, do you mind if I play some music?’

‘I don’t, if no one else minds,’ Jenny looked at Evelyn and William who was walking towards them holding a carry tray with four coffees.

‘No, go for it. Let’s make this wait as nice as possible,’ William placed the coffees on the chair next to the gingerbread house. ‘Thank you so much for taking such good care of it, I think that deserves another piece, don’t you?’

Ebony gave a shy nod of her head.

Troy took requests for music from Spotify while they all sat and munched on gingerbread and drank the coffee.

‘How about a few Christmasy songs, Troy?’ William suggested.

Troy grimaced but scrolled through Spotify’s list of songs for the season. As Mariah Carey’s, “All I want for Christmas is you,” rang out across the rows of tired people, Jenny noticed a shift in the atmosphere and people’s lips moving as they sang along under their breaths. Evelyn’s children both slept soundly—Ebony on the floor covered with Jenny’s coat.

‘Who was the gingerbread house intended for, William?’ Jenny asked, gesturing to the now half eaten item.

‘It’s for my little girl, I promised I’d be home for Christmas and bring her something back from London.’

‘But it’s broken, won’t she be upset?’

‘You know, I think she’ll be absolutely fine when I tell her I shared it with my new friends when we were marooned on an island called Gate 21. She’s a very kind child.’

‘I’m sure she is, just like her father.’ Jenny placed her hand on William’s arm, ‘you’ve made this night fun.

Passengers for flight BA347 to Manchester, please make your way to Gate 21. Your flight will depart at 5.00 am

Troy unplugged the charger and returned it to Jenny, ‘thanks, I’ll be able to let my folks know when we land now,’ he shoved the phone in his pocket,

‘Thanks for the music, Troy. Have a nice Christmas, won’t you?’

‘You too, Jenny, it’s actually been okay, except for the Christmas music,’ he grinned.

Jenny held Evelyn’s still sleeping baby for her whilst she gently woke Ebony. As they queued for the plane, Jenny thought that for her first Christmas away from home, she had somehow found it anyway, standing among strangers who no longer felt like strangers.






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