The crimson hue illuminated everyone who stood there. Poised for it to turn green. As if signalling a new era. An era which promoted the resumption of their lives.

She turned back.

Not a slow deliberate glance, but a fleeting moment. Hesitation and instinct intertwining symbiotically. It was a look you could miss if you weren’t watching. But he did. He always did. No one knew the angst of waiting for that look better than him. He felt it. Like a single note of a distant piano cutting through the hum of the world. The first note before the orchestra created a symphony.

She was bathed in the muted glow of the evening sun. The world around them was pulsing with activity. Engines revving, horns blowing, clocks ticking, a million lives moving forward without a pause. But in that moment, everything else stilled.

It wasn’t just a look. It was a whisper. A question. A tether. Reaching out across the chasm between them. Did she want to say something or was she wondering if he would? Was she searching for a reason to stop or to never stop?

It was the same way a child turns back to look at their parent before stepping onto the bus for the first time. The way lovers parted for a flight, each hoping the other will call them back. He had turned back before. He always did. But his attempts were always futile. Hesitation wrapped in curiosity. The silent language of chances and unanswered questions.

The moment was fleeting. The light turned green. The world demanded motion. She straightened her gaze and locked into gear. And just like that she disappeared into the river of taillights.

He wanted to wave again. To say something. Anything. But the words sat heavy in his throat. Weighed down by the enormity of the tiny gesture he witnessed.

It stayed with him long after she had gone. It wasn’t a goodbye. It wasn’t even a goodbye disguised as a maybe. It was far more primal. The ache of leaving, mixed with the pull to stay.

It said what they hadn’t:

This mattered. You mattered. Enough to wonder, even for a second, if we should let this moment slip away.

And though the moment had passed, its echo lingered eternally. It wasn’t the kind of thing you could forget. Because it wasn’t just her turn back. It was every turn back. Every time someone hesitated on the cusp of leaving, daring to ask – What if?