The Getaway Bag

Why was he carrying two bags? He shouldn’t have been, no one carried two bags.

Unless one was a bomb.

The other was his getaway bag; a few clothes, a flashlight, some peanuts. That’s what everyone took in their getaway bag.

You follow him onto the train, eyeing his every move in case he intended on leaving the bag behind. You plan your steps, intending to swoop in, catch him before he leaves.

He’d die too at least.

You’d die.

No one would know of your last heroic deed but that’s okay, you’d know. When you were dead.

You sit in the seat behind him.

He’s fidgeting, a lot, more than any normal person would. More than anyone without a bomb would.

He pulls the bag onto the seat and you lean forward as he takes a look inside.

It’s clothes.

Your heart is beating. Is this really going to happen? You’re prepared to jump.

He takes out his phone.

This is it.

“Hi honey, how’s the labour going? That baby better not come out before I get there.”

He doesn’t have a bomb. Just a baby.

You lean back with relief.

You’re life wasn’t about to explode.

His was.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

To be honest, I had mixed feelings about the beginning, when I started realizing this was some kind of "bomb" scenario . . . the opening felt a little predictable, as far as these scenes might go . . . but it also made me wonder if people really are going around expecting a bomb in anyone's extra bag. Here in the USA, it's more of a mass shooting fear that we go around with, since we have them every week. So I started out thinking this might be another tired statement about this ongoing "new normal" in our world . . . but then you turn a delightful corner to contrast reality to the rampant fears & this makes all the difference, this makes your poem fresh & unexpected. The ending is very interesting, too, becuz of your last 2 lines . . . as if a baby is an explosion of one's life . . . that's so clever & true! That's when I started re-thinking your poem & the meaning of it opened up for me. I saw this as a poem about how, if we go around letting our fears lead us, we could be blasted out of this constricted mindset by the explosion of something new happening in our lives (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Archia]

Luckily in Australia mass shootings and bombs aren't very common, and I guess I wanted to show that we don't need to be afraid of every potentially suspicious thing. And that the unexpected can actually be something wonderful and happy. Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate all your kind words

[barleygirl]

I also love the way you explain it! Thanks for taking the time!