Gone.....
The child was gone.

It was just like any other day,
the little girl had gone out to play.
Six years old,
lost and forlorn.
Mom was an alcoholic,
dad was unknown,
baby brother, two years ago
he passed away,
leaving her

Alone.....
Always alone.

The perfect victim.
Who would notice this little girl
with the knotted mop of yellow hair?
Who would care if she disappeared?
Poor little girl,
neglected and ignored,
never wanting to go back
through her front door.
No safety at home,
no comfort, no love,
never any kisses,
never any hugs .

Scared.....
Always scared.

But who wouldn't be?
The yelling, the screaming,
purple bruises healing.
The teachers and neighbors,
couldn't they see?
Always turning a blind eye.
Not caring if that little girl
lived or if she died.

But someone was watching
plotting and waiting.
The opportunity would arise,
when the sun was high in the sky,
on a warm spring day
April, 1985.
Innocent little girl,
green eyes squinting in the sun.
A smile on her face
despite all that had been done.
Her wagon and her doll
is what she had with her that day,
when she'd been sent out, by herself, to play.

Snatched away by a stranger,
a man that was unknown.
Yet he didn't hurt her,
he took her to his home.
He loved her, he hugged her
and read to her at night.
There were tickles and kisses
and in the end she was alright.
She always called him Daddy,
no longer lost and alone.
The yellow hair, the green eyes
so much like her own.

She thinks back to that day
and what that wagon represents,
a new life with no more lies.
The past is gone forever,
now she lives in the present tense