Here is the first chapter for "Finding Home."
Enjoy
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Six year old Normani held three year old Lauren, as she looked through both ends of the tube. She could feel her sister shake from the cold. Normani pulled her closer, trying to sooth her as much as she could.
"You're okay?" Normani asked, looking at the head of dark hair.
Lauren nodded, curling up closer to Normani. The older girl sighed, and leaned back. It had been two weeks since they had ran away. Normani had stuffed two backpacks with their things, and they ran. Well, Normani ran and Lauren just followed.
Normani was not going leave her baby sister with those monsters. Not after what they did to the girl.
"We'll be okay," Normani whispered, holding Lauren, who sighed contently. "We'll be okay."
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"Don't run too far, okay?" Twenty five year old Dinah told her three year old daughter, Camila.
The little girl nodded and ran off to the play structure. She giggled as she ran through the sand. She looked at the tube and decided to crawl through it, but stopped when she saw a small body sleeping inside.
Her shoes shook the tube, waking the other person up. Camila looked at the emerald eyes staring back at her. "Hi."
The girl let out a whimper.
"I won'd huwt you," Camila said, taking a step towards the girl.
The other girl shook her head, tears streaming down her face.
Camila was scared. She took a step back and shouted for her mother.
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Hearing her daughter's shouts, Dinah ran as fast as she could. She saw Camila pointing into the tube. Dinah was scared there was an older person in there, a pedophile. She crouched down and looked inside. She frowned when she saw a small body curling up in the middle.
"Hey," Dinah whispered, wanting to get the child's attention, but not wanting to scare them too much. Dinah could see the feature of the child and could determine it was a little girl.
The little girl whimpered. Dinah was about to crawl inside when she was pushed away. It wasn't hard enough to drop her, but it was hard enough to make her lose some balance.
"Leave her alone!" A small voice shouted. Dinah just saw another small figure crawl into the tube and pull the other girl towards her.
Dinah crouched down to see a little black girl hold the smaller girl. "We're not going to hurt you."
The girl didn't say anything. The smaller one tried to hide behind the older girl.
"Where are your parents?"
The older girl shook her head. "No, you can't take us back!" Normani slowly moved back towards the other exit. "Get on."
Dinah watched as the smaller girl climbed on the older girl's back and wrapped her arms around her neck.
The older girl started to crawl away. Dinah ran to the other end and knelt down.
"I'm not going to send you back. Look, it's not safe out here. We're not going to hurt you okay? How about you come home with me? You can get cleaned up, have a nice meal. We'll decide what happens from there, okay?"
The older girl turned to the younger one, who opened her mouth and pointed inside with a nod.
"Why?"
"It doesn't feel right to leave you here alone."
"We'll get to eat?"
Dinah nodded her head. "Can you tell me your names?"
"I'm Normani and this is my little sister, Lauren."
"Nice to meet you Normani, Lauren. My name is Dinah and this is my daughter Camila. We don't live far, just follow us, okay?"
Normani told Lauren to get off her back. Normani ran to another part of the park before returning with two backpacks. She placed the smaller one on Lauren's back before putting er own on. Both girls stood in front of the woman. Dinah took the moment to get a good look at the girls. Dinah didn't know how old the girls were, but she could tell they were too small for their ages. Their small bodies seemed to be matted with bruises. Lauren had a bruise on her cheek and a cut just above her temple. Normani had scratches on her arms and a cut on her forehead.
She really wanted to take them home to take care of them.
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Twenty-six year old Ally was cooking lunch when Dinah and the girls got to the house. Ally opened the door with a grin, but it was replaced with a confused look when she saw two small girls with her wife.
"Girls, this is my wife Ally. Ally, these are Normani and Lauren, they will be joining us for dinner," Dinah said, Camila in her arms.
Ally turned to the girls, the smaller girl, Lauren, was hiding behind the older one, Normani.
"It's a good thing I made extra," Ally said, smiling.
"How about we get you cleaned up before dinner?" Dinah offered, giving them a smile.
"I can do it," Normani said, pulling Lauren closer to her.
The younger girl just hid behind Normani, trying to stay out of the women's sights.
"Okay, I'll show you where the bathroom and get you two clean clothes, okay?"
Normani nodded.
Dinah handed Ally the girl in her arms and lead the girls to the bathroom.
"Want to be my taster?" Ally asked Camila.
"Yes p'ease," Camila said, grinning.
Ally placed Camila on the ground and grabbed a chair. She then placed it next to the stove, but not too close. She then had Camila stand on it and taste the food. She's tell Ally that the food needed chocolate, or candy. Ally would just laugh it off, and ask her to try it again. Camila always liked it better the second time.
Dinah returned with Normani and Lauren, who were clean and in new clothes.
"Camila, do you want to show Normani and Lauren the living room? You guys can watch television before dinner," Dinah suggested.
Camila nodded, and Dinah placed the girl on the ground.
"Come wit me!" Camila exclaimed as she ran to the living room.
Lauren moved closer to Normani. The older girl turned to look at Dinah. The Polynesian woman nodded. "Go ahead."
Normani lead Lauren to the living room.
"So?"
"We found them at the park. It didn't feel right to leave them. They are sisters, runaways I believe. When I asked about their parents, Normani sounded so scared."
"What are you thinking?"
"Keep them here until we decide on what to do. We can call child services, but I don't know if they'll be take from us."
Ally nodded. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Help me finish dinner."
"I love it when you're bossy."
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Normani led Lauren to the table. Camila was already at the table, a small booster seat on the chair (Camila stopped using high chairs because she wanted to eat at the tables with her mothers so Ally bought a booster chair). Dinah had placed the extra booster chair on another seat for Lauren.
"Do you want me to help you?" Dinah asked, not wanting to scare the girl.
Lauren looked at Normani before nodding. Dinah gently picked the girl up and placed her on the booster chair. Normani climbed on the chair next to her.
The five sat around the table. Camila started eating as soon as she sat down. The girl was a vacuum. No one knew where the food went.
Dinah looked at Lauren, who still hadn't said a single word. The girl looked so confused.
"Are you okay Lauren?"
Lauren didn't answer, she just turned to Normani.
"We don't know how to use this," Normani answered, signaling to the forks.
Dinah and Ally exchanged looks before showing the girls how to hold the forks.
"How old are you?" Ally asked shortly after they all started to eat.
Lauren looked at Normani.
"I'm six, Lo is three," Normani answered.
"Camila, don't play with your food," Dinah reprimanded.
Camila looked up at her mothers. "Otay."
Dinah smiled. Lauren and Normani ate their food, savoring each bite. Dinah wondered when was the last time the two girls had a good meal. She wondered how long they were on the streets for. She wondered what they had gone through.
She watched Normani help Lauren, feeling her protective nature flare up as she watched the girls.
She was going to protect those two girls. And looking at Ally, her wife wanted the same thing.
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Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter.
So, these updates won't be as consistent as Lost Inside. These will have more thoughts put into each chapter.
There are 6 empty slots that can be filled with requests, but don't request now. Wait until some of the questions you may have are answered.
I know have some questions and they will be answered as time goes by. (I know one and that will be why hasn't Lauren said a single word, but that will be answered in the next chapter and a few chapters after you'll find out how/why Dinally got Camila.)
-Drunk Breadstick out, PEACE!