a silence… as if she were keeping a secret too big for a five-year-old girl.
One night, when I raised my hand to wipe away a drop of water that remained on her shoulder, Sofia shuddered slightly.
It wasn’t strong.
It wasn’t obvious.
But it was enough to make my heart clench.
“Are you okay, my love?” I asked her.
She nodded.
But he didn’t look at me.
He just looked down at the ground.
In the following days, I began to notice small bruises on her body.
At first I thought it was because of playing.
Kids are like that.
But the bruises started appearing more frequently.
On the arms.
On the knees.
One day even on the back.
“Did you fall?” I asked him.
Sofia shook her head.
And he remained silent.
That night, I sat beside her on her small bed in our rented house on the
