Chapter 2: Sorrow
Sarah started to consciousness as she felt the back of her hand slide from her aching neck, and touch the waxy hardness of the cold, marble tile. How long this time? How long had she been asleep? Did she know what day it was? She thought so. Did it matter? Jadyn. Jadyn was what mattered. Jadyn was gone. A magic trick that couldn't be rivaled by the Goblin King himself. Now you see her...now you don't. One minute she's there and the next...gone. The police. The police station. That's where she was, the police station. 3 long days of not knowing. 3 long days of bottomless cups of coffee and little bouts with sleep. Sarah sat up slowly, bench creaking, and rubbed her swollen, red eyes. Eyes that had shed so many tears that each one put together would make a small body of salt water. She stands up and stretches mechanically. Her hips feel bruised, and her limbs are all protesting loudly. She bowed her head and ran her hands through her hair, and looked up. Her eyes fell on the stroller. Her intial panic of the situation had been dulled by the long march of hours since Jadyn disappeared, but it was still there. Just like the stroller taht lays folded next to the bench.
"Ms. Williams, you should go home." "But I want to stay here just in case there's some word about my baby." "No, ma'am, you mistake me, I mean you SHOULD GO...home." "But", he stopped her objection with just an expression. In a gesture of hope, Sarah picked up Jadyn's stroller and shuffled her way out of the police station door.
The bright sunlight of noonday hurt Sarah's eyes, and momentarily blinded her. She shielded the sun from her eyes for a little bit. The stroller was banging on her hips and shins, and then hitting the steps as she wearily worked her way to the last one. She finally hit the sidewalk, and ignored the taxicabs. It was a lovely day, and she needed to clear her mind. So, Sarah decided to walk home. In her musings, Sarah thought back to the time not so long ago.
She was almost 19, and had been invited to a party. Not being very popular she couldn't imagine why she would be invited by decided to go. "Ouch, darn stroller."
Her friend, Christina, said she was going, so Sarah had imagined it wouldn't be so bad since she would be there. The party started out fair enough, although, by its conclusion, Sarah was hopelessly drunk. During this time, a certain young man had been watching her. Of course, at the time she hadn't known it. His name was "Jared", a heartbreaker. He had immediately been attracted to Sarah, and decided that he wanted to do something about the way he felt. Sarah by that time wasn't in her right state of mind, so of course when he had asked her to go upstairs she couldn't resist. She could remember him so clearly, his platinum blonde hair and mismatched eyes. His muscular build and his charming smile. That's what their relationship had been, if you could even call it that. A simple one night stand. Of course he had visited her and revealed his true identity to be the Goblin King. He refused to believe the baby was his. He threw her out of his life like an old rag doll. Her parents had tried countless numbers of times to persuade her to get rid of the baby, but Sarah had told them no, rather firmly. Her parents had told her things like, "This baby will change your life forever." And she had.
She had made it better; she had made it bearable. Jadyn had made it almost magical. "Oh Jadyn, my beautiful baby." But Jadyn was gone. The cold hard reality of it hit Sarah like a brick, and it hurt.
'Got to get home. It would be fewer steps for my sore feet if I cut through the park.' "Oh great more steps. Ouch! Damn stroller." A rising whtie stone monument in the distance signaled the entrance to the park. Looking down, Sarah started to find that she was standing on a stone bridge over looking a familiar pond. She knew the path well, and somehow she had gotten here without conscience knowledge. Many days she had spent in the park, running over this very same bridge trying to get home in time to babysit Toby; and appease her "evil" stepmother. It wasn't going to feel like home without Jadyn there.
Sarah started to consciousness as she felt the back of her hand slide from her aching neck, and touch the waxy hardness of the cold, marble tile. How long this time? How long had she been asleep? Did she know what day it was? She thought so. Did it matter? Jadyn. Jadyn was what mattered. Jadyn was gone. A magic trick that couldn't be rivaled by the Goblin King himself. Now you see her...now you don't. One minute she's there and the next...gone. The police. The police station. That's where she was, the police station. 3 long days of not knowing. 3 long days of bottomless cups of coffee and little bouts with sleep. Sarah sat up slowly, bench creaking, and rubbed her swollen, red eyes. Eyes that had shed so many tears that each one put together would make a small body of salt water. She stands up and stretches mechanically. Her hips feel bruised, and her limbs are all protesting loudly. She bowed her head and ran her hands through her hair, and looked up. Her eyes fell on the stroller. Her intial panic of the situation had been dulled by the long march of hours since Jadyn disappeared, but it was still there. Just like the stroller taht lays folded next to the bench.
"Ms. Williams, you should go home." "But I want to stay here just in case there's some word about my baby." "No, ma'am, you mistake me, I mean you SHOULD GO...home." "But", he stopped her objection with just an expression. In a gesture of hope, Sarah picked up Jadyn's stroller and shuffled her way out of the police station door.
The bright sunlight of noonday hurt Sarah's eyes, and momentarily blinded her. She shielded the sun from her eyes for a little bit. The stroller was banging on her hips and shins, and then hitting the steps as she wearily worked her way to the last one. She finally hit the sidewalk, and ignored the taxicabs. It was a lovely day, and she needed to clear her mind. So, Sarah decided to walk home. In her musings, Sarah thought back to the time not so long ago.
She was almost 19, and had been invited to a party. Not being very popular she couldn't imagine why she would be invited by decided to go. "Ouch, darn stroller."
Her friend, Christina, said she was going, so Sarah had imagined it wouldn't be so bad since she would be there. The party started out fair enough, although, by its conclusion, Sarah was hopelessly drunk. During this time, a certain young man had been watching her. Of course, at the time she hadn't known it. His name was "Jared", a heartbreaker. He had immediately been attracted to Sarah, and decided that he wanted to do something about the way he felt. Sarah by that time wasn't in her right state of mind, so of course when he had asked her to go upstairs she couldn't resist. She could remember him so clearly, his platinum blonde hair and mismatched eyes. His muscular build and his charming smile. That's what their relationship had been, if you could even call it that. A simple one night stand. Of course he had visited her and revealed his true identity to be the Goblin King. He refused to believe the baby was his. He threw her out of his life like an old rag doll. Her parents had tried countless numbers of times to persuade her to get rid of the baby, but Sarah had told them no, rather firmly. Her parents had told her things like, "This baby will change your life forever." And she had.
She had made it better; she had made it bearable. Jadyn had made it almost magical. "Oh Jadyn, my beautiful baby." But Jadyn was gone. The cold hard reality of it hit Sarah like a brick, and it hurt.
'Got to get home. It would be fewer steps for my sore feet if I cut through the park.' "Oh great more steps. Ouch! Damn stroller." A rising whtie stone monument in the distance signaled the entrance to the park. Looking down, Sarah started to find that she was standing on a stone bridge over looking a familiar pond. She knew the path well, and somehow she had gotten here without conscience knowledge. Many days she had spent in the park, running over this very same bridge trying to get home in time to babysit Toby; and appease her "evil" stepmother. It wasn't going to feel like home without Jadyn there.
