A Spark of Faith

Faith was struggling to pull the box-shaped, large pair of suitcases behind her.

Letting out a frustrated breath as she wipes her boiling forehead with the sleeves of her black shirt, she suddenly finds herself cursing her five foot tall frame and her frail arms. If she wasn't fighting weight-lifting with the excuse of not wanting to turn into the Rock, she would've been pulling her lifetime stock of life a bit easier.

Being strictly held prisoners to their seats for eleven hours and fifty one minutes was restless, so the core-hearted Syrian young lady can completely understand why she wanted to scold her suitcases. Her patience to flee this airport was already fading, and now, with the fifty or so judgmental eyes burning holes into her hijab, it was just seconds away from turning nonexistent.

The only merit to this coerced flight, in Faith's opinion, is that her booked seat was far away from the whines of the three-year-old kid, even though it didn't save her ears much from the damage his sobs were doing them. His cries were ear-piercing enough

Faith was struggling to pull the box-shaped, large pair of suitcases behind her.

Letting out a frustrated breath as she wipes her boiling forehead with the sleeves of her black shirt, she suddenly finds herself cursing her five foot tall frame and her frail arms. If she wasn't fighting weight-lifting with the excuse of not wanting to turn into the Rock, she would've been pulling her lifetime stock of life a bit easier.

Being strictly held prisoners to their seats for eleven hours and fifty one minutes was restless, so the core-hearted Syrian young lady can completely understand why she wanted to scold her suitcases. Her patience to flee this airport was already fading, and now, with the fifty or so judgmental eyes burning holes into her hijab, it was just seconds away from turning nonexistent

The only merit to this coerced flight, in Faith's opinion, is that her booked seat was far away from the whines of the three-year-old kid, even though it didn't save her ears much from the damage his sobs were doing them. His cries were ear-piercing enough to resurrect all the dead souls buried six feet underground in the graveyard of New York City.

On the bright side, though, her seat was right next to the window, presenting her the opportunity, for the first time in all her twenty two years, to view the world from another perspective. A perspective that's opened her eyes to the beautiful opportunities their lack of fortune made her miss.

When they run into Faith once again, she groans, forcing her feet to freeze along with the suitcases. She wanted to hold a giant HELP WANTED sign because she did need help, but she instantly threw the idea away because of three reasons.

The first is how most of them kept eyeing her up and down, with their gazes especially lingering on her head, in obvious distaste, and Faith couldn't believe the audacity they had to be so conspicuous about it. They didn't even bother looking away when Faith caught their stares.

The second reason was because of a certain feeling they all shared right now, and Faith didn't even need to possess their bodies to verify its existence. Something they all had in common right at this moment was that they were all stuck with their suitcases and waiting impatiently to get out.

Now the third reason was that some of the passengers, who aborted the plane with her including herself, got extremely lucky with finding their suitcases the minute they landed, while others, like Mrs. Hamilton, who was sitting next to her the entire ride and whose eyes were franticly currently searching for her belongings amongst all the various multi-colored and multi-sized suitcases, weren't on luck's good side.

Mrs. Hamilton, unlike the remaining passengers, was actually really sweet to the young Muslim. Due to her constant conversations with Faith the entire ride, Faith's time flew by quicker than she anticipated. Even though the old lady's currently looking like she's about to pass out, she may have been the only one willing to offer Faith some assistance. Faith, however, didn't even bother asking her, for other than the fact that the lady's old enough to be her grandmother, she seemed like she needed a hand more than Faith did.

"Need some help, Mrs. Hamilton?" Faith asks once she retreats a few steps back to where the old woman's standing.

Swiveling her head towards Faith, a genuine smile etches onto the woman's face at the sight of her companion. At hearing Faith's question, she shakes her head. "No, it's okay. Thank you, sweetheart. You go ahead and find your uncle. I'll just wait for my suitcases to arrive. They must be seconds away from passing me anyways."

"Well, if you need anything, I'm still here." She assures the woman with a soft smile.

Mrs. Hamilton's eyes soften at hearing Faith's kind words. "I will, dear. You be safe and if anyone gives you trouble, you call me right away. I gave you my number." She lays a hand on Faith's right shoulder as she says, "I know how uncomfortable it might feel for you to live in a strange city with limited familiar eyes around, but you must know that I'm one of them, Faith."

Her grandmotherly supportive words warm up Faith's heart, for they unconsciously spread a calming reassurance that Faith will not be alone in here. Drifting her eyes to Mrs. Hamilton, she can't help but retract her arms from the suitcases as she pulls the woman into a long-lasting tight embrace. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, and I'll call you whenever I need you for sure. Goodbye, Mrs. Hamilton."

Unwrapping her arms from the old woman's back, Faith pulls her suitcases with her and starts heading towards the exit just after she hears Mrs. Hamilton's farewell. If marching with her suitcases was a challenging mission for Faith, then she had another thing coming for her. Her new challenge was to dig deep enough into her memory to try and remember what her uncle Rick looks like.

After all, she hasn't seen him in ten years- if not more.

***

Pushing away last night's heart-wrecking train of memories, Faith flashes a reminder to herself that she didn't come here for sightseeing nor did she come here for tourism- no; she wishes she did, though. She wishes they had the fortune to affording such luxury. She, however, came here to escape- well, at least according to her parents.

