She kept going. Each word heavier than the last.
"He just stupidly threw his life away for the sake of our daughter."
Her fists pressed into the dirt.
"And the worst part? I didn't even get the time to mourn his death. Didn't have a single second to sit down and cry. To grieve for the loss. To ask god what I did to deserve this hell. What I did to lose the only things I had."
Her voice thinned to almost nothing.
"Because there was no time for darkness. I was left alone. With all the responsibility of Siera. My daughter."
She swallowed whatever was threatening to break through.
"I did every job that was available. And when those ran out, I looked for more. Just to keep going. Just to keep the hope alive that somehow we would survive this."
A pause that carried the weight of months compressed into a single breath.
"But the hopes weren't lost by me. They were lost by Siera."
Her voice cracked down the center.
