92
I couldn’t help but feel that the kindness the women showed me, the way they made me feel welcome and safe, was almost too good to be true. It was a warmth I hadn’t known in what felt like a lifetime, a warmth I thought I’d never experience again. And yet, in just a few short hours, they had managed to offer me something I hadn’t even realized I was craving—something real.
Sophia, the young girl, had been the first to show me that kind of care. She was quiet, almost painfully shy, as she gently helped me sit down on one of the worn chairs in the corner of the kitchen. The others were still discussing their plans, voices low and serious, but Sophia had quietly made her way to me, silently indicating I should sit. She moved around me with an easy grace, her hands trembling slightly as she knelt down in front of me, first aid box placed atop a nearby stool. The soft clink of the glass shards falling to the floor seemed like it would echo in the silence, but it didn’t. It was as if the air itself held its breath as Sophia carefully started to remove the pieces embedded in my feet.
Her fingers were gentle, precise, but there was a hesitance in her movements. She kept her eyes focused on the shards, unable to look at me for long, but when she did, it was quick, darting glances before her gaze would drop back to her hands. It was like she didn’t quite know how to look me in the eye, like she was afraid of what she might see, or perhaps she was just too shy to meet my gaze for too long.
The first shard was the biggest, the one lodged deep in the arch of my foot. She pressed down on the skin around it, trying to get a grip, and I winced slightly at the pressure. Her lips pressed together in concentration as she slowly pulled it out. There was a flash of pain, sharp and sudden, but I stayed still, determined to let her do what she needed to do.
“I’m sorry,” Sophia mumbled, her voice soft like a whisper, as she slowly wiped away the blood with a wool doused in spirit that had begun to pool. “I know it must hurt, but I have to get them all out. It’s the only way.”
I nodded, gritting my teeth as she worked. “You’re doing fine,” I said, trying to reassure her. I could tell she wasn’t used to this kind of thing, but she was trying, and that meant something.
She nodded quietly in return, her brow furrowing as she removed another shard, smaller this time but still painful. “It’s okay," she said after a moment, glancing up at me again. “You’re tough.” There was a brief, shy smile on her lips, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared, like she wasn’t quite sure how to keep it there.
She took a deep breath, seemingly ready to fill the silence with something other than the soft sounds of glass scraping against skin. "This place… it's like a home, but it’s not a home, y’know?” Her voice was low, almost unsure, but there was a sincerity there. “I don’t really know what else to call it.”
I felt my curiosity stir despite myself. “What do you mean? You’re all together here?”
Sophia nodded, her hands still working gently, carefully. “Yeah. We’ve got rooms, and Adeline says it’s like a facility now—‘a safehouse’ she calls it. For people who need help. But we’re not exactly like a family… not all the time. It’s more like a group of people who, I dunno, just... survive together, I guess.”
I felt a flicker of something in my chest, something I couldn’t quite name, as I watched her face. There was a certain sadness behind her words, a weight she was carrying with her that she wasn’t quite ready to share, but she still spoke, still kept the conversation going despite her quiet nature. I could feel her need to connect, even though she kept her distance in the little things—like avoiding eye contact, or keeping her words soft, as though she feared being misunderstood.
“Do you like it here?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop myself. I wanted to know if this place had really been a refuge for her, if it was a place where she felt any sort of comfort, or if it was just a cage like the one I’d been trapped in for so long.
Sophia paused, her hands freezing mid-motion as she thought. She sighed, a soft, barely audible sound. “I do,” she said, finally meeting my gaze for a moment, her eyes wide with something I couldn’t quite place. "But sometimes it feels like we’re all just… running. Running from our past, running from what we were before we got here. You know?” She pulled another shard from my foot and gently dabbed at the wound again, her fingers trembling, though she didn’t stop.
I nodded slowly, understanding more than she knew. We were all running, in one way or another. But the idea of this place being some kind of refuge… It was comforting. Maybe it wasn’t perfect, but it was a start, and in a world that had turned upside down, that was enough for now.
She continued cleaning the wound, moving slower now, making sure she was thorough. "When I first came here," she continued, her voice soft but steady, "I didn't know if I could trust anyone. I had been on the run for so long before she found me. It was so hard to trust, I mean, people don’t just change overnight, right?" She glanced up at me, a slight, tentative smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "But... I think it’s different here. I think, at least, we try to make a difference. We help where we can. Even if we’re broken, even if we’ve been hurt. We try."
I could hear the quiet hope in Sophia’s voice, the soft belief that there could be more to life than just getting by. The sound of the other women’s voices was distant, almost like a gentle hum in the background. The music that had been playing earlier came back on, faint and comforting. Renee by Sales echoed through the space, the chorus “You got it,” looping in my head. The words were simple, but they stuck with me.
I felt my eyes get heavy, like they were being pulled down. The dizziness from the drink Adeline had handed me wasn’t helping either, and everything around me felt fuzzy. Each breath I took was deep, and I could hear the air moving in and out of my lungs. Across the room, I could feel Adeline’s eyes on me, even though she wasn’t saying anything. She was leaning against the island table, taking big bites from what looked like her fifth apple.
The smell of food hit me next—something warm and comforting. Eggs, maybe, and bacon, and a sweetness in the air that made my stomach growl even though I didn’t feel hungry. The scent seemed to fill the room, making everything feel a little cozier.
Behind me, the sunlight was starting to pour through the glass wall. It was gentle, soft, and it made everything in the room glow. The sound of the waves crashing outside hit the glass with a steady rhythm, each wave bringing a sense of calm, like the world was slowing down just for a moment.
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