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Every
day, to and from school, children ride the
bus
Most of them do so willingly without putting
up a fuss
The step off the school bus and start
heading down the block
Parents are either working or home watching
the clock
Suddenly they realize their child is not at
home
It's not like their child to leave home on
their own
Fearing for the worst they call for help and
say
Our child should be home because she was on
her way
Authorities tell the parents that she's not
the only one
That chose not to come home and that nothing
can be done
They didn't want to wait around or hear that
same old song
Your child is here somewhere and there is
nothing wrong
Day descends to darkness then into the night
Not a word from anyone and no child within
sight
Authorities told the parents that she simply
ran away
And when she got the notion she'd return to
them one day
Every day the family prayed and kept the
hope alive
They prayed their daughter had the strength
to be able to survive
After days of emptiness they began to lose
their hope
Reality wasn't allowing them any way to cope
Then they got a text message from the
suspect's phone
Authorities then knew she didn't leave home
on her own
Finally they traced the call and knew right
where they were
But how they were going to get to them they
weren't exactly sure
The man who took their daughter on that
fateful day
Was someone they'd been looking for though
they would not say
Over a year this man had planned how he
would take this child
Comfortable, badge in hand, he approached
her and just smiled
He said he had her brother and she had to go
with him
It didn't take too long to know that things
were looking grim
For several days she suffered, tormented by
this man
She could not escape him as he had the upper
hand
She knew that to survive she had to gain the
edge
So she took his phone away and stuck it
through a wedge
Her courage and her wisdom helped keep her
alive
And gave her all the strength she needed to
survive
Barbara Hinson (2007)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barbara Hinson is a
Criminal Justice Major, working on her Ph.D.
at South University in Columbia, South
Carolina. She has worked as an
investigative journalist and has worked for
many years with Southeastern Filmmakers.
The focus of her work has been on cold cases
and missing persons.
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