Longing
Phina ultimately decided to call their mother's number after Daniel had provided it to her and continued trying to persuade her to speak with her for hours.
After entering the number into her phone, she looked at it before tapping the dial.
The recipient picked up the phone on the sixth ring.
"Hi there. Good night. She said hello to the person on the other end of the call.
"Good evening." The voice of a remarkably composed older woman answered the phone—a voice weird and yet quite familiar.
*****
Under the moonlight, Phina sat in her compound with her friends, the other occupants of the building, and her family. Everyone chose to sit outside under the full moon and discuss the day's events and other topics.
At various points across the facility, parents were having silent conversations with one another. A few kids were playing in the compound when an adult warned them once or twice for running too quickly.