Taking a deep, shaky breath, little Maddie carefully picked up her favorite plastic doll and tiptoed into the next room. The five-year-old kept pressing a finger to her lips, whispering to her toy friend that Mommy was sleeping very deeply and absolutely could not be disturbed.
She explained to the doll with a serious face that Mom was exhausted from her long shifts and desperately needed her rest. The doll just stared back with wide, painted blue eyes, seemingly agreeing with her young owner’s wisdom.
The doll, of course, didn’t know why Maddie had missed preschool for two days straight. Since her difficult divorce, Sarah had been raising Maddie entirely on her own, and there was no one else to take the girl to school those mornings.
Sarah took every extra shift she could get, working as a cashier at a 24-hour grocery store a few blocks away. Because the store never closed, her schedule was a chaotic mess of early mornings, late nights, and grueling graveyard shifts.
During those tough stretches, the neighbors across the hall—Mr. Henderson and his wife, Martha—usually stepped in. They were kind people who looked out for the single mother, making sure Maddie had a warm meal and was tucked into bed on time when Sarah had to work through the night.
Returning home early that morning after another exhausting night behind the register, Sarah had barely enough energy to grab a quick bite and a shower before collapsing into bed…
