Here is something I wrote whilst recovering from recent surgery. I hope you like it!
Greg twisted his solid six foot frame in his airline seat, putting his feet in the aisle to allow the grey haired lady, to whom he'd given his allocated window seat, to take her fourth trip to the restroom in three hours. Each time, she had managed to trample on his feet and smack him in the face with her handbag. He was thankful that Nandi Airport was only another hour away, as he wasn't sure how many more times he could deal with her clumsy exploits before snapping into a fit of anger. He had happily taken the aisle seat when she had asked as the aisle seat usually offered more room and freedom.
The plan had been to catch some shut-eye on the flight; instead, he had been constantly disturbed by the old lady and the thunderous snoring of the man sitting in the seat in front of him. It seemed that whenever there was a lull in his snorting pig like sound, allowing Greg to doze off, the grey haired lady suffered from loss of bladder control and made a beeline for the toilet. This wasn't how he imagined the whole holiday escapade thing would be had when he typed in his credit card number on the airline web site. He dearly hoped these annoyances were not a sign of things to come. For Greg this Fijian holiday was more than escape from a busy a life, but an opportunity to heal his body and life.
As the plane winged its way closer to its destination in Fiji, Greg felt the weight of the world lift a little from his shoulders. He was glad to be free of the grind and long hours of the restaurant he managed in Melbourne. A pang of anticipation stirred within him. He was hopeful the holiday would be full of more than just catching some rays on the beach.
Waiting for the grey granny to return to her seat, thoughts of the last two years of his life filled his mind. The emotional turmoil he experienced about his looming marriage to the girl next door. The visits to the psychiatrist as he tried to reconcile the whole mess and the subsequent overdose of prescribed drugs which caused him to collapse. He had awoken in the hospital the next day, his voice husky from the tube inserted to pump his stomach; his life collapsing in a storm of acrimony and shame, as his parents had declared his engagement over.
His best friend Dave offered a room in his home and so Greg had moved to live in Mornington, a jewel on the Victorian coast, about eighty kilometres away from his parent's Melbourne home.
Taking some time off work, Greg had gone on a camping tour to central Australia to try and re-build his broken life. It proved to be a great escape from the cancellation of his wedding and turmoil of home. He enjoyed visiting Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and the Flinders Ranges. He met an attractive young Englishwoman on tour and a brief tryst ensued, but the demons of the broken engagement raised their ugly head and in an unusual display of assertiveness, Greg had told her to return home to England. He experienced wild feelings of anguish and depression, her tear ridden departure causing Greg to be racked by guilt.
The collapse of his life was complete when the job at the travel company came to end, agreeing with his boss that he should move on. He felt so desolate that he had wondered whether he would ever be able to pick up the pieces.
