Written for MLMM Monday Wordle;
the prompt words are shown below.
I was also inspired by the image of
beautiful flowers behind bars from
Sadje’s “What Do You See” prompt.
Here’s where the prompts took me.
China, find, high, hunger, inside, place,
plea, pretty, shy, start, think, wonder
She came from China with a hunger for something better …. a place where shy girls could start again, find work, find hope.
They said she was pretty. She did not think this was a compliment anymore.
Inside the locked room, she would wonder about her mother’s face. She could still hear the plea ‘come home, come home’ carried on a phone call that lasted thirty seconds before the signal died.
The men spoke in loud high voices about money, about ownership, about things she no longer had.
But somewhere, a social worker paused outside a door and listened. Something felt wrong.
Sometimes the ones who find you are the ones who were not looking.
Sometimes a locked room calls out to one person on the other side.
She had to believe that was true.
NAR©2026
#MLMM
#Wordle
This is “Behind the Wall” by Tracy Chapman
Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 
Well done exposing this story of the underbelly of our society, Nancy!
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Thank you, Susi. Such a horrific scenario; how anything like this exists is beyond me.
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You’re welcome! It is, and, like you, I’m shocked that something like this exists in our societies.
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That’s such a very sensitive telling of an awful reality.
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Thank you for a very beautiful comment, Irish. That means a lot to me. 😌
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Such a sad state of affairs for these girls. You did a great job on this Nance.
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Thanks very much, my friend. I never planned on writing a story like this, but everything just came together.
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Thanks for joining in Nancy. I’m wondering how old the girl is.
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My pleasure, Di; the words worked for me. The girl can be any age; sadly, people who exploit young girls and put them in extreme danger do not discriminate because of age.
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I thought that was the basis of your story.
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Another good one, Nancy. One you want to shake off, but you keep going back, hoping…
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It’s an awful subject and I don’t usually go this dark, but it just seemed right. Thanks so much, Lois.
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Such sad loneliness is so difficult to imagine, but your story captured those internal feelings exquisitely, Nancy …
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Thanks so much for your very kind comments, my dear friend. This is an exquisite song; thank you for sharing. 🩵 🎶
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Yes, a delicate song for your story my friend 🎶🥰
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Merci, mon ami 🥰
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Wow, your story and the song gave me a chill. There is so much struggle and sadness. Excellent writing, Nancy.
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Thank you so much, Brenda. I’m pleased to know my story left an impression.
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I’m sorry I thought that the mom was in trouble, but it was the daughter. 😅
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No worries, sis! Thank you 😌
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It’s a pleasure. And teaches me to read more carefully. 😅
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Thanks for joining in.
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It’s a pleasure, Sadje.
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😍😍😍
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A very moving story. I hope the she was rescued. And now the daughter can live her life in peace.
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Thank you so much, Sadje.
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You’re most welcome
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