Melody
There are moments in a mother’s life that lodge themselves so deeply in the heart they feel like sacred treasures.
Today, I gathered such a moment, and I knew I would never let it go.
I watched Zoraya, my daughter, my blood, stand in front of Estrella’s cage and face her without trembling.
She had not cowered.
She had not lowered her eyes.
She had stood tall, her hand resting protectively on her swollen belly, and she had stared the demon of her past in the face without breaking.
That alone filled me with a joy so overwhelming that I could barely contain it.
My body practically hummed with the energy of it.
I wanted to laugh, to sing, to dance barefoot in the palace corridors as if I were a girl again.
My daughter was living as she should, she was no longer a shadow
