u reach for your shawl, no. It was the kind that made your soul shiver - like

children were already awake, some helping with the chores, others still yawning their way through the last traces of

arafina kn

hen that quiet girl with the burn marks on her arms refused to speak for three months,

ys silence bef

on Mama Sarafina had made from an old curtain. She looked up when she heard the heavy sound of fo

e," she w

fina froz

"The man. The one

ast Mercy and placed the basin on the porch. "

in like bees in a shaken hive. Some didn't understand why they were being ru

gate just as Mama Sarafi

, and a machete strapped to his belt. He carried the air of someone use

ight to come h

barked. "You to

welve. And

s my

d, her voice rising sli

fina did not move. The world fell silent a

eyes. Naomi had gathered the others, holding

the ground. "T

ss," Mama Sarafina said,

he l

t peace - it was the kind that clin

the candlelight sewing a torn dress, N

r get tired

ingers through Naomi's hair like she always did when

whispered. "But l

no one became the children of her heart - and the fire that burned in Mama Sarafin