The photo was blurry. It showed a faded, white lanyard with a student ID card so old the face on it had worn away. Only the eyes remained—two dark, patient dots.
A cold wind blew through her closed window. The overhead light flickered. On her desk, where her coffee mug used to be, lay the lanyard. It was heavy. The ID card read: Khalid Al Mazroui – 2003 – Civil Engineering. store.uaeu
The lanyard on her desk dissolved into a sprinkle of sand and the faint sound of a student laughing—relieved, young, finally free. The photo was blurry