Her hands shook uncontrollably as she stared at the plastic test stick, Two bright pink lines. Positive. Looking at her reflection in the dirty mirror of a public bathroom, she gasped for air, crying out in absolute terror, “How am I going to do this by myself?” The overwhelming reality of facing an uncertain future completely on her own crushed her, and she burst into deep, sobbing tears.
Right at that exact second, her phone began to ring loudly, vibrating against the metal sink. The screen lit up with an incoming call from “Mom.” Staring at the phone in fear, she faced the hardest choice of her life. She was the very same girl who had run away from her hometown weeks before to protect her family from a dangerous corporate threat.
Now, staring at her mother’s call, she realized she couldn’t keep running from everyone. The fear of breaking her mother’s heart competed with her desperate need for help. Answering that call meant exposing her location and risking everything, but carrying this heavy burden alone was no longer an option.