The thread between a mother and child starts to unwind when the child begins to walk, talk, and run. It stretches a little more on the first day of school. It swirls and unfurls the further the child gets from Mom's reach. One thing is constant -- that it always remains.

Emily Joof channeled her Gambian upbringing to pen this story, which was inspired by a local tradition of leaving a thread with the child when a parent travels.