The Flight Lily Never Took
Chapter 18 - The Flight Lily Never Took
One year after Ethan walked into the terminal carrying a battered duffel bag, the family gathered at Gate 17.
Marisol.
Sofia.
Rachel.
Thomas.
And Ethan.
In his hand was Lily's old unused ticket.
Not valid anymore.
Just symbolic.
Ethan had chosen a destination Lily once wrote about visiting.
The Oregon coast.
She had dreamed of seeing the Pacific.
She never did.
Ethan used her saved money for his ticket.
Thomas bought his own.
Marisol surprised everyone by buying two more for herself and Sofia.
Rachel joined at the last minute.
“Someone needs to stop you people from becoming unbearably sentimental.”
The gate agent called boarding.
Ethan suddenly stopped.
For a moment, he saw everything at once.
His mother, twenty years earlier.
Pregnant.
Frightened.
Standing at another airport gate with a ticket home.
Turning around because a lie convinced her there was nothing waiting for her.
Thomas noticed Ethan had stopped.
“You okay?”
Ethan looked at the boarding bridge.
Then at his family.
“Yeah.”
He smiled.
“I just needed a second.”
Marisol slipped her arm through his.
“Don't take too long. Your mother already lost enough time.”
Together, they boarded.
On the Oregon coast two days later, Ethan scattered a small portion of Lily's ashes into the wind.
Thomas stood several feet away.
Ethan held the urn.
“You can come closer.”
Thomas approached.
For a while, they watched the waves.
“She loved you,” Ethan said.
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I loved her.”
“I know.”
That was enough.
Behind them, Marisol placed the old photograph of herself and Lily inside a small wooden frame.
She left it facing the ocean.
Then Ethan noticed something written faintly on the back.
Words none of them had seen before.
Marisol read them aloud.
Someday, Mari, we'll find our way home.
Marisol began crying.
May you like
Ethan took her hand.
“Maybe she did.”
