The Thing About Jellyfish

The shuttle takes Suzy to the airport. She says goodbye to the houses, the “small roads,” her town of South Grove. She reviews the contents of her carry-on (toothbrush and toothpaste, clean socks and underwear, a notebook containing Australian phrases) and waits in line at the check-in desk. She thinks how the university is named for Captain James Cook, one of the explorers she and Franny studied long ago. She nears the desk.

The woman at the desk notices almost immediately that Suzy is not old enough to take an international flight alone and that she has not applied for a travel visa. Suzy thinks encouraging thoughts and in her misunderstanding, she hands the woman the pink index card upon which she has written her father’s Visa card information. When the woman tells her that she is not allowed to fly alone, Suzy tries to cite what she learned from researching Bridget Brown’s trip and explain that children 12 and older can fly alone; the woman corrects her: “Not international travel” (292). Dazed, Suzy tries to regain control of her failed plan, but she begins to cry. The woman gives her a place to sit on the floor.

Suzy continues to sit on the floor near the ticket counter, listening to announcements and noticing passengers. She realizes that Franny is gone forever. After sleeping a while, Suzy awakens to find her mother and Aaron and Rocco, who are relieved but confused. Suzy tells them that she “thought I could prove what really happened” (300), and she tells them about her jellyfish research, Jamie, her trip plans, and the reason behind everything she has done. They sit in silence until Suzy’s mother says she figures a riptide was the cause of Franny’s drowning. Rocco brings cocoa, and the image on the cup soothes Suzy. She confesses that she stole money. A nearby TV broadcasts the news of Diana Nyad’s successful swim from Cuba to Florida, and Suzy gets up to watch as Nyad takes stumbling steps up onto the shoreline. Suzy leaves the airport; as she steps into the fresh air and light outside the airport, she feels like she is breaking the surface after a long time underwater.