The baby’s cries echoed through the cabin, piercing through the monotony of the humming engines and prompting a chorus of sighs, rolled eyes, and whispered complaints from the passengers. Each cry was like a wave crashing over Maya, who clutched her five-month-old son tightly against her chest. Her mind raced with desperation as she tried everything she could think of to soothe him—rocking, humming, pacing up and down the narrow aisle—but nothing seemed to work.
It was their first flight together, a trip Maya had to make alone with her baby boy after the sudden loss of her husband. The journey was daunting enough without this added stress, and she felt the weight of every disapproving stare like a physical burden. As she juggled her son’s cries with her own emotions, she couldn’t help but feel the isolation creeping in.
