what happened to louisa xun

one

old papers were still stapled to telephone poles, her smiling face plastered on it with 'HAVE YOU SEEN ME?' written in a bold font. she walked past one, snatching it down and reading it. it was march, the spring breeze flowed through her dirty hair and she chuckled.

louisa knocked on the front door to her parent's home, sitting on the porch after a few seconds of silence. her clothes were tattered and worn, the soles of her shoes were nearly off. then the door opened behind her. she stood with haste, her mother was in front of her, a look a disbelief on her face. then came the tears.

she was suffocated with the scent of coffee and lime, her mother's signature scent.

her father was away at work, it was all he seemed to do in the couple of months that had passed. louisa sat in bath water, her mother spreading shampoo in her hair and humming the tune of the rugrats theme song. blood mixed with dirt and huifang, lou's mother, drained the water.

words weren't shared between the two and louise walked to her room. was she supposed to say everything was in the same place she had left it? she couldn't care to remember. she buried her face in her pillows and drifted off to sleep, ignoring her mother's muffled sobs coming from the other room.