At the clinic gate, a 7-year-old collapsed, crying, “Mommy has been sleeping for three days, please save them.” The doctor rushed to help the newborn twins, but as he lifted them, his hands shook. Underneath the babies was a handwritten note from the mother that made the doctor freeze in terror…

tractor.

Inside the metal basin, the twins remained horrifyingly still. Every few minutes, I would pause just long enough to lean over the rusty rim, placing my dirty fingers beneath their tiny, pale noses to feel for the whisper of their breath. Sometimes it was there. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was their breath or just the hot wind mocking me.

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