CHAPTER 2: THE GIRL WHO CARRIED THE WORLD
CHAPTER 2: THE GIRL WHO CARRIED THE WORLD
An hour later, Daniel returned.
Not with one meal.
With ten.
Bags filled with hot food.
Bread.
Fruit.
Milk.
Soup.
The moment he walked through the doorway, the smell filled the room.
Several children began crying.
Not because they were sad.
Because they were overwhelmed.
The little girl simply stared.
As if she couldn't believe it was real.
Daniel set everything down.
"Tonight nobody goes hungry."
The youngest child burst into tears.
The mother covered her mouth and began weeping silently.
The little girl still didn't move.
Daniel noticed.
"Aren't you hungry?"
She hesitated.
Then quietly asked,
"Will there be enough for everyone?"
The question shattered him.
Not "Can I eat?"
Not "Is some of it mine?"
Only concern for everyone else.
Daniel knelt beside her.
"Yes."
Only then did she finally smile.
A real smile.
For the first time.
Later that evening, after the children had eaten, Daniel learned her name.
Sophia.
Ten years old.
The oldest child in the room.
The woman wasn't her biological mother.
She was Maria.
A widow who had taken in abandoned children whenever she found them.
Some had lost parents.
Some had been left behind.
Some had nowhere else to go.
Years earlier, Maria had managed to care for them through sewing work and cleaning jobs.
Then illness arrived.
Medical bills followed.
Soon everything collapsed.
The children stayed because there was nowhere else to go.
And somehow, Sophia became their protector.
Daniel looked at the sleeping children.
"She carries all this?"
Maria nodded weakly.
"Every day."
Daniel glanced toward Sophia.
She sat near the window mending torn clothing under a weak lamp.
A child doing the work of an adult.
A child who should have been worrying about homework instead of survival.
Then Maria whispered something unexpected.
"She reminds me of someone."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
May you like
Maria smiled sadly.
"You."
