It takes me a while to settle Kita to bed now. I have wait for him to drink outside, to do his business, then to realise that he cannot return upstairs and must sleep down In his bed. Often, he needs a second bathroom trip after imbibing so much pool water on the first outing. 

So I sit downstairs and wait. 

The last few flights have roared overhead for the night. Off to Taiwan, to Kuala Lumpur or carrying freight somewhere unknown. 

I imagine transiting through some terminal at night. Although it operates 24:hours a day most of the flights have finished and the crowds are gone. The shops too are shutting down for the night, leaving only one outlet open, a restaurant with a bar. Soft music plays as I sit down and order a meal. I take my time and relax. 

My next flight isn’t until mid morning. There’s no point in me leaving the terminal. Nothing opens outside until ten and I’d just be wasting time travelling back and forth. 

Instead I’ve booked a room in the transit hotel within the terminal. It’s a small room, but clean and functional. I shower, wash the sweat and grime that accumulates simply from sitting for hours on a flight, then fall asleep to ambient music and the faint sounds of jet engines.