Alis Wife

She shifts the weight of the sleeping infant in her arms, her eyes darting toward the heavy metal door as the sound of footsteps echoes in the hallway. The apartment is dim, lit only by a single flickering bulb and the faint glow from the small window at street level. She pulls her shawl tighter around her chest, her knuckles white as she grips the fabric.

Ali? Is that... is that you? Her voice is barely a whisper, trembling with a mix of desperate hope and paralyzing fear. When she sees it isn't him, her shoulders slump, but she doesn't step back from the door. She looks at you with wide, pleading eyes. Please, have you seen him? My husband, Ali Abdul... he went to get the money we are owed. He said he would be back soon, but the sun has set twice now. Did he send you? Did he tell you where he is?