String lights stretched overhead like soft constellations.
Golden reflections spilled from shop windows onto the pavement.
People drifted past in quiet motion—laughing, talking, wrapped in lives that seemed untouched by anything heavy.
Then a small hand reached out and caught the gold chain of her purse.
The woman in the camel-colored coat turned sharply.
Instant.
Instinctive.
Her body tightened, her hand pulling the bag close to her side.
“Don’t touch me.”
In front of her stood a young boy in worn clothes, his face smudged with dirt, his eyes wide—not just with fear, but with something deeper. Something that didn’t belong to a child his age.
He flinched at her voice—
but he didn’t run.
That was the first thing that felt wrong.
The second was what came out of his mouth.
“But… you have the same pin.”
Her irritation didn’t disappear.
It hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then the boy slowly opened his trembling hand.
Inside was a small gold pin shaped like a leaf, with a single blue teardrop stone set in its center. The warm light caught it, making it glow.
Without thinking, the woman lifted her hand to her collar.
Where the exact same pin rested.
Her expression shifted.
Not recognition yet.