AS SHE WAS DY. ING, A WOMAN BEGGED HER FRIEND TO TAKE IN HER DAUGHTER. AFTER THE FUNERAL, THE LITTLE GIRL WHISPERED: “MOM IS ALIVE.”

The Promise in a Fading Room
The beeping of the heart monitor was too steady, too calm—a cruel rhythm that masked the urgency behind each shallow breath Tanya took. The sterile hospital room was dimly lit, as if the world already knew how this would end. Outside, the wind tapped faintly against the windowpane, but inside, time felt frozen.