{"id":23444,"date":"2025-12-09T22:54:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=23444"},"modified":"2025-12-09T22:54:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T22:54:56","slug":"23444","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=23444","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

But the closer I got, the more details I saw.<\/p>\n

The blanket was stained, the fabric worn out in places. Bare feet peeked out from underneath, scraped and raw. Mud streaked skinny ankles. Tangled hair clung to a face striped with dirt and dried tears.<\/p>\n

And the eyes\u2014those eyes\u2014looked up at me.<\/p>\n

I knew those eyes.<\/p>\n

I had seen them the first time I held her, blinking up at me through scrunched lids. I had seen them light up when she scored a winning goal in middle school soccer, when she opened her acceptance letter to the art program she wanted, when she ran down the stairs on Christmas morning in fuzzy socks.<\/p>\n

I would have recognized them in any country, in any life.<\/p>\n

\u201cChloe?\u201d I breathed.<\/p>\n

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But the closer I got, the more details I saw. The blanket was stained, the fabric worn out in places. Bare feet peeked out from underneath, scraped and raw. Mud streaked skinny ankles. Tangled hair clung to a face striped with dirt and dried tears. And the eyes\u2014those eyes\u2014looked up at me. I knew those…<\/p>\n

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