Lost in Time: A Tale of a Boy and a Woman Living in Each Other's Shoes

In the heart of Mississippi lived a squinty-eyed, soft-spoken boy named Theo. Theo was six, relatively tall for his age, standing just a little over four feet. He had charcoal-black hair cut in a uneven bob that danced just slightly above his narrowed shoulders. His clothes were a simple ensemble of a red and blue flannel shirt and worn jeans, provided lovingly by his hardworking parents. On a particularly stifring summer afternoon, young Theo found himself fighting sleep, his eyelids drooping even as he sat in his modest truck bed-home, fidgeting with a deflated, dust-speckled football. That night, slumber eventually won, and Theo fell into a dream-filled stupor. The next morning, Theo's eyes jerked open. The familiar scent of his cotton comforter was replaced with a rancid smell, as he found himself engulfed in a worn, scratchy sleeping bag. He lay under a canvas tent rather than his plaid-covered bed. Deep confusion washed over the boy as he felt the sensation of damp, unfamiliar fabric encasing him — an adult-sized sweater and jeans hung loose on his lanky frame. Alarmed, he sat up quickly, a cascade of unfamiliar hair rolling into his vision. Startled, he brushed the long tresses away to look at his hands. These were not the nimble, small hands he knew. They were larger, scrapped, dirt-ridden and bruised. A look down revealed feet in a similar unsightly state. His mind whirled as he tried to form words, to voice his confusion. "Where am I?" Theo managed, but the words didn't sound like his — they came out muffled, grainy, carrying the worn cadence of a woman's voice. That woman was Martha. Martha was a 45-year-old woman standing at 5'6". She wore a stained hoodie and moth-ridden jeans. She resided on the decaying streets of Mississippi, just a few blocks from Theo's house, taking shelter under a worn canvas tent on Enterprise Avenue. Martha’s voice sounded toothless because she had major dental issues that she couldn't afford to rectify due to her homelessness and lack of healthcare. She suffered from depression, her state exacerbated by her loneliness after her husband's demise– an event that four years ago had left her alone, vulnerable, spiraling into addiction. She had a minor record for shoplifting. An act done out of desperation to survive. During the worst of her addiction, she had stolen food and hygiene products from local stores. She was not inherently a criminal, just a woman subject to impossible circumstances. Suddenly feeling older than his older brother, Theo burst into tears. The innocence of his soul came through in every sob, a stark contrast to his unfamiliar exterior. He just wanted to go home, to be the boy he was. Martha's life, the one he had inexplicably been thrown into, was harsh and brutal. Struggling with the hopelessness of his situation, young Theo cried, desperate to be reunited with the comforting familiarity of his former little life.