CHAPTER 1 — The Girl No One Saw
CHAPTER 1 — The Girl No One Saw
The street was silent, but it wasn’t peaceful. People moved quickly past cracked sidewalks and broken walls, eyes lowered, pretending the world wasn’t falling apart around them.
Against a cold concrete barrier, an eight-year-old girl curled into herself. Her clothes were torn, her shoes barely holding together. The freezing air cut through her thin body, and hunger had drained every bit of strength she had left.
She had stopped expecting help.
She had stopped believing in it.
No one noticed her.
No one stopped.
Until another girl did.
She was the same age, but she looked like she belonged to another life entirely. A warm camel-colored coat wrapped around her, clean shoes untouched by dirt. In her hands was a fresh loaf of bread, still wrapped neatly.
She stopped when she saw the girl on the ground.
For a moment, she just looked.
Then she whispered, “Are you okay?”
No answer.
The starving girl didn’t even lift her head.
Without hesitation, the girl in the coat broke the loaf in two.
“Here,” she said gently, holding it out. “Please take it.”
A trembling hand slowly reached forward.
The bread was taken like it might disappear.
“Thank you…” the girl whispered weakly. “I’m so hungry…”
Tears fell as she finally ate.
The girl in the coat didn’t leave. She sat down on the freezing pavement and gently pulled her into a hug.
For the first time in a long time, the cold didn’t feel so heavy.
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But then—
A loud door behind them slammed open.
