But there was nowhere else to go.
That night she slept on the cold floor, holding her stomach and listening to wind whistle through broken walls.
She cried until exhaustion took over.
The following days became a battle for survival.
She hauled water from a distant stream.
Swept away decades of dust.
Covered holes with cardboard and old cloth.
At night she stared at the sky, amazed by the thousands of stars she had never noticed before.
And every evening she repeated the same promise to the baby growing inside her.
“I won’t fail you.”
Two weeks later she noticed something strange.
An old painting hung on the back wall of the house. It showed a stormy landscape—mountains, a river, dark clouds.
As she wiped the dusty frame, she realized it wasn’t simply hanging.
It was built into the wall.
Curious, she tugged at the frame.
The brittle adobe cracked.
Part of the wall collapsed inward.
Behind it was a hidden cavity.
Elena shined the flashlight from her phone inside.
