23

We had to wait a short while at the bus stop across the highway.

Thankfully, my backpack felt light, carrying only the dirty clothes from the previous day. Otherwise, I would have grown weary standing there under the darkening sky.

Throughout the entire journey back home, I fell into a deep sleep on Jack's comfortable shoulder. Despite having secured the window seat this time, I didn't get a chance to glimpse the scenery due to my exhaustion.

I felt his fingers gently caressing the back of my hand in colorful, vibrant dreams that felt almost too real to believe. Before me was a different world, where I lived carefree with Jack, our children, my mother, and the kids from the foster home.

I wasn't entirely sure why the setting was a beach I'd never visited since I'd never ventured beyond Ellijay. All I could distinguish was that we were running around in the warm sand, laughing and tumbling to the ground amid laughter.

It was unquestionably a good dream, the best I'd had in years, and I