Winn woke up with a start, downstairs he heard the banging of multiple pairs of feet and lots of yelling. Scared that it was robbers trying to take all of their stuff he grabbed his blanket and favorite teddy bear and crawled under his bed. Hiding under there he closed his eyes and waited for them to leave.
After a couple more minutes of banging and yelling his door suddenly burst open and a bunch of men stormed in. All Winn was able to see from his vantage point under the bed were their boots so it took him a couple of minutes to recognize them, but eventually Winn realized that they were police officers and crawled out from under his bed. Once he was out of his hiding place Winn ran towards the nearest officer and hugged her, apparently they weren't all men. His mom had always told him that cops were the good guys and that if he was ever in trouble that he could trust them.
Winn turned towards the cop and started babbling, unable to control himself, "R-robbers. Here. I tried to hide-" he was cut off by a sob, it was getting harder and harder to breathe. "A-and then you came. And mommy said you guys- you guys will protect me." Winn looked up at her, trying and failing to slow down his breathing. "W-w-will you protect me?"
The cop picked him up and gently shhed him. "Hey, of course. Now can you try to take some deep breaths for me?" She placed a hand on his chest, "with me okay? In… and out… in… and out." Winn tried to breathe with her and found the pain in his chest retreating somewhat. "Better?"
Winn looked up and gave her a toothy smile that she returned. "Are you here to stop the robbers?"
Her face fell, "I think we should talk about that at the station."
He sensed that she wasn't telling him something and his mood suddenly shifted. "Wh-where's my mommy? I want my mommy!" He yelled as sobs once again started to shake his small frame.
She started to rock him back and forth, "it's okay, it's okay." She held him tight and tried to comfort him. "You wanna go to the station with me? I can call your mom once we get there." She smiled at him, wiping some of the tears off of his face, "you can ride in the police car, we'll turn on the sirens and everything."
Winn gave her a weak smile at that. Honestly that sounded really cool, but right now all Winn really wanted was to see his mom. Her hugs always made him feel safe and loved, like he was the most important thing in the world. Instead he just asked, "Is it okay if I bring my teddy?"
She beamed down at him, "of course!" She carried him out of the room and out of the house where there were a bunch of police cars surrounding the house. Winn knew then that this was more than a simple robbery but he still had no clue what was really going on.
Winn suddenly realized how cold it was, they had woken him up so all he had on were a matching pair of thin Buzz Lightyear pjs. He snuggled a little closer to the cop in an attempt to get a little warmer. Luckily they soon arrived at her cop car and she gently placed him in the front seat, because Winn was a big boy who didn't have to sit in the back, and cranked up the heat.
As they drove down to the station Winn tried to enjoy the ride, it really was cool being in a real life cop car complete with sirens, but all he could think about was why the cops were at his house and why his mother wasn't there. Eventually they arrived and the nice cop helped him out of the car and into the station.
"Stay right here Sweetie. I'll just go call your mom okay?" He nodded, feeling a bit better now that he knew his mom would be there soon. He just had to be strong for a little bit longer.
As the cop walked away, presumably to go find and call his mom, Winn realized that he didn't even know her name. When she came back he'd have to ask.
And so he sat there, nobody for company other than his teddy which he held tight to his chest, waiting for the nice lady to come back. After what had to be at least ten minutes the lady came back and sat down next to him. "Um… Mrs. Cop Lady?"
She chuckled, "yes?"
"What's your name?" Winn asked, "Mine is Winn."
"My name is Augy." She sat down next to him, "I called your mother and she said that she'd be here in about an hour, would you like something to eat?"
Winn nodded and fiddled with his teddy, "Augy, what happened?
"I'll tell you once your mom is here, ok?" He nodded and she stood up. "How about I get you a bag of cookies from the vending machine, my treat." This time his nod was much more enthusiastic.
She left to go get the cookies and Winn was once again left alone, he glanced up at the clock. The small hand was past the nine and the big hand was on the five. Winn wasn't great at reading clocks yet but he knew that in an hour the small hand would be past the ten and the big hand would be in the same place. An hour. He could wait an hour.
Fifteen minutes later Winn was happily munching on some cookies and playing with his teddy.
Thirty-five minutes later he was curled up and shivering, just staring at the clock. Augy came over and gave him her jacket, "Look what I've got Kiddo," she pulled out a Mad Libs book and they started playing.
Once the hour had passed Winn started to ask for his mother. He was tired, cold, and lonely. Despite Augy's best efforts all Winn wanted was to be held by his mother. "Here, let me go call her." and with that Augy too was gone.
Then one hour turned to two.
Augy's shift ended an hour and half after Winn arrived. After that he was truly alone.
By the time the small hand was on the eleven and the big hand was on the twelve Winn was in tears. All he wanted was his Mommy, why wasn't she here? One of the cops came by and gave him a blanket and told him that his mom would be here soon. Winn nodded and laid down, it was way past his bedtime and he was tired. Maybe Mommy would be here when he woke up.
When he woke up the little hand was on the nine and his mommy was nowhere in sight. Winn started crying when a lady came over and sat next to him. "Hey there Buddy, I'm Anna. What's your name?"
He sniffled and replied "Winn."
She beamed down at him, "Hey Winn. I'm here to talk to you about what happened last night and-"
"Where's my mommy?"
"I'm sorry Winn but your mother never came to pick you up and we can't leave y-"
Winn started sobbing again, "MOMMY! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
Anna gathered Winn up into a hug and started to gently rock him. Eventually he calmed down enough to ask, "Does mommy not love me?"
Anna sighed, "Of course she loves you, she was probably just far away. But for now you're going to need someplace to stay. There's this house I know that has a whole bunch of kids, and they have room for you." She pulled away enough to look him in the face, "Does that sound good?"
Winn thought about it for awhile, "What if mommy comes?"
"Then she can pick you up there."
Winn agreed to go, it was rather boring at the police station. But he had another question, "Why did the police come last night?"
"Because Winn," Anna looked anywhere but at him, "your father is a very bad man who hurt a lot of people, but now he can never hurt you or anyone else ever again."
"Ok, one more question. Can Teddy come?"
By the end of the day Anna had moved him into the foster home, that's what she called it. The man in charge was friendly, and all the kids were ok but everyday Winn would sit by the window and wait for him mom to come rescue him. To sweep him up in her arms and tell him that everything would be all right. The other kids told him that she had abandoned him and that he should just get used to his new home but he didn't want to give up.
A week went by and she never showed up, when Winn realized he didn't talk all day.
Another week and Winn stopped waiting. He started playing with the other kids more and found that he was thinking of his mother less and less. He never gave up that hope that one day she'd come though.
At his next birthday he wished for his mother when blowing out the candles.
Sometime during the year, Winn doesn't know exactly when, he accepted that his mother wasn't coming to get him.
Next birthday Winn wished for a new bike.