Smallara

Alejandra stepped off the bus, the morning sun too bright against the gray sprawl of the neighborhood strip. She squinted, adjusting the old backpack on her shoulder, feeling the slight,…

Charity felt the entire world tilt when Alejandra’s fingers clamped around the backpack’s frayed strap. One moment she was hidden in the stale, scratchy darkness of the hoodie sleeve, the…

Charity could do nothing as she watched Alejandra stand up. None of this felt real yet. That this small dingy apartment was going to be her world. This was going…

Charity’s mouth opened, but nothing came out except a dry squeak that barely made it past her own ears. The air in Alejandra’s tiny living room felt too thin, too…

Alejandra could still feel the stale warmth of the coffee cooling in her stomach when she sat back down on her threadbare sofa, phone in hand, thumb hovering over the…

Charity’s knees gave out so suddenly she didn’t even register the jolt,  her tiny frame sank onto the wide, barren expanse of Alejandra’s battered coffee table, her arms trembling from…