abandoned

         I remember years ago my parents driving our old beat-up truck into this old and creepy forest. Our truck had comfortable leather seats that I fell asleep on many a time, even if there were stains in them. Some were brown from all the Coke spilled on them, and some were purple from old juice stains. I remember sitting on them with my stuffed bear hugged to my chest because I was only five years old.

My parents were talking quietly in the front of the car about what type of music was better. I think my mother's taste was the best. They then pulled into the forest where there was a patch of grass that looked like it had almost been prepared for someone to park on. They pulled into that spot and turned around and said they were going to get some berries so we could have dinner. They told me to stay in the car until they came back, otherwise they would put me in time-out.

At that young age I hated getting in trouble, so I stayed in the truck.

Soon the sun slowly dipped below the horizon and it started to get dark. The moon hid from my view as trees towered over the truck. I started to feel tired, and as I curled up in my seat hugging my stuffed toy to my chest, I thought to myself that the next time I woke up my parents would be there.

Instead, I woke up to no one.

I started to cry and scream for my parents, but no one came. All I could hear was the sound of wolves in the forest howling to the moon and the trees waving about in the wind.

I must have been in that truck for a couple of days because I was to scared to move until a policeman walked up. He didn’t look like one of those scary policemen on the TV. He had an old but kind face, and his voice almost had an Italian accent.

He walked up to the truck, saying quietly into his radio, "We found the girl, but she looks like she has been here for a couple of days at least. She looks like skin and bones."

He came to the door next to me and asked if he could open it. My voice wouldn’t work, but I nodded my head, and he opened the door. He introduced himself as Jesse Haven. He told me I didn’t have to speak right now, but he said he knew who I was because I had been reported missing after not turning up to school for a couple of days.

He asked if he could pick me up and take me to his police car where I could see the lights and sirens and where he could give me some food.
At first I was scared because I had been told not to move, but eventually I nodded my head. He picked me up, but almost immediately I started to wiggle and get upset. He looked around trying to figure out why, and then he saw my toy had dropped onto the floor of the truck when he picked me up. He bent down, picked it up, and handed it to me. I immediately tucked it under my chin.

He carried me over to his car and placed me in one of the seats at the front so I could see outside. He told me he was going to drive me back to the police station so I could sit in his office and warm up a bit.

It didn’t take long, only about ten minutes, but the whole time he had the radio on and was singing along. I remember laughing at one point when he attempted a particularly high note and failed.

Eventually we arrived at the police station. He said he would carry me in so that no one would bother me. He carried me into the station and into his office. There was a couch with a giraffe blanket on it, and he put me on the couch and tucked the blanket around my shoulders. It was so comfy and cozy.

He told me he was going to grab a member of his staff called Zuri. He never told me her surname until a couple of years later.

Once he left, I started to cry because the feeling in my heart, like something was becoming whole, had disappeared.

Luckily he was only gone for a few minutes. When he came back with who I think was Zuri, he rushed over and said, "Don’t worry honey, you’re safe. I’ve got you."