Leslie was nursing a pounding headache when she boarded her cross-country flight. The previous night’s partying had left her exhausted, but she pushed through her duties—until an unexpected sound stopped her in her tracks.
A soft whimpering came from the airplane lavatory. When she opened the door, she found a small boy curled up on the floor, clutching a paper bag. His name was Ben, and he wasn’t on the passenger list.
Through tears, Ben confessed he had followed a woman he thought was his mother onto the plane. In his bag was his grandmother’s medicine—medicine he had taken, hoping to be the hero who saved her. Instead, he was lost, terrified, and convinced his mistake would cost his grandmother her life.
Leslie, a single mother herself, felt an unexpected connection to the boy. When the airline assigned her to watch over him until arrangements could be made, she initially resented the responsibility. But a phone call changed everything—her own son, Joe, was sick, and the doctors didn’t know why.
In a twist of fate, Leslie realized she and Ben were both desperate to save someone they loved. She booked him a flight to Seattle, determined to reunite him with his family. And when she finally made it home to Joe, she was met with another surprise—Ben’s family had raised money for her son’s treatment, a gift born from their own grief after Ben’s grandmother passed away.
Months later, as Leslie watched Joe playing happily in the yard, she whispered, “All because of one lost little boy.”
