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…

of the hospital vanished, replaced by the faint, comforting scent of my mother.

I wept. I cried for the blistering heat on my skin. I cried for the agonizing shriek of the rusted wheel. I cried for the terrifying silence of my brothers in the metal basin. I cried because I didn’t have to be strong anymore.

Delfina wrapped her frail arm around me, holding continue reading …