The First Bite
He didn’t eat it right away.
He held it.
Then he broke it.
Just like she had.
Crumbs fell onto the floor.
Elena smiled—not at him, but at the crumbs.
“See?” she whispered. “Still here.”
Oliver brought the bread to his mouth.
And took a small bite.
Charles staggered back as if struck.
Five days.
Five days of terror.
And the impossible had just happened… with a piece of cheap bread and a woman no one had noticed.
Tears blurred his vision.
The boy chewed slowly.
Then took another bite.
