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Showing posts from October, 2023

A Stroke of Luck: Tasha's New Beginnings

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In the dimly lit living room of their rundown apartment, fear and excitement tangled in Tasha's heart  Two months ago, she had fled Oakland with her 10-year-old son, leaving behind an abusive relationship. With the help of a domestic violence agency, L.A. offered a fresh start. In no time, Tasha was enrolling in a medical assistant program by day and she was working as a waitress by night, she had employed her neighbor to watch her son while she worked at night.  Late one night, as Tasha walked home from the bus stop, two men barreled past her, clutching black plastic bags. She tried to avoid them, but one man violently knocked her to the ground. Scrambling to their feet, they vanished into the darkness, pursued by an unseen threat. Panic surged through Tasha as she picked herself up. On the ground, she found one of the black bags, and inside, wads of cash. Fear and curiosity wrestled in her mind, but she saw no one around. She hurried home. With trembling hands, she counted t...

Frozen Dreams: Kendra's Tale of Abandonment

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Kendra's world had turned into a desolate expanse of white, just like the snow-covered park bench where she now sat, trembling and alone.  She had met him online, drawn into his enticing words and the promise of an adventurous life in a quaint town and it had all seemed like something out of a fairy tale. But two months in to her new relationship the fantasy had shattered like glass as reality punched her square in the heart.  The man she had trusted, the one who had convinced her to leave everything behind, had thrown her out into the streets because she refused to help him run a dating scam on unsuspecting men.  She had grown up in foster care, she didn't have family and she had alienated the few friends she did have when he convinced her they were no good and that he was the only one who truly cared for her.   As she sat on the cold bench in a park in the middle of the city, the stark reality of the truth hit her and at the same time, she realized that she c...