POV Melissa.
That night, decades ago, I was on my way home after running errands outside. I stepped with extreme caution along the slippery pathway, as a torrential downpour was sheeted over the earth, blinding my vision.
Just as my steps were about to cross a small wooden bridge—the sole access to the house left behind by my parents—my eyes accidentally caught the outline of a silhouette lying helplessly on the muddy ground.
Initially, my entire skin tingled with goosebumps. I was seized by an overwhelming terror, assuming it was the corpse of a crime victim. However, when my ears faintly caught a low groan pleading for help amidst the pattering of the rain, my sense of humanity suddenly overrode my fear. Slowly, I gathered the courage to approach him in the deep darkness of the pitc
