The girls, Lily and Mae, stayed wrapped against my chest in a worn sling I’d picked up secondhand.
I lived off instant noodles and campus coffee.
It wasn’t a plan, just survival.
I was juggling classes.
***
That fateful night, the rain came down hard in Seattle as I left work.
I only had $10 to my name. It was enough for bus fare and bread, about three days of survival if I stretched it.
I stepped out of the library with a cheap umbrella, adjusting the sling so the girls stayed dry. That’s when I saw him.
An older man sat under a rusted awning across the street. His clothes were soaked through. He wasn’t asking anyone for anything. He wasn’t even looking up.
He was just sitting there, shaking so badly it hurt to watch.
That’s when I saw him.
I knew that feeling.
