Hear My Prayer

A tender, emotionally charged short story set in 1984 rural Oklahoma. Twelve-year-old Marcy Gibson and her mother are on the run from a past filled with trauma, loss, and fear. When they arrive in the quiet town of Riverside hoping for refuge, they discover the shelter they were counting on is gone—but kindness finds them in unexpected places: a stranger’s offer, a heart-shaped popsicle stick, and a girl who talks like sunshine.