(Then – Elijah, Age 10)
Elijah found himself tucked away in the tight, cramped quarters of the utility closet, a place where shadows loomed larger than life, and the air felt heavy with tension. His heart raced with palpable fear as he diligently kept track of the seconds passing between the footfalls he could hear echoing in the space just outside his hiding place.
“One. Two. Three. Pause.”
“One. Two. Three. The door opens.”
Pressing his cheek against the unyielding concrete floor, he instinctively curled his small body into a tighter ball, striving to make himself less noticeable in this unforgiving, chill-laden space. The cold seeped through his clothes, biting into his skin with a sharpness that reminded him of the importance of remaining vigilant. He knew that succumbing to slee
