Missing

This one's about a girl, aged nine, walking alone on a road, trying to recognise her mother's face among the milling crowd. The dry afternoon made her eyes look sullen and emptied each time a strange face locked gaze with her. She lost strength, mind and body, both needing rest, she pulled herself apart and sat on the pavement.

The only hope she had was a faint memory of seeing her mother on this very road few hours back, holding her hand tightly, before the girl's hand had slipped our of her grip.

This is a missing family member, a missing link to a human bond, a picture on a crumpled paper that fell from a wall, or a child missing her parents.

As the night came along, her fears surfaced with a great vigour this time, and a strange pair of hands reached out to hold this frail kid. Of course no one saw the shudder or the liquid eyes. No one saw the pair of hands either. Missing.