A Mother's Love

The search for the missing boy extended from hours into days. Parents, teachers, and friends were all scared that the little boy would never be found. Exhausted, they searched everywhere that a little boy might be - even in the dark and dreary basement. The constant acknowledgment ringing in their ears that perhaps he had been kidnapped brought fourth their worst fears, their anger, their sadness and their guilt.
    Of all the people searching there was none so alone and so afraid as the little boy's mother. Her heart and mind was tormented with the "what if" syndrome. If only she had paid more atteniotion to him, she thought, if only she had listened more closely to him. If only she been there for him just as she always promised she would be, then perhaps, she would be holding her little one. But deep in her heart she knew that she was never a good mother.. She knew that this was all her fault. Even still, she hesitated to admit that she didn't pay attention to him; consequently, at this very moment she had no idea where her son was. With every voice screaming her son's name (each one seeming louder than the previous), chills trickled down her spine. It was Joyce Walker's scream that shrieked through her soul and caused her to come crashing to the ground. It was then that this mother of the little missing boy made a promise to her Higher Being. She knelt down and promised that if her son was found, she would love him the way a mother should always love a child. She would in fact cherish him.
   Thirty-four minutes after that prayer, her son was found. Her prayers had been answered and now she would fulfill her end of the pact. Tears of joy washed down her face as she ran to where her little boy was. She was only fifteen feet away when she realized her worst fears. Her son lay dead. A note was beside him: "I luv u Mommy! U r the Best Mommy!!! I hope this what u ment when u wishd I was never born." Her little boy was only 8 years old.


-Robert Hutchinson