When I came in today to see her, it was the same as any other day. I tried to let go about not getting any answers. About not being able to find her family or anything. I was there close to the end of visiting hours, so I just spent the time talking to her and looking through her sketchbook.
It was about time to leave when the painting caught my eye.
I hadn't ever really focused on it much, just the fact that it was an old house. But now I saw what detail she put into the charcoal work. Everything was there—the color in some other medium, a light blue like the sky, the bushes of flowers in the front, the steps up to the house, one of the windows that sat above the door in a semicircle. The one thing that stood out to me most was the number on the mailbox.
Maybe this was where she lived.
Maybe she drew this because it was her home, because she had family there. Maybe she had friends and people who would be around there... and maybe this might work out.
I mean, the painting lead didn't help me much, but this was bigger.
"You may not know this," I say to her as I snap a picture of her drawing. "But you may have just drawn a map to help us find out who you are."
YOU ARE READING
60 Days of Salt and Sand
Cerita PendekBeing published September 10th! "She wasn't floating when I found her. She wasn't exactly sinking, either... Just still. Deadly still. At least, I thought she was dead. But then I felt a pulse. And that was enough to get me to fight for her.'
