Story Five from "A Symphony of Short Stories"

Story Five: THE BLACK SAMSONITE

Samantha sped-walked from the sky bridge to the baggage reclaim area. She hated this part of travelling the most – getting through the immigration and collecting her black Samsonite bag from the carousel. 

As usual, she was among the first to arrive at the baggage carousel. And as usual, she arrived before any of the luggages did. Nervously, she looked at her watch. She was running late. Her plane had been delayed from Manila to Tokyo. That was something she had not planned. She hated being late, especially for an interview with an important celebrity.

Suddenly, the buzzer rang and the carousel began to move. Samantha was watching closely. She wanted to spot her luggage as quickly as possible in order to get out of the airport. Much to her relief, she saw her black samsonite bag emerge from the tunnel and onto the carousel. She was very surprised. Usually, the First and Business Class passengers’ luggages would get priority delivery onto the carousel. The Economy Class passengers would always be the last to receive their baggages. 

Samantha did not want to waste anymore time. She just grabbed hold of her black bag and sprinted towards the “NOTHING TO DECLARE” lane. In less than 15 minutes, she was in the limousine provided by the magazine she worked for. She did not even have the time to be civil to the limo driver. The second she saw her name on the board the driver was holding, she grabbed his arm and said, “Me, Samantha. You, driver. Car, let’s go. Chop! Chop!”

While in the sleek Lexus sedan, Samantha tried to bribe the driver to go faster and break all the speed limits. Unfortunately for her, the driver would have none of it. Shaking his head politely, saying – “No, no, no…cannot.”

Although the driver would not go beyond the speed limit, he did however transport Samantha safely to her interview just in time. This was an impromptu interview set up by the magazine to cover the press release for Ken Watanabe’s upcoming movie, “Memoirs of A Geisha”. Samantha was the closest journalist at that time, being in Manila. She was wrapping up an interview with the famous Filipino fashion designer, Monique Lhuillier. Her magazine did not want to incur additional costs of sending out another journalist to cover the Ken Watanabe’s interview in Tokyo. So, it had to be her.

When Samantha reached the Park Hyatt hotel, there was a long line of media personnel waiting for their turn to interview Mr. Watanabe. She was glad that her turn was not called upon just yet. Within a span of 10 minutes, her interview with the famous star was over. All the manic rush and dash for that precious few moments – such was the life of a journalist.

Now, Samantha could go back to the hotel which the magazine had booked for her, and get some well deserved rest. It had been a long crazy one-month of travelling and non-stop interviews within Asia. She was very grateful to arrive at her hotel in Shinjuku before midnight. That meant a few small restaurants nearby the hotel would still be open for her to grab a bite. Any form of Japanese food would agree with Samantha. She just loved it all – cold, raw, grilled or deep-fried. It was a very good thing that she had extended her stay in Tokyo. That way, she could enjoy a brief break before flying back to Singapore.

When Samantha finally got into her hotel room, she realized that there had been five missed calls on her mobile. It was from a number that she did not recognize. Hence, she did not bother calling back. Instead, she took hold of her bag and placed it on the luggage rack. It was then she noticed that something was different about her bag.

For one, there was a first class tag clasped around the handle of her bag. How could this be? She had travelled on economy, as she has always done. She could never afford a first class ticket even in her dreams. 

Secondly, upon closer inspection the bag seemed slightly larger than how she remembered it to be. It looked exactly the same, but just a little bigger. Surely, the bag could not have grown in size from Manila to Tokyo.

Lastly, her pink flower sticker was missing from the bag.

Samantha proceeded to open her bag by turning at the combination of numbers. Nothing happened. She tried again and again. The bag just did not open, or could not open. She stared at the bag for sometime, wondering if the combination mechanics of the bag had gone cranky.

Then it finally dawned upon her – perhaps this bag was not hers. Had she taken someone else’s bag instead?  

Holy Fuck!

What could she do now? Where could her bag be now?

Suddenly, her mobile rang. Quickly, Samantha answered it.

“Miss Samantha Wee please?” A female voice spoke on the other line.

“Yes, this is Samantha Wee. Whom am I speaking with?” Samantha enquired.

“This is the department of Lost and Found baggage from Narita Airport. You have taken one of the First Class passenger’s bag from the Manila to Tokyo flight. The First Class passenger is very upset that he could not find his bag. Now, he has your bag. So, we have given him your mobile number. If you could please return Mr. Douglas’s bag to him, I am sure he will be very happy to give your bag to you.” The lady on the other line explained in her Japanese-English accent.

THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: "LIFE IS A JOURNEY - A SYMPHONY OF SHORT STORIES".

THE BOOK IS BEING PUBLISHED AS WE SPEAK, BOTH IN HARD COPY AND E-FORMAT. 

HOPE YOU LIKE IT ENOUGH TO BUY THE BOOK WHEN IT IS OUT. I WILL UPDATE AGAIN. 

THANKS :)