Elijah Moss

*(STILL IN POST) Our Daily Bread emerged from a tension I could no longer ignore. A close friend’s experience working for a professional basketball team exposed me to the invisible labor behind the glamour: chefs, cleaners, and caretakers working multiple jobs just to live. As gambling culture tightened its grip on sports, the moral contrast felt urgent. Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, I saw families balancing faith, pride, and desperation daily. This story embodies that fragile resilience. I wanted to channel my frustration into a story that exposes the unseen battles beneath the surface of our society.

Through a youth program, I mentored a young boy who was classified as someone with "severe" anger issues. Through a series of meetings and engaging activities, he admitted he hated and loved his recently incarcerated father. He hated him for the abuse but loved him for the small amounts of good he saw. He was conflicted. He came around to identify that it was sadness he felt. The perspective of the mask of anger being used to protect fears and sadness sparked an inner conversation within myself, which inspired this story, especially in terms of mental health.