Until the Fall of '19 by Howard Rayner

Author:Howard Rayner [Rayner, Howard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pèreshurst Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Un Lunedì A Venezia

Alex emerged onto the busy concourse.

The opaque glass doors from the arrivals hall slid shut behind him.

This was it, no turning back.

The plane journey had been the usual torture, with the additional torture of a transit thru New York. In the long-haul sector he’d managed some sleep on the Delta flatbed. But it had been that shallow, dry-mouthed kind of sleep and hadn’t stopped him feeling exhausted as he rolled his compact carry-on down the humid jet bridge. The line at border control was long and arduous. Filling in the landing card, he’d fudged about where and how long he’d be staying. He did his best not to look shifty. The uniformed officer behind the Perspex screen deposited a retro stamp in his passport and waved him through. With only carry-on, at least he hadn’t had to hang around at baggage claim.

Now he needed to work out how to reach his final destination.

A kiosk with the sign ‘Speed Boat to Venice’ looked the easiest, probably most expensive, option, but he was too wiped out to give a fuck about cost, easy topped his list. He joined the short line. Once he’d gotten to the front, he dredged up some rudimentary Italian to explain where he wanted to go. Hearing his American accent, the stylish lady in angular white framed glasses behind the counter switched to English. As he wasn’t headed to a hotel, a lot of gesticulating and pointing at maps went on between her and her colleagues to establish which landing stage he needed. Once that was decided and a price agreed, he handed over his credit card. Cradling the phone between her neck and shoulder, the lady made a call while writing out a pink slip. She hung up, pushed the paper over the counter, then told him to leave the terminal, turn left and follow the signs to the water transport. At the landing stage, he needed to ask for Tommaso who’d match him up with his driver.

Leaving the moderate air-conditioning of the airport terminal behind, Alex dragged his bag into the cauldron-like midday heat. He imagined the water taxi station would be right beside the airport, but the narrow walkway leading to it zigged and zagged across airport service roads and ramps to the car park. Opaque plastic canopies, intended to shelter passengers from the sun, unfortunately also trapped the humidity. The trek seemed interminable, with the added annoyance of bumping into travelers coming in the opposite direction, all intent on kneecapping him with their luggage trolleys. Every time he thought he was nearly there, another blue arrow on a brick wall with a boat cartoon saying ‘Trasporti via acqua’ indicated another corner to turn. Tired, sweating, and massively irritated that he couldn’t simply jump in a car and be on his way, Alex cursed this godforsaken, primitive, waterlogged city.

With every step lowering his mood, eleven minutes later he arrived at the water taxi dock. A modernization program was underway at the airport. This was a temporary landing stage, which perhaps explained the chaos.

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