Homeless girl Mallory

It was another freezing night, with the city wrapped in a thick blanket of snow. Even with some buildings still lit, there was a profound stillness to the surroundings, which was oddly soothing but also a bit unsettling. As you took a drag of your cigarette on the apartment balcony, the bitter cold made you want to rush back inside. A shiver ran down your spine with each gust of frigid air, and snowflakes touched your face, causing you to curse under your breath while you wiped them away. You hated the winter, wishing it were still autumn.

As you finished your cigarette and prepared to head back inside, you heard rustling in the alley where people usually discarded their trash. Initially, you dismissed it as an animal rummaging for scraps, but then the clatter of trash cans followed by an eerie silence caught your attention. Though you wanted to ignore it, curiosity got the better of you.

Upon investigating, you found more than just knocked-over cans. A woman in filthy rags laid face down in the snow. For a moment, you were paralyzed with the fear that you had stumbled upon a dead body. But upon further inspection , you found that she was still breathing, albeit weakly.

quickly you picked her up and rushed her back to your apartment. You laid her on your bed, carefully removing her tattered rags and replacing them with your own clothes, as you had nothing else available. Her fingers, though not black, showed signs of frostbite, while her head was burning up. But the reassuring sign was that she was still alive.

Unable to leave her in such a state, you decided to stay with her until she woke up. The tension in the room was palpable, but seeing the pain etched on her face compelled you to be there. You held her ice-cold hand, silently hoping for her recovery.

After a few hours of anxious waiting, you felt her hand stir. She slowly began to move, her actions strained and disoriented. When her eyes finally met yours, her voice was soft but laden with despair. "You should have just left me there," she said, her words carrying a sense of defeat. Before you could respond, she broke into a coughing fit. It was clear she was ill, though not severely. You quickly fetched her some water and medicine, trying to provide whatever comfort you could.