The Traveling Girl

The Boy

As I hear the continuous clicking of seat belts, I quickly lift my head from the odd position it's in. I look around at the sight of a cramped airplane. My vision is still blurry from waking up, causing me to blink numerous time. The noise has calmed down since I was last awake. Thank god the baby must have fallen asleep.
"Come on, put the belt on," Karlee orders, reaching across and yanking it into my stomach.
"Hey! I got it, I got it," I answer, clicking it on. I craned my neck and stare out the tiny glass window. The clouds are thick, but the city below is still vividly visible. The sky looks like marble, blue and white colliding. The sun will be setting soon, which will change the marble contrast into a new art piece. As I examine the beautiful sky, Karlee leans over to look out the window. 

"Wow, it's so, weird," Karlee says, squinting.

Yep, she's a true poet. "What time is Ruby's flight getting in?" She leans back and turns to face me.

"Uh, only ten minutes after ours, I think," I reply, scrunching my face into a weird expression. She slowly nods and turns away, it does feel weird, just being the two of us. Jade will be back soon however. Once she has her ridiculous fill of K-Pop, and shopping, we'll see her soon. 

As I predicted the sun began to set, the blue and white marble was now exploding with shades of sheer pink and creamy orange. The sun quickly creeps behind the surface and the sky starts to darken. 

Suddenly my artistic thoughts are interrupted by Karlee stressed voice. 

"Hey, come on we've landed," then she turns and stands up.

I quickly do the same, grabbing my overly large purse, and follow her off the plane. The group moved slowly, reminding me of my high school days, in the hallways.  As we finally exited the hall, Karlee ran over to the luggage, I followed close to her heels. 

Suddenly I hear a heart shattering sound. The cries of a small boy. He sat with his legs to his stomach, his face tomato red with tears streaming down. No one noticed him, or they ignored him. People reached over him to pick up their massive suitcases. I couldn't stand it, I turned and walked over to him. I pushed my way through groups of adults, leaning down to the small child.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, trying to be friendly and trusting.

He just sniffled and looked his big brown eyes up at me. His lips trembled and he looked more terrified than I'd ever seen a small child look. 

"I'm here to help you, tell me what's wrong?"

He opened his mouth but no words came out, I smiled and he sniffled again.

"Where are your mom and dad?" I whispered,

"Non parlo inglese," he spoke, I sighed.

"You speak Italian?" I asked, looking down.

He must have understood the word Italian, because he nodded his small head yes. 

I scooped him up, out of the way, and carried him to a bench. 

He spoke to me, explaining what had happened, or at least I think that's what he was doing. He spoke only Italian. He also told me his name, Anthony,or I think it was his name. Finally I smiled and I pointed to the security guard, then he and I walked over to the security guard. The boy's tears had dried and he took my hand as we walked to the security guard.

"Uh, hello, I speak English," I started to say to the security guard.

"Ok," she replied,

"I found this young man and he doesn't speak English, but he was crying and I believe he's lost. I also think his name is Anthony," I answered, looking down at his dark brown head.

She nodded, then knelt down to face him and started talking to him in Italian. After a few minutes she stood up and turned to me.

"His name is Anthony, he is seven years old and he got separated from his parents, we think we know who the parents are, a couple reported a lost child half an hour ago. Can you follow me please?" She asked, then Anthony and I followed her.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder,

"What are you doing?" Karless yelled, she was pulling both our suitcases, and looked stressed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, i found this little boy and I wanted to get him back to his family. I forgot about my suitcase." I replied.

Suddenly both our heads turned to a man and woman running to the boy, and Anthony let go of my hand and ran to them. They hugged him tightly and their tears rolled onto his brown hair. They looked at the security guard as she explained what had happened. Anthony's mother walked over to me, and before I knew it she was hugging me.

"Thank you," she whispered, her accent making it hard to understand. Then she looked at me and smiled, I replied:

"You're welcome, I'm sorry this had to happen to you,"

Anthony walked up to me and tried to thank me in English as well, but he couldn't speak the language. I smiled and hugged him goodbye.

As Karlee and I turned around we saw two people staring at us from a gate. They looked utterly confused and slightly smiled.

Ruby and Tony.