Chapter Two

[Ptah]

In chapter one, our protaganist was on a freight train in Tucson.

[wildhorses]

1. oh Ptah...I just now realized what you are doing...

:hug:

[Ptah]

2. Thanks for the hug, wildhorses.

:hi: :hug:

[skygazer]

3. I ran away several times as a teenager

Nobody ever really noticed I was gone.

My daughter disappeared one night when she was 13. She'd been outside hanging out with one of her friends that evening - we lived on a farm and there were several other families that lived there as well. She was with the daughter of one of those families.

I went outside and called her at about 9 or 10 - it was summer, no school. There was no response. I went to the neighbors to see if she was there. Neither she nor their daughter was. They didn't seem worried. I was.

I called all her friends. All my neighbors. Walked the property. Yelled her name over and over. Called my best friend who helped me look.

Called the neighbors back. Told them I was calling the police. They told me not to do that because they wanted to go to bed and the police would want to talk with them and it would keep them up! Reminded me of my father who couldn't be bothered.

I called anyway. The police said it couldn't technically be a missing person case until more time had passed but they'd keep a lookout anyway.

I was awake all night. Early the next morning, we got a lead from the other girls grandfather. They'd called his house late the night before but he didn't know where they were. He suggested a couple of names - other relatives in a town about 25 miles away. He said he'd try to find out for us.

He called back about an hour later and said he'd found out they were where he'd suspected. I called the police back and they sent an officer over to get them. My best friend drove me to the police station where I found my kid. She'd gone with the other girl because the poor thing was so miserable at home (hard to blame her) that she'd decided to take off and my daughter didn't want her to be alone. They'd walked all the way to the house they ended up at.

Worst night of my life. My daughter fully accepted the fact that she was grounded for two weeks and was just grateful that she had a family who loved her. The other girl went to live with her grandparents which was a better situation for her.

I've been thinking about that night a lot lately. :hug:

[Ptah]

4. I know what a long night you had.

:hug: :hug: :hug: