Every step felt heavier than the last. The heat made my vision blur, my breath shallow, my body protest in ways I couldn’t ignore. But I kept going.
Because stopping felt worse.
Because for once, helping someone else felt easier than thinking about myself.
When I finally sat down, dizzy and shaking, she handed me a glass of lemonade. Cold. Sweet. Steady.
We sat in silence for a while.
Then she asked, “Who’s in your corner, Ariel?”
And I didn’t lie.
“Nobody,” I said. “Not anymore.”
She didn’t pity me. Didn’t offer empty comfort.
She just looked at me like she understood.
“Strong doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone,” she said quietly.
I finished her lawn that day.
Went home.
Collapsed into bed thinking that, somehow, the world felt a little less heavy.
I didn’t know it was the last time I’d see her alive.
The next morning, the sirens woke me.
Lights flashing. Neighbors gathering. That sharp, electric feeling that something had gone wrong.
When the sheriff knocked on my door, I already knew.
Mrs. Higgins had passed.
Just like that.
Gone.
I sat there, numb, barely hearing the words—until he said something that didn’t make sense.
“She left something in your mailbox.”
My heart stuttered.
“What?”
We walked outside together. The street felt too loud, too alive for something so final.
My hands shook as I opened the mailbox.
Inside were two envelopes.
One with my name.
The other stamped in bold red letters.
PAID IN FULL.
