flat on my face

Eventually our disgruntled group stranded in O'Hare's airport lounge accepted its fate and we prepared ourselves for the long night ahead.  I found a bar and paid a king’s ransom for a beer in a paper cup, a sandwich and a large iced donut.  An official took pity on us and raided a plane parked outside for the night, kindly distributing blankets and pillows amongst us.  I struggled to get comfortable curled up on hard seats with inconvenient arms.  In the hollow silence of the almost deserted airport some clown started playing a wailing trumpet, echoing the mood of our small marooned group as we prepared for a long sleepless night.  Sleepless in Chicago.  A few cheery souls began singing.  Outside the rain kept pelting down streaking against the glass walls of the airport.  As I tried to get some sleep, I imagined I was Columbus bravely sailing across a vast ocean to a New World, full of anticipation.  Certainly we had crossed different oceans in different t