Chapter 6: The Garden

The garden seemed calm, the warm sunlight falling across the grass and flower beds. Seren sat with her crutches leaning against the porch railing, her casted leg stretched out before her. Orla ran barefoot among the flowers, laughing and stacking sticks and leaves into tiny towers. For a moment, everything felt ordinary—too ordinary.

Then came the sound: a jagged roar that cut through the quiet. Seren’s head snapped toward the street beyond the garden gate.

A dark sedan skidded violently, bouncing over the curb nearby.

Orla was in the path. Seren’s heart leapt.

Without hesitation, she lunged forward—but not toward Orla. Her only thought was to move as far away from her daughter as possible, to get her out of the way of the danger. Her foot dragged, her crutches scrabbling across the uneven ground. She twisted, leaned, and pushed herself sideways, keeping her distance from Orla as the car bore down.