Unfortunately, when she came to the point where she needed to use it, no one else noticed. Or perhaps they didn’t want to notice. Carole closed her eyes, thinking back on it. The memory was a shadow, always lurking, a reminder of her vow made in the solitude of her own heart. She had promised herself that if she ever saw those silent pleas again, she would act differently; she would be the help she never received.
Now, standing in the aisle of the plane, that promise echoed loudly in her mind. The boy’s gestures, so like her own from years ago, reignited a determination within Carole. This time, she wouldn’t just watch. This time, she would do everything within her power to understand and help. Because she knew all too well the despair of being unseen, of signals lost in the noise of the world around her. And she refused to let history repeat itself on her watch.