Abandoned single mother risks her last $1,000 on an old house in the middle of nowhere. What she finds inside changes her life forever

Vacant for over 15 years. The picture showed a peeling, ghostly white farmhouse surrounded by overgrown weeds. It looked like something out of a horror movie.

But Maya didn’t see the decay. She saw possibility. She saw land, a roof, and maybe a second chance.

Her best friend Tasha was horrified. Maya girl, what are you thinking? That place probably has mold, rats, or worse. You’ve got a kid with asthma.

I don’t know what I’m thinking, Maya admitted. But we have 29 days before we’re on the street. Nobody’s renting to me.

At least this could be ours. The morning of the auction, Maya wore her old interview coat and kissed Ethan on the head. Wish me luck.

For what? I’ll tell you tonight, she whispered. The courthouse felt like another world. Developers in sharp suits filled the marble halls.

Maya, in her secondhand shoes and chipped nail polish, clutched her envelope like a lifeline. As she sat in the back, bidding after bidding flew past her budget in seconds. Despair started to creep in.

Then came lot, nudge at her $4,972. The Mercer house. The auctioneer’s voice echoed.

Starting bid, $750. Do I hear $750? Maya raised her shaking hand. $750.

A man in the corner barely paying attention muttered $800. $850? Maya lifted her hand again. $850.

$900? The auctioneer called. The same man raised his finger. $900…