1**

Rose left the hospital in despair. The streets were empty and frightening, but even so, she kept going. She sorely needed to keep moving... She couldn't wait to get home and back to her bed... She was tired from her hard day and exhausted by the heavy load of her little sister. Her face was marked by the bad days and her hair was sticking to her skin. She hadn't eaten since this morning, she had only had a meager sandwich in the morning and some perineal milk. Even though her stomach was rumbling and screaming, there was more important things than that. She was alone, penniless, with chemotherapy costing her the earth... She remembers the good old days when she went from store to store, buying whatever she wanted without worrying about the price. Ahhh! What a great life she had. And yet that life was ripped away from her and she was given this one in which her belly was a secondary need. It all started 6 months ago, she was living with her parents and little sister in a villa, happy and fulfilled. She had an affluent life because her parents were rich and she could afford everything. However, her life changed in one night. The night her parents died in a tragic car accident. She was left alone with her little sister. Fortunately, she could count on her parents' huge fortune to keep her going. Let's say... that's what she thought... The day before the funeral, she learned that her father was drowning in debt and that the bank was going to seize everything if she didn't pay the heavy sum. And to top it all off, her sister had a stroke that revealed critical leukemia. And if that wasn't enough, she learned that her father had sold all his shares in the family business so she couldn't count on the company to pay off the debts. In a word, she was in trouble... She was in great difficulty. Unfortunately, in less than a month, she had lost everything, even her jewelry and designer clothes... Let's not even talk about cars and money... she had lost everything, even her jewelry and designer clothes...

She found herself on the street with the rest of her personal belongings in one hand that could not be grabbed and in the other hand was her sister's hand and two $100 bills that her father's lawyer had given her to find an inn for the night. He told them that he didn't want them to catch cold... It was ironic. The young woman wanted to spit her anger in his face but it would do no good. So, she had to give up... She took their meager belongings and went to a church to spend the night because she preferred to save the $200 for the next day... That morning, she took to ask the Almighty for help. Before, she rarely prayed, but now, with her bad situation, she needed to believe in a miracle... Then, she went to the miserable neighborhood where their late grandmother lived to stay with her sister... She was so sad though, she should console herself for her sister who had no one else in this world but her... She had knocked on every door: her friends', her parents', but nothing. Now she realized how much her family was surrounded by false pretenses. The kind of friends who only support you when everything is going well. She learned that her father had not pawned their vacation home on the lake. Because her sister's treatment was an emergency, she was forced to sell it and was able to pay for treatment for a year...

She somehow managed to find a small job in a factory. Her salary was miserably low, but she was lucky enough to be able to manipulate the numbers to earn a few measly dollars a day. She stopped her thoughts to empty her pockets and the faint jingle of coins told her that she had enough money to catch the bus. She was so hungry... The smell of tacos and pizza made her want to eat, so she decided to walk home so she could afford something hot for tonight. It was only an hour's drive and she was used to it because she rarely took the bus. This afternoon, the doctor had given her some bad news. Her little sister's treatment had changed a lot and the new treatment, considered more effective, cost twice as much. The money she had donated was quickly running out.

She thought she had a whole year to save, but she only has two weeks left to make the deposit. Two weeks... That was an amount of money she would never have in such a short time. She wouldn't even have it in two months. And she didn't know where to turn to ask for it... She couldn't even take out a loan. She has nothing that the bank could seize if she couldn't pay it back... After what happened with her parents. She was afraid he would agree to lend her money...That's why she was devastated and discouraged. Her feet hurt like hell and the walk seemed even longer than usual. She still had no solution in mind and no one to turn to. She cursed her parents for putting her through this life. When she saw the darkened driveway of her house, she wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. She smiled as she greeted her neighbors so she wouldn't have to tell them about her problems since there was nothing they could do for her anyway... These walls that once frightened her were now her refuge. She bought some food and went home. She climbed the stairs, praying to all the gods that her old staircase wouldn't give way under her weight. After eating greedily, she washed herself for fear of running out of water the next day and went straight to bed. Even if she didn't have the heart to sleep, she wanted to sleep to forget this hard day. She wanted to be at peace while she slept. Anyway, don't they say that the night brings advice. And advice, she needed it...