One month ago…
Fifteen year old Punky Brewster spent every bit of money she earned from her after school job on finding her mom. Punky just knew she had to be out there somewhere. It had been a long time since Punky was abandoned and she had come to terms with the fact that her mom was unlikely to come back for her. That is why, among other things, Punky hired a private detective. When the phone rang and the detective told her about a person he thought was her mother, Punky jumped into action.
Racing down the stairs and out to the sidewalk and then hailing a cab. She didn't even think to leave Henry a note. She normally would have but the detective had told her that her mom, or at least the person that might be her mom was in the city but that she had a flight booked. She would be leaving in just two hours. Punky had to see her, had to talk to her before she got on that plane.
As she sat in the cab, Punky thought about the different things she might say when she finally seen her mother again. She had thought about this a lot, the last few months especially so. She didn't really know what she would say because she had thought of so many different things, but she did know that the first thing would be how happy she was to see her again. And a hug. She would definitely hug her at that point.
All the sudden she seen someone sitting outside on the patio of one of the cafes in town. It's her! Punky thought. She couldn't get a good look but she was almost positive. She told the cab driver to let her off there and quickly paid him. The woman was on the move. Punky rushed after her.
"Susan! Susan!" Punky called out. She wasn't sure if her mom would recognize her or not but she thought after such a long time of not hearing the word mom, that she would probably not respond to it. So Punky ran and called. The woman was fast for someone in heels. All of the sudden the woman stepped on the bus and the bus doors closed. The bus was off before she could blink.
Punky frantically looked around for a cab but there were no unoccupied ones in sight. All Punky could think of was how desperately she needed to talk to her mom again. She seen an empty car that someone had left the keys in the ignition of. A flicker of doubt crossed her mind, but the desperate urge to see her mom again chased it away. Punky got into the car and drove after the bus.
Punky's only thought was that she had to get to her mom before she left, she just had to. She had only started driver's ed recently and knew enough to drive that car safely. Unfortunately she was driving way above the speed limit in her pursuit. Oh no…Punky thought as she seen the police lights behind her. But she couldn't pull over now, not when she was so close to seeing her mom again.
She continued chasing after the bus, paying little attention to anything else. Suddenly she seen a police car in the road in front of her turned sideways. They had blocked her in. She pulled over. Despite the trouble she was in the only thing she was still thinking of was her mom. When the police questioned her she just kept talking about her mom. That was probably what got Punky sent to Horizon instead of jail. Even the judge was worried about her state of mind.