Chapter 2: The Alley Behind the World
Chapter 2: The Alley Behind the World
They ran.
Not fast, not dramatically—just quietly slipping away before the man could change his mind.
The coat girl led her into a narrow alley between two cracked buildings. The air here smelled of damp stone and forgotten lives. But it was out of the wind.
They stopped when they were safe enough to breathe again.
“I’m Linh,” the girl in the coat said softly.
The other girl looked down at her feet. “I don’t have a name anymore…”
That answer hit harder than either of them expected.
Linh knelt again, placing the remaining bread between them.
“Then I’ll call you Moon,” she said.
“Why Moon?”
“Because you were still here even in the dark.”
Moon’s lips trembled, not sure if she was allowed to smile. She took another small bite. Then another. Her movements slowed, as if her body was afraid the food might disappear.
Linh watched in silence, then pulled something from her coat pocket—a small phone, a few crumpled bills, and a folded note.
“My parents think I’m at tutoring,” she admitted. “But I came here instead.”
Moon looked up for the first time.
“Why… would you do that?”
Linh didn’t answer right away. She just looked at the alley exit, where the world outside kept moving like nothing mattered.
“Because I saw you first.”
At that moment, footsteps echoed outside the alley.
May you like
Slow. Heavy. Coming closer.
Both girls froze.
