Episode 8:Something Familiar
343 Words
Mathis stood still, eyes lingering on the woman who had just stumbled into him. Her scent—faintly of rain and paper—still lingered in the air.
She had muttered, "Sorry," then pulled away the moment her friend called her name.
Leyla.
He didn’t know her name until now. But something about her face, her presence, tugged at a corner of memory he hadn’t opened in years.
— “You alright?”
Eliot’s voice broke the silence beside him. The man had a helmet tucked under one arm and a curious glance in his eyes.
— “You spaced out.”
Mathis blinked, then nodded once.
— “Just… thought I saw someone I knew. From years ago.”
Eliot tilted his head, scanning the small group of volunteers now walking away.
— “Old flame?”
He smirked.
Mathis shook his head, a faint huff of amusement escaping.
— “Not even. I don’t think we ever spoke. Just… familiar, somehow.”
Eliot chuckled.
— “That’s rare. You remember people?”
Mathis didn’t answer right away. He watched as the woman—Leyla—joined her group, her shoulders stiff, steps fast. Like someone trying to outrun something invisible.
Something about that struck him. Not just her face, but the way she moved. The quiet presence. It reminded him of his school days, of a time when things were simpler, before the barracks and deployments and sirens.
Maybe she had passed him in the hallway once.
Maybe she was one of the students who stood in line at those farewell ceremonies, waving tiny flags and singing goodbye.
He didn’t know. But it felt like he should.
— “Come on,” Eliot said, nudging him. “Briefing’s over. Let’s move.”
Mathis nodded again and followed. But as he walked, he kept glancing back—just once, maybe twice—toward where she’d disappeared behind the low school building.
Something familiar.
Something unnamed.
And for the first time in years, Mathis felt the quiet stir of something he couldn’t explain.
- Writer
