Member-only story
When You Just Know Your Only Child Is Lost Forever
The shops are about to close and you’re frantically searching, when a woman grabs your arm, and says…
“You need to calm down. Tell me what is wrong.”
And suddenly I was blubbering my story to a perfect stranger, telling her that one minute I was in a store with my child, paying a bill, and suddenly she was nowhere to be seen.
“Tell me about her. What does she look like? “
My instinct was to tell her I didn’t have time for this, that I had to find my child, but there was something in her demeanour that told me she was here to help.
“She’s four years old, with blonde curly hair and blue eyes.”
“Is she a confident child?”
I was still thinking I had no time for this.
“She’s a little shy…but…but only initially.”
“What was she wearing?”
Oh for heaven’s sake…I couldn’t remember…what WAS she wearing?
“Does she like rocking chairs by any chance? It’s just that I was in that store over there, in the furniture department, and noticed a little girl swinging on one. I was going to ask her where her mother was, but…well I didn’t. People don’t always…
