“Boring.” 

That was the only word that Elsie could think of to describe her life at the moment. “Then again,” she thought, “how many people think baggage claim is an exciting experience.” Elsie was standing at a small desk in the back corner of the crowded hall of Dulles International Airport, with her mother and brother, the former currently handing over the ticket to claim that the crate containing one, overly-excited st. Bernard was yes, indeed, their problem. 

Max had pulled out a small journal and was writing furiously, and Elsie had decided to do what she did best when bored, a sketchpad in her hands, she was drawing a sketch of the baggage claim and its many occupants. For a moment she felt the boredom slowly dissipate as she settled into the familiar feeling of a pencil in her hand. 

“Attention! All passengers!” The sudden announcement sent a shock through her, pencil jerking from its original course leaving an ugly grey mark through the serene image. 

“Well great” Elsie grumbled, tearing the drawing from the pad and folding it away from view.  

The announcement continued itself, the authoritative voice was clearly unfazed at the egregious mistake it had just caused Elsie to make. “Baggage from flight 417 is now at carousel 3! All passengers for flight 417, your baggage is now at carousel 3” 

“Kids, would you go and grab our luggage please?” Lilliana asked, her hands full of Albert’s leash. 

“Sure thing mom,” Elsie said, shoving the sketchpad and ruined drawing into her back pocket, before unceremoniously grabbing the still preoccupied Max and dragging him towards the throng of people beginning to queue at carousel three. After 10 minutes of waiting, their bags still hadn't revealed themselves, and the siblings had split off, taking a lap around before meeting up again. 

“Any luck?” Elsie Inquired.

“Nothing yet,” Max grunted. “Hey, where's mom? Is she still tiring to control Albert?” Elsie looked over her shoulder, back to where her mother was. Lilliana Ravenwood had successfully reigned in the dog and was sitting on a bench preoccupied with a phone call.

“She’s there, but she's on a call.”

Max nodded his head as he looked back towards his mother, understanding all too well the pressures of her job. His eyes shifted down to a folded piece of paper protruding out of his sister's back pocket. “What’s this?” He asked, tearing Elsie away from watching for bags. 

“Oh, this?” She asked, pulling the sketch out of her pocket. “It’s nothing, just a small sketch I was doing, but it ended up getting ruined.” Max grabbed the drawing from her hands, unfolding the paper revealing the product of his sister's craft.

“El, this is really good!” Max commented, causing Elsie to blush. 

“Not really, I got scared when that announcement came over the speakers.”

“Regardless El, this is quality stuff.” A gleam took over max’s eye. “Hey, I know you don’t like to, you know…”

“Socialize? Neither do you.”

“Point taken, but if this truly is the last time we move, why don’t you join a club when school starts back up or something?”

“What do you mean?” 

Max gave a grunt. “Honestly El, sometimes you can’t put two and two together.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. You. Can. Draw. El! And you're pretty good at it! What I mean is you should use this talent and join a club or something. Meet people like you, have a normal life like a normal teenager.”

Max let go, letting the words sink in. “You really think I could have a normal life?” 

“I don't think I know El.” He gave an encouraging smile. “Now, come on, it's time that we both start anew, boldly charge into the unknown!” Max punctuated his sentence with a flourish. “Oh look, our bags came out!” he said, dropping his arms and making his way closer to the carousel with Elsie following.

“You know what Maxie? You are absolutely right.” She said, helping her brother pull their suitcases from the pile. “I think it's about time that I get out there again, start living my life!” 

“Good, for you El!” Max gave her a small pat on the back before a look of discomfort took control of his features. “Hey El? Do you mind taking the bags back to mom? I gotta use the bathroom.”

“Oh, yeah, sure Maxie, no worries,” Elsie said, too distracted by her plans for her new start.

“Thank’s El,” Max said before ducking away. Leaving Elsie to continue on her own.

As she started to make her way back to where their mother sat, Elsie’s feeling of boredom replaced with one of hope. “Starting today, I live the life of a normal teenager!” 

It was at this moment that a small silver sphere decided to smack into Elsie's head, sending her flying to the ground. 

“What the hell?!?!?” She screamed as she began swatting wildly at the tiny object that had begun ramming into her repeatedly. She was so preoccupied with the thing, she didn’t notice the gathering crowd, specifically the two boys that were pushing their way to the front. After a few more seconds of struggling, Elsie had finally had enough.

“Alright, STOP!!!!!!!” she yelled. Suddenly the small object froze in midair, before clattering down next to her onto the tile of the baggage claim. Elsie brushed the hair from her eyes, finally taking in the crowd that had gathered. For a moment the crowd and Elsie were silent, both parties trying to comprehend exactly what had just happened. 

“Move! Move out of the way please!” a commanding voice called through the crowd. At this, people began to disperse, losing interest. Elsie leaned over, picking up the now motionless sphere and inspecting it for a moment, before looking back up, staring directly at the face that had called through the crowd.  

A young man stared back at her. She could tell by the young features of his face that he couldn’t be any older than him, yet the rest of his face told a different story. The lines on his face and the piercing sadness of his green eyes showed more pain than Elsie had ever seen. “I can’t believe it,” the boy said, a slight quiver in his voice as he lowered himself to one knee, those sad, green eyes going wide in awe at the girl in front of him. “After all this time, it’s really you.”