Absentmindedly, a frown tugs at the corners of her mouth at the thought of them. No, she will not allow herself to wallow, drenched in golden tears with a big bowl of chips in her lap, at what her parents did nor will she throw herself in the same depression-zoned black pit again. She already had plenty of time to do that on the plane.

Well, that and last night.

Looking around at the hundreds of people occupying the wide space of the airport once she passes through the 'passengers depart' sign, a person's name drifts through her mind: Uncle Rick.

Will she recognize him? Will he even recognize her? Being no more than twelve the last time she caught sight of him and now closing on to her twenty three, she doubts her last memory of him will serve her good this time. Ten years surely did a lot to her appearance- and memories. In fact, it just occurred to her that her father dropped a small picture into her hand last minute before she got onto the plane.

She just hopes that the photo her dad gave her, which consisted of both her and her uncle on her eleventh birthday celebration party, will do.

Despite her memories of her uncle being drastically vague, she does remember one thing: her uncle was a giant teddy bear with an undeniably big heart.

Although Faith does admit how it makes her sound stupid, she feels a little bit more nervous now that she's outside without catching glimpse of a paper with the name 'FAITH' scribbled in bold on it. It's absurd to think her uncle would've done that, but it would've definitely toned down her wildly-beating heart a little.

Shaking her head lightly at how her mind works with a baffled smile, she reminds herself that the people who're waiting for her aren't ones who signed up in an exchange family program yet relatives she does in fact know.

Allowing her eyes to slowly and analytically travel all over the faces around her, Faith's heart starts pounding harder. Well that, and heat starts crawling up at her neck. Maybe it was because of the fact that not only was she a little bit worried, if not too much, of whether or not she'll indeed point out her uncle in this claustrophobic people-filled environment she's currently in, but she's also clueless on how she should act once she spots him.

Should she shake hands with him? Does she pull him into a hug? How exactly does one greet a relative they haven't seen in almost ten years?

One thing she certainly hopes for is that their reunion would be far away from awkward.

Suddenly, her eyes came to a halt at an old man, who seems to be in his mid-fifties, with jet black hair that was contrasted by some few grey strands. His eyes, which were identical to her father's, were cerulean, and his jawline was disturbed by a short growing beard. Other than the fact that the man looked older than the picture clasped in her right hand, the only difference was that he wore glasses. Taking in a deep breath, Faith starts inching closer to where the old man's standing, silently praying God to save her from having a mortifying lack of judgement.

The man, who was at first not aware of Faith's slow strides towards him, took notice of the short young lady's approach. Even though Faith was failing to get her heart's throbbing under control as his emotionless oceanic eyes stared back into her anxious blue ones, she offered him a lips-sealed smile, and just as she was about to pull her hand out in front of her to greet the man she assumed was her uncle, a hand rests on her right shoulder from behind her, causing her to stop right in her track.

"Faith?"

Turning around to assess the person who called out her name, her cheeks become tainted with a faint blush as she analyses the features of the person standing in front of her who is with no doubt her uncle.

'Well, this is embarrassing.'

"Uncle Rick?" Faith blurts out, waiting for confirmation.

A cheek-aching smile etches onto the man's face, making him look way younger than he truly is. "Hey, darling. Not too old to give your old man a hug, are you?"

That's definitely her uncle.

Before Faith even got the chance to reply, she's snatched into a breath-cutting hug. Not too long after she awkwardly wrapped her arms around her uncle's back, he removes an arm whilst keeping the other wrapped around her shoulders. "You've grown so much, but you're still as beautiful as ever. It's been that long, yeah?"

With a sad, shy smile, Faith replies with a small nod. "Yeah."

"I hope you enjoy your time here at my house. Other than Liam and Lucas, I hope you don't see me as a grumpy fifty five year-old man."

'It's really been that long. I can't believe I almost forgot their names.'

Faith lets out an amused chuckle at her uncle's words as she offers him a playful smile. "Don't worry, Uncle Rick. You look like you're aging backwards."

As she follows her uncle through the crowded terminal, her eyes fall on a man slouched at the sleek bar in the corner of the arrivals hall. His tie hung loose, his Tom Ford jacket tossed carelessly over the back of a chair, one hand gripping a glass of whiskey like it was his lifeline.

Two women lean in close, laughing too loudly at nothing, their manicured hands trailing over his visible skin under his unbuttoned top. Faith's stomach twists at the vulgarity of it all. Back home, things like this were whispered about, hidden behind closed doors. Here, it was flaunted out in the open.

She scolds herself — a hypocrite, isn't she? She'd just hated the judgmental stares a few seconds ago. She shouldn't be doing the same to a stranger.

As if sensing her stare, the man's head lifts. His eyes find hers across the terminal — sharp, dark and twisted like the night, and suddenly filled with something startling: hatred. It was irrational, like they'd been enemies for years even though this was the first time she'd ever seen him.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, the hatred faded, replaced by a slow, deliberate smirk that made her skin prickle.

Sin wrapped in beautiful temptation.

Faith gulps and tears her gaze away, drowning in conversation back with her uncle — unaware she'd be seeing him again soon.