Return to Alexis

She was already flustered, traffic had been heavier than usual and her taxi had dropped her off at the airport door in just enough time for her to make it to the gate before boarding. The air outside was frigid, biting against her cheeks as she stepped out of the taxi, pulling up the handle of her carry-on suitcase.

After a short wait in the line, it was her turn to step up to the machines at the security checkpoint. "Good morning. Please remove all electronics and place them into a bin, and place your shoes into a separate bin." This was the easy part, especially with only a carry-on. Noticing she was still wearing her large puffy coat, she removed that and placed it into another of the small bins, watching it as the conveyor belt took it through to be scanned.

A tall man was waiting for his bag and shoes to appear on the opposite side of the conveyor and smiled as she approached to do the same. "I like your shirt," he commented. She looked down, not remembering which random tee she had thrown on in haste this morning, but smiled as she saw it was the one with the pink and blue striped butterfly. "Thanks, I do too." The man waved as he went towards the gates, and she quickly grabbed her things, once again rushing towards her flight. She was delighted to see that boarding had just begun and that the first passengers were lining up to scan their passports.

She decided to buy a bottle of water from the small convenience store next to the gate while waiting for the first passengers to finish boarding. Approaching the counter she reached for her debit card and placed her water bottle on the counter, unknowingly dropping her passport to the ground.

Luckily young Jaxon, who had just turned five and was extremely excited to inform everyone of that fact, was next in line with his mother and noticed it fall from her bag. As a five-year-old would do, he picked it up. "Let's go, Jaxon" his mother calls. He holds on to his found object and grabs his mother's hand, happily jumping from tile to tile along the airport floor.

"Honey, why did you take out your passport? We can't lose them, they are very important. Let's put it back into the bag, okay?" his mom reached for the book and her eyes widened. "Where did you find this?" she inquired, already looking around the room for the face in the photo.

"The lady at the store dropped it" little Jaxon replies. Assuming her son is confused, his mother sees a boarding ticket tucked behind the last page, and realizes they will be on the same flight as the passport holder. Hoping they are here, she calls out "Brian? Is anyone here named Brian?"

No one replies, so she begins to walk towards the attendant's desk to turn it in when Jaxon grabs her hand and says "There, mommy! I see her! Come on!" He pulls her a few rows over to a woman who is sitting facing the window, with headphones over her ears. Jaxon breaks away from his mother and runs directly up to the woman, tapping her on the shoulder. She removes her headphones and turns around. "I'm so sorry, ma'am. My son found a passport and he thinks it is yours."

"Oh, well that can't be mine because mine is right here!" she reaches into her bag and stops, opening each compartment before realizing her passport was in fact, missing. "I guess not, I must have dropped it in the store!". She reached her hand out for it but the boy's mother was hesitant. "Brian?" she asked, squinting at the photo. The confusion in her eyes was clear.

The woman sighed, "Used to be. My name is Alexis."

Jaxon's mother nodded, and handed over the passport, smiling.

Alexis thanked the both of them and replaced her headphones, tucking her found item away with a sigh. Hearing the name of a person long gone was always enough to bend a spirit.

Meanwhile, Jaxon had a question for his mother on the short walk back to their seats. "How come that lady had someone else's name in her book?" His mother smiled. "That was her old name, but that isn't who she is anymore. Sometimes it takes a little while for the name to change in the book." Jaxon seemed to think about this, but contently goes back to working on his coloring page.

After a while, the plane began boarding and everyone shuffled around, grabbing their carry-ons. Alexis stood in line and waited to have her boarding pass scanned when she felt a tug on her jacket.

For the second time today, little Jaxon had approached her. This time, however, he held a small paper in a tiny outstretched hand. "For your passport, so you don't lose it again. Bye!" He ran off then joining his mother, who ruffled his hair on his return.

Alexis chuckled at his youthfulness and energy but had no time to look at the paper since she was next in line. She placed it inside of her passport book and handed the ticket over to the security guard. He scanned it and asked for her passport to verify her identity, asking for her birthday as well. She was used to this, as it is the standard process when flying overseas.

"Alright, you are good to go!" the security guard says, handing back her documents. "Have a wonderful flight, Alexis"

She thanked him and began walking down the hall towards the plane's main entry door when she realized that he had spoken her real name.

Confused, she opens her passport to a small piece of white paper, featuring a crayon drawing of a stick figure woman smiling with headphones on her ears. Above the drawing, a small hand had written: "This book belongs to Alexis. Always return to Alexis."