One Night

Ch 9. Don't cry

After a few minutes of holding my hand, she crawled out from under the bed and sat next to me.
“Hi there!” I said with a big smile on my face.
The little girl looked down at the floor and said nothing. I could tell she was still scared.
I started running my fingers through her hair with the hand she wasn't holding.
“Your hair is very beautiful,” I said.
She looked up at me and began to run her fingers through my hair as well.
I smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.
My eyes widened at what I saw.
There was a huge chunk taken out of the top of her ear.
The little girl immediately pushed my hand away, started screaming, and went back under the bed.
Confused, I looked under the bed and saw her curled up into a ball. She was shaking in fear again. What happened to her?
I put my hand back under the bed to see if I could calm her down again, but she grunted and started hitting it.
I pulled my hand out from under the bed.
“Owch. What the heck?” I yelled.
Her eyes started filling up with water. She was going to start crying again.
I took a deep breath and reached my hand under the bed again.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you. I promise I am not going to hurt you ok?” I whispered.
She grabbed my hand, and I pulled her out from under the bed.
“Ok. Let’s try this again,” I said as I lifted her up onto my lap.
I wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her.
“See? I am not going to hurt you,” I said.
After a few minutes of sitting like that, I heard an alarm clock go off.
I stood up and put the little girl on the big bed.
Why is an alarm clock going off?
I followed the beeping of the clock into a little pink room. There was nothing in the room but a black alarm clock in the center of the floor.
I picked it up and turned it off.
8:15
Why was the alarm set for 8:15?
I went back into the room the little girl was in, and I picked her up off the bed.
“It’s getting late, and I really don't want to leave you alone. So let’s go back to my place! How does that sound?” I asked.
She hugged me tight and put her head on my shoulder.
I smiled and started walking down the stairs. Why would someone leave her here? Where are her parents?
I opened the front door, and I got hit with a horrible odor. It smelled like something was rotting.
I looked around, but there was still no one outside.
I covered my nose and walked across the street to my house.
When I opened the door, I was greeted by my parents. They looked very surprised to see me holding a child.
“Uhh, Easton, who is this?” My mom asked.
I looked down at the little girl I was holding. Her bright eyes were staring right back into mine.
“I am not really sure.”