“The Secret in the Garage”

My heart pounded as I took a step inside. The small, cluttered space I had offered her for shelter was transformed. But it wasn’t just tidier—it was… different.

The floor was spotless, the old wooden walls wiped clean, and in the dim glow of the garage light, I saw something that sent a shiver down my spine.

Against the far wall, there were **paintings**—large, hauntingly beautiful paintings.

One was a portrait of a woman, her face eerily familiar. Another depicted a house… **my house.**

And then, at the center of the room, stood a half-finished painting of **me.**

My throat went dry.

The woman—Miriam, she had told me—emerged from the shadows, a rag in her hand, smudged with paint.

“I—I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said softly. “I just… I had to paint. I haven’t had a space to do this in years.”

I turned to her, my pulse still racing. “Miriam… these are incredible. But… how do you know what my mother looked like?” I pointed at the first portrait—the one of my mother, **the exact way she looked before she passed.**

She hesitated, her hands trembling slightly. “I dream of faces sometimes. People I feel like I’ve met before… but haven’t.”

I swallowed hard. This woman, homeless and forgotten by the world, had somehow captured my mother’s face in perfect detail—without ever seeing a photo.

Miriam glanced at me nervously. “I can leave if you want me to.”

I looked at the paintings again, then back at her.

“No,” I said, my voice steadier now. “I think… I think you were meant to be here.”

And deep down, I knew it was true.