Uniformed Uninformed Egos

She squirmed a little as the cage moved. The driver hailed a luggage handler, one of the many people who were employed to move the luggage of the people in Western clothing, those were the ones with the money. The smokers kept watching, silence, leers gleaming in their eyes. Children walked up, attracted by the yelps, peering inside the cage obnoxiously, loudly pointing and talking to one another. The dog became more agitated. She was just a baby, she was only three months old. Her yelping intensified, as the darkness became deeper before the sun was to come up. Blanketing, enveloping, almost comforting, almost, but not quite yet. The stars were starting to yawn into the blankness of night, and were twinkling out. It was becoming darker, right before dawn set in. The man put his hand on the cage again, not wanting to take her out, because the boys were starting to peer. She licked his hand excessively. Her tongue was dry and rough. She was stressed. She kept licking the metal latch long after he had removed his hand from it. His heart was breaking, he was so worried about the long flight. She was just three months old. He had pampered her since he had had her, two months ago, and now she was going to be away from him for twenty two hours straight. He shuddered, and it was not because of the cold night. He glared at the children, more angrily at the men, everyone was waila. Absolutely nothing to do in life but poke and peek at other people’s lives. It wasn’t only brown women, it was also the men here. She whimpered a little. He put his hand back on the metal latticed door on the cage, but for a shorter while. It broke his heart to take it away, but she had to get used to it. She would be alone for a long time. “I’m sorry meree jaan, but you’re going to have such a great life there.” He would be happy soon as he had left the airport. He was concerned about her on the way, but after he left this airport, at least everything would go according to procedure. Here, they could do anything, would do anything to prove that they were in power, as was always the case with small men with big egos. They could turn down the dog, even though the paperwork was complete, they could just take her home after he had signed her in, no he didn’t even want to think about that. The vein on his forehead throbbed. His head hurt. The dog whimpered. People stared. It was two in the morning. A sombre silent had blanketed the airport. He made his way, along with the man moving the trolley to the gate. A guard with a thick mustache and an even thicker belly stood there. And next to him a man with a white beard and a slim body. Both uniformed. Checking passports and travel tickets before they let anyone through the glass doors.