THE COST OF SURVIVAL
Vivienne’s POV
“Dear Selmara, give me strength.” I said, ending my prayer.
My throat was raw, my lips cracked, but the silence in this was maddening. Praying gave me hope. It helped me remember I was still alive.
The heat made it hard to breathe, and move. My skin was so damp, dirt and sand from the floor clung to it.
Topped with the rotten air that never faded. Breathing it in burned my nose, but I’d gotten used to it.
Two days. That’s how long I had been here.
Two days of eating scraps thrown like slop for animals. Two days of drinking still water that tasted like rust. My stomach had turned on itself, twisting in hunger, but I was past hunger now. It had become background noise—just another ache among many.
And yet… she had it worse.
The girl in my lap wh
