Paul Hartal

I arrived at the airport under dark
Overcast skies. I had a night flight to catch
From Amsterdam to Budapest.

And as I waited
Through the small hours,
The Schiphol Airport
Became quite deserted.

I felt lonely and sad.
My wife just died
And I was depressed.

I waited for my plane
In an almost empty waiting room
When suddenly, to my great surprise,
A pretty young woman seated herself
Next to my chair.

I found this rather strange
Because all the benches around us
Were unoccupied and I wondered
Why she chose to sit nearby.

She was silent but I started to talk to her.
After a while I told her my story
And she began to comfort me
With warm and compassionate words.

At some point I gathered courage
And asked her why she sat next to me.
She looked at me with a gentle smile and said:
'I don't know'.

Yet I felt a mysterious presence
And in her eyes I saw glowing diamond rays
Of solace, tenderness and love.

She stayed there for about 20 or 25 minutes.
Then she rose, gave me a hug, kissed my face
And walked away to board a plane.