A Long Way from Home

"Please, Mommy?" She asked, putting on her bestest smile. "Please, please, pleeeease?" She begged.

Her mother sighed, but gave in. "Okay, okay, Nathali. We'll go to the park, but we need to hurry before Dad gets home. Go get dressed. Put on long jeans, it's going to get cold later."

Nathali was already bounding down the stairs. She reappeared a few minutes later with shorts and the Greenday band tee that her father had given to her on her last birthday. Mother gave her a disapproving look, but picked up her keys and walked out of the house, anyway. She turned back to lock the door, expecting Nathali to be at her side, but the little girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Nathali! Where are you?" She heard a grunting noise upstairs, and ran up too see what was going on, but stopped halfway when Nathali appeared with her kite. Mother shook her head in mock disapproval, "Oh, Nathali. Are you ready to go now?" Nathali nodded, taking her mother's hand as they left the house, making their way to the park.

When they got there, the park was bustling with families and pets galore; summer vacation at it's best. Nathali let go of her mother's hand and headed directly to the swings. After settling herself, she turned back to her mother, "Push me, push me!" Her mom laughed and headed over.

After what seemed like a lifetime at the swings, to her mother, anyway, Nathali picked up her kite and started to fly it, running around until she was out of breath. She sat down on a nearby bench with her mother following close behind, breathing heavily from chasing the giggling Nathali around the park. "So," she began, "who wants ice cream?" She asked, pointing head in the direction of a nearby ice cream truck. Nathali instantly stuck her hand up in the air, smiling brilliantly. "Ok, stay right here, the line is very long, and I'm assuming that you're tired?" Nathali nodded. "Don't move from this bench, alright?"

Nathali raised her hand in mock salute. "Yes, mommy!"

"I'll be right back." With that, her mom stood and left, making her way towards the ice cream truck, looking back at Nathali every so often. It was a few minutes later, and Mommy still wasn't back. Nathali had long since regained her energy, and now she was getting restless. She decided that it would be ok if she fly her kite; Mommy wouldn't be angry, she reasoned.

Soon she was up and running about, the kite in her small hands, and not paying attention to where she was going. She found herself in the woods on the outskirts of the park. Mommy always told her not to go there. She tried going back the way she came from, but she didn't even know where that was! She started to whimper, but "toughened up," like Daddy would tell her to whenever he hit her.

Nathali blinked away the unshod tears and once again tried to find her way out. Mommy will be worried if I don't get back in time, she thinks. She had to hurry. After almost an hour of walking around, in circles most likely, she starts to tear up once again.

She sits down, her bare legs on the forest floor where the shorts cut off, but she didn't care. All she could think about was her room, with her nice, warm bed, and her Disney TV, and the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which she should be watching right now. But most of all, she wanted Mommy, and Daddy, too, no matter how much he- "Oh, no," she whispered aloud to herself, her voice hoarse. Mommy would be in tons of trouble for losing her; Daddy would probably...Sobs racked her entire body, and before she knew it she was asleep.