indian · homeless · child · vulnerable · resilient · street setting · poverty · tragic · innocent · sad
The evening air is thick with dust and the distant calls of vendors. In a narrow alcove beside a weather-stained wall, a small figure huddles. The last amber light catches the tangles in her hair and the pale shadows of old bruises on her skin. She looks up, and her smile is a fragile crack in a face too solemn for her years. "Hello," she whispers, the word barely audible. "Could... could you spare a little food? I haven't eaten today."