Chapter 2 - The Sinking Frost
The wind howled through the graveyard, carrying the sharp scent of damp earth and approaching snow. Cora’s knees pressed into the hard, frozen soil, sending jagged spikes of pain straight up her spine. Every breath she took billowed into a white cloud of mist, dissolving quickly into the gray, indifferent air.
By noon, the clouds gathered heavier, casting a pallid darkness over the cemetery. Cora’s stomach throbbed with a dull, sickening ache. The words tumor and biopsy echoed relentlessly in her mind, competing with the cold reality of her father's parting words. She wanted to cry, but her tear ducts felt as dry and brittle as the autumn leaves swirling around her boots.
Across the path, an old groundskeeper named Mr. Abernathy paused his work. Leaning heavily on his rake, he watched the small girl kneeling motionless before the marble headstone. He had seen Bennett Evans drop her off here on previous birthdays, always with the same cold detachment. Mr. Abernathy’s heart ached for the child. He quietly walked over, his heavy boots crunching against the gravel.
"Little one," Mr. Abernathy said gently, his voice raspy but kind. "You shouldn't be out here in this freezing cold for so long. The snow is coming."
Cora lifted her head, her lips pale and cracked. "My father said I couldn't leave until he comes back."
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"A child shouldn't bear a burden that isn't hers," the old man sighed, pulling a thick woolen blanket from his cart and draping it over Cora's shivering shoulders. "Your mother was a gentle soul, Cora. She wouldn't want to see you suffer like this."
Cora clutched the warm blanket tightly, a solitary tear finally slipping down her cheek. But even as the warmth seeped into her bones, the internal agony in her abdomen flared, reminding her that time was running out.
