The bent blue mailbox.
A field of sunflowers near the driveway.
A red tractor that had not moved in years.
The wheelbarrow remained near the admissions desk.
When an orderly tried to move it outside, Lily panicked.
“No!”
She pulled away from Maria and ran toward it.
“Don’t take it.”
“It’s dirty, sweetheart.”
“It’s how I brought them.”
Maria knelt beside her.
“We won’t throw it away.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Only then did Lily allow Maria to guide her into a treatment room.
A nurse cleaned the cuts on her feet.
Lily did not cry when antiseptic touched the broken skin.
She only watched the door through which the twins had disappeared.
“How far did you walk?” the social worker asked.
Lily shrugged.
“The sun was there when I started.”
She pointed toward the left side of the window.
“And there when I got here.”
She pointed to the right.
