Two Kilos

Ages 15-18

Sari's suitcase is two kilos over, and the scale at the airport says so in red.

The clerk does not look up. "You can pay for the extra, or take something out."

Sari looks at the number. She has packed it three times, on the floor of her room, and sat on it to close it.

She kneels on the floor of the terminal, and opens the zip. The clothes are on top, pressed down. Under them is the big book, the hardcover her grandmother gave her, with the cracked spine. It is the heaviest thing.

She takes it out. It is thicker than she remembered.

She stands up with it in her hands, and stands there. Behind her, the line has moved up. A man puts his bag down and waits.

She sets the book on the clerk's counter, by the scale, with the cover facing up.

The clerk lifts the suitcase back onto the belt. The number is green.

Sari zips it, and runs the zip all the way round, and pulls the strap tight. The book stays on the counter. The line is moving.