Ashes and Crowns

ross the peeling wallpaper of the small bedroom. The morning air was cool and still, but an unfamiliar emptine

e. "Mommy?" Her voice was barely a whisper, fragile as the dawn itself. Bu

uddenly seemed vast and cold. The familiar scent of lavender and vanilla, her mo

eyes shadowed with sleepless nights. His usual easy smile was replaced by a hard set to hi

gh from disuse. "Mommy had to go away for a

back tears. "Wh

ups have to make hard choices. But I promi

is steady heartbeat beneath his worn flannel

ed with oil and grease from the garage where he worked fixing cars and old engines. His body bore the ma

the welding torch, the way her father's face would light up when a stubborn engine roared back to life. She was

ght casting dancing shadows on the cracked walls. Gabriel cooked simple meal

Eliana asked one evenin

e have their own battles, sweet heart. It's not your f

of abandonment gnawed at

quickly to keep her head down, to avoid questions about her mother. When the other kids talked about their

e now shared with toys she couldn't afford to

tching droplets race down the glass. She wished for a way to fix the broken parts of her life

ed through the tiny apartment when Eliana showed him a drawing she'd made of the two of them under a br

r, a fragile shield aga

the absent mother, casting judgmental glances. The landlord threatened late rent not

t her father's steady hand brush her hair. "We

k, the promise w