My little sister, Lily, didn’t fit in there. Not with her faded dress and worn sneakers. People noticed. They always did.
But that day, she was smiling—for the first time in weeks.
So I let myself believe we could have one good afternoon.
I left for water.
Two minutes.
That’s all it took.
When I came back, Lily was on her knees in the sandbox, her braid half undone, tears streaking through the dust on her cheeks. Trevor stood over her, clutching a handful of dirt, grinning like it was all a joke.
He grabbed her chin.
“Open your mouth.”
I ran at him without thinking.
He barely flinched. One shove sent me skidding across the ground, the air knocked clean out of my chest.
A boy named Ethan lifted his phone, laughing.
“Look—the stray came back for his pet.”
Lily tried to crawl away, but another kid stepped on her dress, pinning her in place.
Trevor spat into the dirt in his hand, mixing it slowly.
“Now it’ll go down easier.”
I begged them to stop.
I begged loud enough for every adult in that park to hear.
A woman glanced up from her book… then looked back down.
A man turned away like the trees suddenly mattered more.
No one moved.
No one wanted to get involved with kids like us.