Hope In the Midst of Agony

To some, hope is an unnecessary thing. For others, it's vital for life. Everything is linked back to hope for those who dream.



A creaking merry-go-round, two sleeping bags, a pair of kids, and the melancholy night landscape. The picture painted isn't what you have in mind, but rather a brother and a sister, abandoned by their parents and ran away from abusive foster care. The boy, about five or six, is sleeping peacefully on the rotating bed, his breaths rhythmic. Pushing the contraption and lulling the child to sleep is his older sister of fifteen years. Fear and weariness lay in her eyes, but she continues to pace the circle, willing to do whatever is in her power to comfort her younger brother.

A shadow moves across the slide on the playground. The girl whips out a pocketknife and stealthily creeps up to the slide, her every step shaky in her muddy converse. No figure is present save for a squirrel hopping along the rusted monkey bars to the right. Crunching the mulch carelessly beneath her feet, the girl returns to the merry-go-round.


"Carson!" She screams out, grabbing her head and twisting in every direction.

Both sleeping bags on the merry-go-round are empty.