“Are you going to make me ask again?” Dad said. The quiet of his voice was worse than yelling. Leni felt a ridge of fear poke up, spread along her spine. She reached out, took the tiny blue-red organ in her hand. (Was it still beating or was she trembling?) With her father’s narrowed gaze steady on her, she put the heart in her mouth and forced her lips to close.
When obedience becomes survival and submission is safety
