Hunger — Michelle Sagara

A short story of 4k words

When he first saw the starving foreign child, he was five years old; the next time he saw her, he was six -- and she was a ghost. A ghost who came at the start of every Christmas, lingering for twelve days before she once again left him in peace.

But what did it mean? Why did she choose to haunt him? And what, in the end, must he do to give the the peace they both deserve?