Pāhonoa te oro

When the sickness came again, it was worse than before. Her coughing echoed through the village. Her breathing was shallow and broken. She dragged herself outside her hut expecting the usual. But the road was empty. No children playing. No mothers walking. No pregnant women passing. Silence. She waited. Hours passed. Nothing. She tried to sit by the roadside. She tried to call out for water. But no one answered.