Free Lost Girl: Part 1 by Elodie Short

Chapter 1
     
     
    “Bye Herbert,” I say while placing thick lettuce leaf in my rabbit’s cage, “I’ll be back soon. Maybe even with some nice juicy Dandelions if I can find some for you.” He sniffs my fingers for a second in reply, but I’m sure I’ll be forgotten as soon as he attacks the lettuce.
    I check my laptop bag one last time to make sure I’ve got everything I need, before zipping it up and swinging the strap over my shoulder. Walking out of my front door, I lock it behind me and stuff the key in a side pocket of my bag.
     
    I walk down the open gallery to the staircase and let the warm breeze flow through my hair. Then take the two flights of stairs down and step out of the building.
    It hasn't been such a nice day in a very long time. I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a few seconds, letting the hot early afternoon sun warm up my skin. My mom must have known I would always relish in the summer sun, it’s probably why she named me after it.
     
    I’m going to take advantage of every ray I can, by sitting on my bench near the park. I’ve started calling it my bench shortly after I moved here, since I'm the only one to ever use it, apart from the old man with his cane and dog. He sometimes has a quick rest before moving on, but never bothers me while I’m working.
    Walking up to the bench, I smile at the sound of the children in the park laughing and shrieking. For some reason, those kids are great background noise while I'm working. I can't imagine them screaming and running around me all day long, that'll do my head in. Having them this far away, is close enough.
     
    ***
     
    Turning the last corner, I can see the bench, but stop in my tracks when I see a girl, sitting in the spot I usually have all to myself. I can hear the girl lightly sobbing, and see her shoulders jerk up and down. Slowly I walk over to her and as soon as she hears me, her head snaps up in a swift move and she looks at me, terrified.
    “Hi,” I approach her with a quiet voice, “are you lost?”
    She shakes her head at me.
    “Why are you so upset,” I ask. Placing my bag on the ground next to the bench I carefully sit down next to her.
    She looks at me with big eyes and in a tiny voice she says “they said ‘pay up or we will take Anna away from you’, so I ran away.”
    “Who is Anna?”
    She looks at me, still with those big eyes, and points at her chest. “Me,” she whispers before clasping her face in her hands again with a big sob.
     
    A shiver runs through us both at the same time, but where mine stops as a shiver, thinking this must just be some boys in the park, hers turns into a violent shake.
    “Are you cold? Or maybe scared?” I ask, not knowing what else to say.
    “Both,” she replies with clattering teeth.
    I open up my bag to pull out a sweater, “here, put this on, it might take the shivers away.”
    She looks up at me, seemingly unsure of what she should do.
    “It's okay, you can wear it for a little while,” I encourage her.
    She reaches out her hand to take the sweater, and a shy little smile creeps on to her face.
    “Now, tell me what happened. Were some boys in the park mean to you?”
    “No.”
    “Then what happened to make you so upset?”
    “I told you, they said they would take me away. I don’t want them to take me away.”
    “Who did?” I ask. I look in all directions, but I don’t see anyone nearby looking over at us.
    “Well.. I’m not sure. I was in my room at home when I heard the men. I think they are friends of Mama. She has a lot of friends. Different friends most days, sometimes the same... I think I have seen today's friends before, I recognised their voices. But they were mean today. They shouted and said she needs to pay up or they will take Anna. I only know one Anna, and that is me,” she lets out a little sob again and with a deep sigh she carries on, “so I climbed out of my window and ran away.”
     
    I don't know what to say, this is slightly