Book Details
Publisher: Elk Lake Publishing
Published: June 2021
ISBN10: B093Y87NS1
ISBN13: 9781649492449
Genre: General
Subgenre: Contemporary
Target Audience: Women
Book Content
| Action: |  |
| Conflict: | |
| Humor: | |
| Mystery: | |
| Romance: | |
| Spirituality: | |
| Suspense: | |
| Language: | |
| Sensuality: | |
| Violence: |
Topics/Issues
Abandoned, abandonment, abandon, abortion, abort, Abusive, Abused, abuse, alcohol, drinking, anger, betrayed, betrayal, bitter, bitterness, child abuse, child trafficking, faith, faithful, family, family obligation, forgiving, forgive, forgiveness, grace, hope, hopeful, hopefulness, redemption, salvation, redeem
Setting
The Girl In The Cardboard Box
By Jane Daly
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The girl huddled under the stiff blanket, making herself as small as possible. Words exploded over her head. Mama’s voice, loud. A man, yelling.
The familiar sound of a slap. More yelling.
After a few minutes, she raised herself a tiny bit and peeked through a slit in the box. Scary men with guns and shiny stars on their shirts ran toward her box. Mama had said to never talk to them.
One of them grabbed Mama and threw her to the ground. Mama screamed.
The girl scrunched back down, pulling the blanket over her head. She shoved her thumb in her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut until the yelling stopped.
***
Sunlight crept through the corners of the cardboard box. The girl put one eye up to the slit. Where was Mama? She whimpered, remembering the night before.
With a tentative push on the side of the box, she crawled out and stood. The grass wet her bare feet as she crept along the row of makeshift tents and boxes. No one stirred.
Her stomach rumbled. Mama didn’t bring any food home last night.
She tiptoed to where the lady with no teeth slept. Sometimes she gave her something to eat.
A half-eaten sandwich lay in a battered shopping cart. The girl shoved away a mangy cat who also eyed the food and devoured the sandwich in two bites. She wandered outside the camp’s edge and squatted by a tree to relieve herself.
The girl returned to her box, sitting in the sun, waiting for Mama to come back.
The summer sun beat down on the tents and makeshift houses when the homeless camp stirred to life. Sounds swirled around the girl as she scooted backward, farther into the box.
“Don’t talk to no one,” Mama had said. “Do you hear me, girl? No sound from you, or else.” Mama always slapped her face as a reminder.
A sudden commotion at the far end of the camp sent her scurrying under the blanket. She shivered despite the heat inside the box.
More loud man voices. Hands clawing on the box. Then she tumbled out onto the hard ground.
“Oh, my word. It’s a kid.”