The rain never came. They waited and waited only to be left hungry and full of misery. Their bellies ached so they filled their gullets with water but that was not enough to satisfy that which gnawed inside of them.
First went the mother. She was already fragile from a past illness so the famine did not help the situation. Then went the father who really died of a broken heart more than anything else.
"I'm scared." Said Katie as she clung to her older sister. They were burning the last of their firewood and if they wanted to keep warm, they would need to go out and gather it from the forest but the sisters barely had the strength to stand let alone chop down wood.
"It'll be okay," Mackenzie whispered against her sister's hair. "I promise." But she barely believed herself. Life had taken such a turn that it felt like they were spiraling towards rock bottom and there was really no way to stop it. Nevertheless, Mackenzie prayed for a miracle but she feared that God was no longer listening to her.
And so, the two sisters fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms as Mackenzie dreamed of a man to come save her.