The bus sighed to a stop at the edge of the forgotten village, its doors opening with a tired groan. Olesya stepped out into the quiet drizzle, pulling her thin coat tighter around her belly. She was several months pregnant, exhausted, and carrying a grief that felt heavier than the child inside her. The driver gave her a sympathetic nod before steering the empty bus back down the road, leaving her in a silence broken only by the soft hiss of rain. The village hadn’t changed since the last time she’d been there—bare branches rattling in the wind, crooked fences...
Continues…