Chapter 1 - THE BOY IN THE ALLEY
The little girl found him sitting against a graffiti-covered wall.
His clothes were torn. Dirt covered his face, and his thin hands shook from hunger.
She held out her sandwich.
“Here. Take it.”
The boy stared at her like kindness was something he had forgotten.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
She smiled and hugged him carefully.
Then her mother’s terrified voice cut through the alley.
“No! Get away from him!”
The woman rushed forward, pulled her daughter back, and stood between them.
“Mom, he’s hungry!”
The boy lowered his eyes, still holding the sandwich.
The woman opened her mouth to scold him.
Then he looked up.
His wide blue eyes met hers.
Her anger disappeared.
The handbag slipped from her fingers and struck the pavement.
The boy studied her trembling face.
A small scar near her eyebrow.
The same scar he remembered from the only dream he had left.
His lips began to shake.
“Mom?”
The woman fell to her knees.
“My baby…”
She reached for his face, sobbing.
“I finally found you.”
May you like
But the boy flinched away and whispered,
“Then why did you leave me there?”
