Albany Airport appears through Charlie McGee’s memories rather than as the setting of the scenes in which it is recalled. Its significance lies in the images attached to it: a man fleeing with his shoes on fire and a much younger Charlie moving from one phone booth to another, using her mind to make coins spill from their return slots.

The Airport in Charlie’s Memories

A technician’s frightened cry during a later test abruptly brings Charlie back to Albany Airport. The cry recalls Eddie Delgardo running toward the ladies’ bathroom with his army-issue shoes in flames. In the present scene, the remembered sound connects the airport’s fire to Charlie’s own power, which she realizes has grown much stronger.

A second recollection returns during the stable confrontation. As Charlie gropes mentally for what she needs to do, she sees herself as a little girl, shorter and lighter, carrying a shopping bag scavenged from a wastecan and going from phone booth to phone booth. Coins cascade from the coin returns as she pushes at them with her mind. The memory gives a concrete childhood image of her ability before its later scale and destructive consequences.

Recurrence and Narrative Significance

The airport memories surface at moments when Charlie’s power is urgently present: first, when a technician’s cry echoes an earlier fire, and later, as she acts blindly amid the stable’s danger. The remembered scenes do not provide a full account of what happened at the airport; instead, they return as sensory fragments—a cry, burning shoes, phone booths, and falling coins. Their recurrence makes the airport a point of connection between Charlie’s childhood experiences and the perilous force she wields later.