From the evening’s last plane: a harried mother, two incorrigible toddlers. Once they behave, mom fumbles for passports—the other passengers grumbling, furious to delay their reunions, showers, sleep.

The passports aren’t there. All three start crying.

It’s ok, the agent lies. They are escorted away. The line moves swiftly.

Lucas Hubbard is a North Carolina-based writer whose work has appeared in Microfiction Monday Magazine, Defector, INDY Week, Paste, and other outlets.