HOPE

GINGER: It’s been a week since we moved to the Blue Pack. It is quiet, mostly because my mother will not allow us to go outside. The house is always locked, and she watches us like any moment she looks away, my father will swoop in to whisk us away. The past seven days have been hell for me, and I have cried my eyes out, trying to reach out to Hu. Mother says I can text him, and I have, but I have not gotten any reply. As I lie on my bed, staring at the messages, my heart aches. “I am sorry for leaving impromptu.” “Hu, please text me. I love you and I didn’t mean to leave.” “We can do whatever you want. If you want us to run away, then I am more than ready, please.” I barely scroll to the end of the messages when my screen becomes crowded with tears. Each day I wake up, I hope he replies, but he doesn’t. My mother doesn’t want me to text Hana because she will tell Wendy, and just like that, the information about our whereabouts would spread. “The walls have ears,” she said, and I know