Life is Stranger

Lost

"Chloe? Wake up. Your breakfast is ready." called Joyce from the bottom of the stairs. "Chloe? Can you hear me? Are you alright up there? It's past ten. Please answer me or else I'm coming up." Joyce began to panic a little. "Okay. I'm coming up then." Upon entering her daughter's room she discovered that Chloe wasn't there. The window was gaping wide open and the curtains were wafting slightly in the gentle morning breeze. Her bed was still made. It hadn't been slept in. 'She's been out all night. Where would she have gone?' Joyce looked around the room for a note or any other clues. She immediately noticed the empty space on the wall where a picture used to hang. 'Max's drawing. Oh no. She's left home. She's gone. Please tell me she hasn't tried to go to Seattle. She's only fourteen.' She checked the shelves. 'The butterfly picture too. She's really left me.' There was no note. She hurried back downstairs to the telephone in the hallway and studied the phone book briefly before frantically dialling a number.

"Come on come on. Answer the phone...oh thank the heavens. Anderson, it's Joyce. Chloe's run away. She's gone...I don't know. It must have been last night sometime – she hasn't slept in her bed...about eleven I think. I took her up some hot chocolate around then to help her sleep...I'm scared, Anderson. If anything's happened to her...not that I know of...her only friend was Max...I'll check the tree fort first, then I'll meet you back here...thanks Anderson, see you soon."

Joyce grabbed her cell phone and rushed out of the door, running down the street as fast as she could. 'Please let her be there. She has to be. Surely that's the first place she'd think of. It's the only place. If she isn't there then I have no idea where to even start looking. Please Chloe. Please be at the clearing. Bill, help me find her. Make sure she's safe. I can't carry on without her. I just can't. She's all I've got left. You're not here. Max has gone. I'll be all alone. I can't handle that. I don't want to be on my own. I'll never be able to cope. Please please please be okay my beautiful little princess. Your Mommy needs you so much. If anything's happened to you I'll just die. I lost Max only a few weeks ago. I can't lose you as well. Please be safe and sound.' Joyce scanned the clearing for Chloe, but there was no sign of her. She struggled slightly as she climbed the tree. The doe watched her ascend into the branches.

Chloe was hunched in the corner, her head bowed as her tears fell onto the framed drawing resting upon her raised knees. She looked so alone, frightened and vulnerable – a small child whose world had disintegrated into fragments. Joyce's heart melted at the sight. She just wanted to hold her daughter and make everything right for her. But Joyce couldn't, and she knew it. Tears started to form in her eyes. 'I can't make this right. Damn, that hurts. I hate seeing her like this. I feel so useless. I've failed her. I've failed my baby. It's not me that she needs. I can't help her. I don't know whether you can hear me Max, but she really needs you now. I wish you were still here for her. I'm sure you do too. Oh what a horrible mess.'

She sent Anderson a short text before sitting beside Chloe and placing an arm around her shoulders. For a few seconds Chloe didn't move at all. Then she slowly leaned towards Joyce until her head was resting on her mother's chest. Joyce lovingly caressed her long brown hair. An iridescent blue butterfly rested on the leaves high above them, unseen by mother and daughter.

"Chloe, she'll come back one day. I promise you. She'll come back to you Princess. I know she will. She loves you. I know how much this hurts baby, but it won't last forever. Trust me Chloe. This isn't the end, even though I know it must feel like it right now. It's not even the beginning. When she's back with you, all of this agony will be forgotten, blown away like dead leaves in fall."

"Even if she does Mom, it'll be too late. Every day without her feels like a year. I feel like someone has ripped out my insides. It's agony - actual physical pain. I feel crushed. And it's never going to go away. I can't go on like this. It's torture. Why did they take her away from me? Why did they rip us apart like this?"