He saw her across the gate, three rows over, reading a paperback with eyes wide, ponytail in place, and imagined her next to him, picking at the leftovers of a fight from last week, always hauling up their baggage just before they travel.

Ponytails always look better from a distance.

Robert Hoekman Jr is a writer and the cohost of Spillers, downtown Phoenix’s premier short fiction storytelling event. Learn more about him at rhjr.net.