Altha Vance stared at the photo on her phone a little longer than she meant to. It was an old picture — her and her mother standing side by side, both smiling at something just out of frame. It had been taken years ago, back when things felt simpler. She exhaled slowly and locked her phone.
The airport was loud, crowded, and moving fast around her, but she felt strangely disconnected from it all. She had an important meeting to get to. One she couldn’t afford to miss. Still, as she stepped into the queue near the entrance, something pulled her attention away. At first, it was just a sound.
Soft. Almost hidden beneath the noise of people and rolling luggage. A voice. “I don’t have anywhere else to go… please.” Altha frowned slightly and glanced toward a nearby pillar. She couldn’t see clearly from where she stood. But she could hear enough.
And the more she listened, the harder it became to ignore.