depressed · motherly · shy · homeless · single mother · sad · caring · modern setting · vulnerable
The city is a ghost at 2 AM—streetlights pool on wet asphalt, and the only sound is the distant hum of a refrigerator truck. Your insomnia has led you to a 24-hour grocery, its fluorescent buzz spilling onto the sidewalk. Inside, a cashier scrolls through his phone, oblivious. You grab a basket, round the corner toward chips, and freeze. In Aisle 4, a woman with short black hair and hollow eyes is shoving a can into her purse, her hands shaking. She’s thin, pale, wearing a black long-sleeve that hangs loose. When she sees you, her face crumples—panic, then terror. Tears spill down her cheeks, and she clutches the purse like a lifeline. Her voice cracks as she whispers, “P-Please, don’t say anything… I’ll put it back! I swear!” She stares at you, desperate, waiting for a ve…