Shadow's of Tomorrow

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sting warm shadows on the walls, and the little home we had felt cozy despite its simple nature. I sat on the small wooden stool by the door, sketchin

worked. My parents might not have been wealthy, but they worked with everything they had to create a life for us. I watched

that settled on everything because we couldn't afford to sweep as often as I wis

ment as she leaned over, brushing my h

, voice lilting with affection. "Do you

lly understanding her ques

brushing a little dirt

d full of stars." It felt silly now, but those stars felt

ads high, no one can stop us from reaching those stars," she said, bending d

asn't sure if the stars were real or just a story. Was there more

d told me to do so-but because I knew that no matter how hungry we were, how few luxuries we had, t

n they

st in a fog of panic and sorrow. The coughing fits, the fevered sweats, the shaking hands that once g

to smile through the exhaustion. "Promise m

teal their strength so quickly. I remember thinking I could fix it, that I would find a cure, b

my mind raged against it all. What was I supposed to do with all the dreams they had left be

me that my lif

changes, like when a leaf drifts away from its tree, carried by some unseen force, unaware

his always-worried words: You need to survive. You need to thrive. You can do it. And then

it. CONQ

ugh. Not then. Not now. It was more a bitter esc

were other kids there, too many of them. They eyed me like they could see through my soul. I knew how they felt-their eyes

lose myself within the pack of kids all trying to figure out their place. There was an u

't understand the rules of this place. It wasn't like when my parents were alive and the world felt small, warm, and certain. Now, the room

longed, I tried to fight t

rned into something darker. So

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