No More Tears - EDITING NOW!

The sun beat down on Averia's face, a relentless, oppressive heat that mirrored the turmoil in her nine-year-old heart. She sat in the parched front yard, the dust clinging to her bare legs, waiting. Waiting for Scarlett.

Inside, the familiar symphony of her mother's drunken rage and her latest man's harsh retorts echoed. Averia hugged her knees, wishing the sounds would fade, wishing Scarlett would appear. Scarlett, her only safe harbor in a world that felt like hell on earth.

Days blurred into a hungry haze, cold beans and sharp can edges, a constant reminder of their precarious existence. Scarlett, always the planner, the protector, had promised escape. "It's for the best. You'll see," she'd said, a mantra of hope against the despair.

But today, Scarlett was late. Terribly late. Averia's stomach growled a protest, a hollow ache matching the one in her chest. She needed food. But going inside meant facing the monster. She waited, hope flickering like a dying candle, for her sister to appear, to pull her from the heat and the horror within.