Refugee

“We’ll be back soon, Ana.” Mama caressed my cheek as she spoke, trying to ease the fear she could see in my eyes. “We just need to make sure your grandparents are safe.”

“I don’t want you to go,” I pleaded, my tears making no effort to hide themselves. “I want to keep you safe.”

“We’ll only be gone a day or two,” Papa said as he pulled on his coat. “You can take care of yourself while we’re gone, right?”

“I’m eighteen, Papa, of course I can, but that doesn’t mean--”

“Then you know that we can stay safe until we return.” Once his shoes were on, he came to me and ruffled my hair, something he’d done since I was a baby. “We love you.”

Second Chances

The car stopped, the engine turned off, and the clock showed 7:58am before the screen turned black. I knew I had to get out of my small car, but I couldn’t help but stare up at the skyscraper of a building. Once in a while, I’d forget that I wasn’t just some kid trying to make ends meet anymore, but I was actually the CEO of such a prestigious company.

We supplied cleaning products to stores around the world, from little Mom and Pop shops to large supermarket chains. Our products were the most sought after in the nation, which certainly helped our business grow from just a corner store of our own to a large office building.