On My 18th Birthday, My Parents Drove Me to the Ai…

I did not know there was a truth. For a moment, all I knew was that someone had come to meet me. Someone had written my name carefully on a sign.

Someone had been waiting. The woman’s eyes filled, though no tears fell. “My name is Rosalie Bennett,” she said.

“I know this is too much. I know you must be frightened. But you are safe now, Adella.

I promise you that much.”

Safe. The word nearly knocked me down. I looked behind her as if my parents might appear, as if this might be another layer of some elaborate cruelty.

But there was only the small airport, the humming vending machine, the distant carousel turning with other people’s bags. “Who are you?” I asked. She did not seem offended.