I never thought five dollars could change anything. Then I slid a pair of flea-market baby shoes onto my son’s feet and heard a faint crackle—the sound of my whole life shifting.

I’m Claire, 31, a single mom who waits tables at night and cares for my three-year-old, Stan, and my bedridden mother by day. Most weeks feel like a tightrope over a canyon: one late bill and we’re falling. My ex, Mason, kept the house after the divorce and moved in his girlfriend. I kept the mildew apartment, the rattling heater, and the ache of what should’ve been.

That Saturday morning was foggy enough to make the world feel like it was holding its breath. I had one crumpled five in my wallet and a growing boy whose toes were curling against his socks. The flea market sprawled across a parking lot—cardboard, old vinyl, the damp-paper smell of someone else’s life.

Stan’s hand was warm in mine. “Dinosaur?” he asked hopefully.

“Shoes first, buddy,” I said, even as guilt nipped at my ankles. Read more below