SAFE BY DESIGN · EPISODE 25

The Message That Felt Wrong

Tara didn't argue with the message or try to handle it alone. She stopped, and she found a grown-up. Everything good that evening started there.

It was ten to six on a Thursday. Tara was on the sofa next door after school, while Riya finished the day's print proofs in her home office and Arjun built something ambitious out of cushions.

Riya's phone buzzed on the desk. It was Tara, texting from twenty steps away.

“can u come to the sofa? not an emergency. just need u. dont be mad”

Tara, 13, from the next room

Tara had never texted her from inside the house before. Riya stood up.

She found her niece sitting very straight, holding her phone out face-down, like something she wanted someone else to carry for a while.