Chapter 2: The Search
Chapter 2: The Search
Sarah brought Noah and her daughter, Lily, into a nearby restaurant.
A warm meal appeared in front of him.
Chicken soup.
Fresh bread.
Hot chocolate.
Noah stared at the food for several seconds before touching it.
As if he was afraid it might disappear.
Sarah watched quietly.
Every bite broke her heart.
No child should eat like that.
No child should know that kind of hunger.
As Noah ate, Sarah made calls.
Old friends.
Former neighbors.
Anyone who might know what happened to Emily.
Hours passed.
Then finally, someone answered.
An elderly woman named Mrs. Dawson.
"Emily?" she said over the phone.
"I haven't heard that name in years."
Sarah's pulse quickened.
"Do you know where she is?"
A long silence followed.
Then came the answer.
"Last I heard, she was living in a shelter outside Milwaukee."
Sarah nearly dropped the phone.
Alive.
Emily might still be alive.
That evening, Sarah showed Noah a small photo album.
Page after page revealed pieces of a life he had forgotten.
His mother at a birthday party.
His mother holding him as a baby.
His mother laughing beside a lake.
Noah touched the photographs carefully.
Like they might break.
"She loved me?"
Sarah immediately grabbed his hand.
"More than anything."
The boy looked away.
His voice became very small.
"Then why didn't she come back?"
Sarah had no answer.
Not yet.
But she silently promised herself one thing.
She would find Emily.
No matter how long it took.
No matter how far she had to go.
May you like
Because no child should grow up believing he was abandoned.
Especially when the truth had not been told.
