The city did not welcome people like Naomi.
It swallowed them.
Quietly.
Without apology.
By the third day, her feet were bleeding.
The wooden cart had become heavier with every mile, its old wheels groaning against the rough road while Gabriel’s unconscious body remained still beneath the blankets.
Leon pushed beside her with his tiny hands whenever the road became too steep.
Even though he was barely strong enough.
“Careful,” Naomi whispered weakly whenever he stumbled.
But the truth was…
they were all stumbling now.
The little money Naomi carried from the village disappeared faster than she expected.
A cheap room for one night.
Medicine for Gabriel.
A little food for Leon.
Everything cost money.
And suffering did not make things cheaper.
By the time they finally reached the outskirts of the city, Naomi was already exhausted beyond words.
Tall buildings stretched endlessly ahead of them, cold and unfamiliar.
Cars moved quickly.
People rushed past each other without looking twice.
No one noticed them.
A poor woman dragging an unconscious man and a tired child through the streets was just another sad story in a city full of them.
Leon stared around nervously.
“Mother…”
Naomi looked down immediately.
“Yes?”
“Are we going to live here now?”
The question nearly broke her.
Because she didn’t know.
Still…
she forced herself to smile softly.
“Yes.”
Leon nodded quietly.
Trusting her completely.
That trust terrified her more than poverty ever could.
The room they eventually found was barely livable.
A tiny single-room structure hidden behind an old apartment building.
The walls were cracked.
The roof leaked slightly.
The air smelled damp.
But it was cheap.
And cheap was all Naomi could afford.
She lowered Gabriel carefully onto the small bed while Leon sat silently in the corner watching her.
The little boy no longer asked when his father would wake up every hour.
Now...