“THE WEEKEND GOD WENT QUIET” ON THE EDGE OF HOPE - PART 2

Daniel Hale’s body ached with hunger, cold, and exhaustion.
His shoes were shredded, his back sore from sleeping on the streets.
Every step was agony.

All he had was his cellphone, which he had paid up until the end of the month. Still, there was no one to call,
no one to care or help him.

But then, a small spark: his last paycheck had finally come in.
It was barely enough to cover part of his mother’s emergency care, but it was something.

With trembling hands, he cashed it at a small corner store and stuffed the bills into his jacket.

I can still save her… I can still save her…

THE RACE TO THE HOSPITAL

Daniel ran.
Feet bleeding from worn shoes.
Back aching.
Heart hammering.

Every light and every honking car was a cruel reminder of time lost.

He burst into the hospital, breathless, holding the cash.

“Nurse! Please! My mother—my mother needs—”

He froze.
The nurse’s face was solemn.

“Mr. Hale… I am so sorry. We did everything we could, but she… she passed while waiting for your arrival.”

Daniel’s knees buckled.
The world went still.
All the days of fasting, praying, starving, and fighting—the desperate hope he had clung to—shattered in an instant.

He stood in the hallway, clutching the bills to his chest.
His tears fell freely, hot against the cold hospital linoleum.
God… why?

A CRUEL REMINDER OF BETRAYAL

He stumbled out into the streets.
The city felt different now—empty, mocking, indifferent.

Turning a corner, he froze.
There it was: his home.
Repossessed. Sold. Gone.

And there, on the front lawn, a massive poster of Lena’s new lover.
A man in a pristine suit, grinning, giving a thumbs-up as if the world were his playground.

Daniel’s chest tightened.
The house he had built, the life he had fought for, the love he had trusted—it all belonged to someone else now. It belonged to Adrian Cross.

Every memory… erased.

THE NIGHT FALLS ON DESPAIR

By nightfall, Daniel found himself curled on a bus bench, shivering.
The streetlights flickered above him.
A breeze carried the faint hum of traffic and laughter from distant apartments.

He rested his head against a real estate sign—the same company that had sold his home.
Lena’s new lover’s face - Adrian Cross - smiled down at him mockingly from the poster.

Daniel closed his eyes.
For a moment, he felt hope flicker. Maybe tomorrow could bring something. Maybe… something could change.

But sleep came heavy and cold, and the reality pressed in:
He could not escape the pain, the betrayal, the loss.

Tears ran freely down his face.
And for the first time in weeks, he did not fight them.
He only prayed.