While rushing home, I caught my tiny children abandoned in the woods, injured and unrecognizable. I burst into my parents’ house yelling, “What did you do?!” My sister coldly replied, “You lost your rights.” Before I could react, my dad choked me out. Then, my phone rang with a call from the ICU…

scratches. Mud and dried leaves caked her left knee. Her bare feet—both shoes entirely gone—left faint smears of crimson on the stepping stones. Theo’s face was an alarming, unnatural shade of violet-red, his small body sagging against her collarbone like a ragdoll, his tiny fists twisted rigidly into her tangled blonde hair.

I crashed to my knees before continue reading …