The Lost Daughter | Short story

The Lost Daughter Had Been Found!

A lost girl woke up from the cold and grassy ground, scanning her surroundings. All she saw was darkness and that made her squirm in discomfort. She had never been alone before and to make it more ominous, something told her that she's not alone. Squinting her eyes, she could make out the outlines of trees and bushes, which depicted that she was definitely out into a forest. The lone girl didn't remember anything before this. All she knew was that she's all wet and freezing now that the wind had picked up. Walking around aimlessly, she prayed to whoever was listening that she'll find someone who might be able to shed a light on who she was and how she got here.

She sauntered into the woods for quite some time until her feet wouldn't budge anymore. Her body was exhausted and throat dried from dehydration. Her stomach grumbled viciously, letting her know that it had been deprived of food for who knows how long. She took a moment to rest, and as soon as she laid down in front of a big tree, her eyes fluttered close. The girl's body was shaking as the night became chillier, but her fatigue overcame those odds as she slumbered against the trunk of the tree.

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A girl was running, scared, judging from her whimpers but she was not alone. There was a woman whose hand held her own, and she was looking around for something or someone. They kept running until angry voices echoed throughout the place and the woman halted her steps.

Kneeling in front of the girl, she said something to her, but the girl couldn't quite understand what it was as her words were unclear. She hugged the girl, and directed her index finger straight ahead before kissing the side of her head. The girl left the woman behind and kept running without sparing her another glance.

"Run daughter, run." The woman whisper shouted.

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The lost girl was awoken from her sleep by someone shouting. It was the voice of a woman, and she seemed to be in pain as her wailing could be heard all the way to where the girl had taken refuge. She strained her ears, trying to understand what the woman was saying, but it was difficult since the woman was crying, and that action muffled her words. Standing up on wobbly legs, the girl tried to identify where the woman could be by the sound of her distressed screams. She walked straight ahead and took a left, dragging herself to god knows where. She was completely drained, and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep off today's event. The only problem in her plan was that she had no idea where home was.

Soon, she found herself getting closer to the wailing woman, as she could now make out the muffled words that were coming out of her mouth. The woman's back was to her, and the girl paused to see if she was a real person.

Goodness, what are you thinking?

It's night time,and I'm by myself into some forests, so the woman can be a ghost. Who knows?! The girl mentally argued with herself.

"Honey," the woman called out desperately. "Where are you?"

The girl decided to come out of hiding and face her, since this woman was the only person that she had crossed paths with so far.

"Hello?"

The woman's head snapped up to her so fast that the girl thought she might've strained her neck, but clearly not by what happened next. The woman turned fully and ran straight towards her, engulfing her into a bone-crushing hug. The girl stilled for a minute or two before trying to pry herself out of the unknown woman's arms. To her, she was someone she just met. A stranger, and strangers didn't hug each other that way.

"I don't mean to be rude but who are you?" Questioned the girl, still wiggling her way out of the tightened hold.

The woman pulled back a little, but still at arms length and looked the girl in the eyes. Her brows knitted in what looked like confusion, and then her eyes widened in realisation. She was caught in the heat of the moment that she didn't acknowledge that the girl she had embraced was not her daughter. She looked to be a little older than her little girl, and had auburn hair rather than blond like her own. Once again the woman's hope was crushed, seeing as she was now back to square one.