Part 1

The way my life turned upside down all started with donuts. Yup, donuts. That delicious, puffy, glazed, chocolaty treat with sprinkles. It all started when I was seven years old at my soccer championship. It was intense. The goalie on the other team was staring me down. She spit on the ground and kicked the ground hard. 

“Ewwwwww!” I shouted in her face, splattering my spit on her face. It then temporarily blinded her as she screamed,

“Get it off!!!”

 I dashed around the spluttering goalie and kicked the ball into the net. I had scored the final point, and I won the Star Girls Soccer Championship. I ran with joy into my mom and dad and gave them a huge hug. Little did I know that would be the last hug I gave in a long time. I then ran around and gave my whole team high fives.

“Yay, great job out there, Abbigail,” my soccer coach bellowed as I did my victory lap. 

“You are totally the most amazing, splendid person ever!!!” yelled Taylor as I ran by. Taylor was my best friend in the entire world. 

My parents then called out and said, ”We’re going to go get donuts for your whole team because we are so proud of you guys.”

“That would be awesome!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad,” I yelled right before they left for the donut shop. I was all pumped and decided to take a break and sit down and talk to my friends. I talked and played hand games for half an hour or so. I was wondering why they hadn’t come back. The donut shop had only been a 15 minute drive. But there may have been traffic or a long line. I didn’t know so I just got out my iPad and played games with my friend. 

I didn’t know how long it had been until my friend’s mom said, “It’s been an hour and a half. Please stop playing.” 

Wait, but if it had been an hour and a half, why hadn’t my parents been back yet? I started to get worried and started to panic.

 “Where are my mom and dad?” I asked frantically. All the parents looked at each other and shared the same confused look. It was silent.

 “I don’t know,” a parent spoke up and said. 

There was a murmur of whispers by the parents going around. I could make out things like, “I always knew Tom and Sussie would be bad parents at some point,” “Oh the poor girl,” and, “Are they out at a club or something?” 

Then, sirens came blaring down the street. There was a big official car that said “Child Protective Services” on the front of it. 

A tall man in a black suit came out of the car and said, “We heard a child has been abandoned. We are here to take her to a good place.” 

What? My brain was racing. How were they here? Did someone tell them to come? Why? Who had done it if someone did? 

The big man came up to me and said, “Come with me.” I tried to escape but he was too strong.

 “Please, sir, this is a misunderstanding. My parents just went to get donuts, they will be back,” I yelled, trying to convince him and myself that that was true. But by then, I was in a truck driving away with nothing but my tablet.   

Part 2 

Ten years later, on a rocking ship, in a small bed. 

“Did you think they ever intended to come back, Abbs?” said Jaden, a fellow kid who was taken by Child Protective Services.

 “No,” I said, looking down at my feet. 

Jaden then tried to reassure me. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.

 “Are you 100% sure about that?” I said sarcastically.

 “No, I am 36.44897403890563891249% sure about it,” Jaden said sarcastically back. “But really, Abbs. No one can ever be really sure about anything, can they?” Jaden said, looking right at me.

 “No… ”  I said, giving in. 

“See? Life can’t be certain, especially if it’s someone else’s life,” Jaden said with a sad smile. “If I could predict life, I would have told my parents not to go on a trip in Miami and not to crash their car.” Jaden looked at his hands solemnly.

 “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up anything that may have brought back bad memories,” I said, patting Jaden on the back.

 “Oh no, don’t apologize. I practically find a way to bring them up into the conversation no matter what,” Jaden said, laughing slightly.

 “If we just keep looking to the future, it will end up better. And who knows? Maybe life will end up back as normal,” I said, looking out our small cramped bedroom window. Little did I know that that wouldn’t be the answer and that life would never be normal again.