Lost but found: We all panicked

Have you ever felt the pain of having a missing loved one? It is not something to with on yourself or anybody at all, especially if the missing person is a child.

Today I saw a woman cry over her missing daughter and trust me, I was brought to tears. From last night to this evening was a chaos for this woman. She has only one child who was just eight years old. She and her daughter had packed in to our apartment just last two weeks. She is a single mother.

Her daughter made friends with some of the other kids in the neighborhood. Just yesterday, she decided to follow those kids to a church program organised for kids her age. Her mum let her attend after the other kids who were matured enough promise to being the little girl back.

When it was evening, the other kids came back without the little girl. The said they couldn't find her and so decided to come back. This girl's mother nearly ran mad. Her daughter had never been to that church before so she may find it hard to make a journey back home on her own. Her mother decided to go look for her at the church but couldn't find her. She came back with tears in her eyes believing that her only child has been kidnapped. We all made efforts to find the little girl that night but she was nowhere to be seen. We went to the police station to file a missing child report but were told to wait until after 24hours. The girl's mother also had to put a call across to the girl's father to tell him she couldn't find their child. The man lived in another state but had to make the journey down to our state last night. He was visibly panicked and let blaming the woman for not being able to keep their daughter safe even after he had been paying for child support.

We all went to bed last night with our hearts in our mouth. The rate of kidnapping in this town has increased recently. The man and the woman argued throughout the night. They kept blaming each other for being negligent towards their daughter.

We all woke up this morning to the child still missing. The girl's parents went back to the police station to file a report but they were still told to wait till evening. They pleaded as much as they could but the officer at the station paid them no heed.

It was this evening that the parish priest of the church where the children program was held brought the missing girl back home. He said he had seen the girl at the church chapel in the morning. It was when he saw her still sitting there in the evening that he began to ask her questions. A girl her age was supposed to be home at that time of the evening. She told him that she doesn't know the way home and was afraid of being taken by a stranger so she decided to stay in the church chapel and pray for her parents to find her.

According to the little girl, she had gone to urinate after the children program was over but on coming back, the other kids had left her. She knew the address to her house but didn't know the way home and she was afraid of asking strangers for directions so she slept at the church alter. It was in the morning that she decided to go wait and pray in the chapel for her parents to find her.

Her parents were happy to see her and she was more than happy to see her father as she has not seen him in a long while. We were all very happy to have the little girl back.

Even though it was a very bad experience for all of us when the girl went missing, it was still an avenue for a family reunion.

We can all sleep peacefully this night, knowing fully well that the precious little girl was lost but has bee found. It is a thing of miracle.

The girl's dad is throwing a party for everyone tomorrow morning in appreciation of our efforts in helping to look for his daughter.

The tears and self blame that the girl's mother went through were enough to make me not wish such a bad event on any parents. I myself couldn't eat comfortable throughout the whole saga because I loved the little girl too much. It is so painful when you have to loose a loved one. I thank God she was found and brought back in one piece.

Thanks for reading

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