Whispers of a Former Life

Charity had not known what to expect when she’d first decided, in a desperate bid for survival, to crawl into Alejandra’s backpack. At the time, it had seemed straightforward, an…

Charity lay curled tightly within the soft, dark folds of Alejandra’s hoodie, her small body nestled deep in a fabric cocoon that had become her entire world. The ambient sounds…

Charity awoke to a gentle, persistent trembling that shivered through her entire body. Her eyes snapped open in confusion, the darkness around her absolute, disorienting. A surge of momentary panic…

The fabric bag slumped heavily in the corner next to the grand, towering door, its plaid-patterned cloth pooling and folding over itself in lazy, inviting waves. Each crease and ridge…

Charity remained huddled on the floor, her body folded against the cold, polished wood like a fragile origami figure. Minutes bled into hours, or maybe days, time had ceased to…

Charity sat slumped at the halfway point of the stairs, legs splayed, chest rising and falling with exertion. Sweat clung to her temples in sticky beads. The carpet fibers that…