The Lost Girl


The sun danced across the murky water that Anna was staring at. She was shocked at the reflection she saw in the lake. Anna moaned as she placed her pale dainty hand over her black and blue eye. She slowly let her hand slip down her face until she reached her bleeding lip. The taste of blood lingered in her mouth as she remembered the past events of that day. It was only hours earlier that she was faced with her worst nightmare.


Anna woke up to the sound of her foster parent, Jeff, arguing with his wife a few rooms down. This was how a normal day had started for Anna, with the sounds of her foster parents fighting over nothing. She hopped out of her bed and tip toed her way to the hallway trying not to disturb her foster parents. The screams echoed through the hall as Anna made her way to the kitchen. She grasped the white refrigerator handle and yanked open the fridge. Inside the fridge, Anna snatched the orange juice and some eggs. She grabbed a plate and a glass from the wooden cabinet next to the fridge. Anna walked over to the stove, and watched the fire flick on as she turned the knob. She cracked the two eggs into the sizzling pan. Anna flipped the egg and placed it onto her plate, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. She set herself down at the table in the kitchen. As she took a bite of her eggs she could hear her foster parents screaming at each other as they made their way to the kitchen.

Her foster mom, Rebecca, plopped down in the sit next to Anna ignoring Jeff who was yelling right at her. Rebecca gulped down a sip of Anna’s orange juice. Jeff kept shouting at Rebecca about some guy she had talked to the other day. He claimed that she was having an affair with this man. Rebecca could have cared less about what Jeff was saying as she took another sip of the orange juice. Jeff ripped the glass out of Rebecca’s hand and threw it at the wall. Anna’s fork fell out of her hand in shock of what had just happened. Rebecca leaped out of the seat and dodged the pieces of glass on the floor as she ran to her bedroom with Jeff chasing after her. Anna jumped out of her chair to get a broom and dustpan to clean up the mess.

As she was cleaning up the pieces of glass and orange juice she could hear the yelling coming to an end. Anna was throwing away the last of the glass when she saw Rebecca storm past the kitchen and to the front door. Rebecca was holding a suitcase full of her stuff. Soon after Rebecca came Jeff chasing after her begging for forgiveness. Usually, Rebecca and Jeff would fight a lot, but Rebecca had never left before. Anna watched as Jeff sprinted out the front door to Rebecca who had already stuffed her luggage into her cherry red fiat, and was about to leave. By the time Jeff reached the car it was too late. Rebecca was speeding down the street until her car was out of sight.

Jeff came stomping into the house clenching his fists.
“Anna come here now!” Jeff shouted down the hall. Anna came running to him.
“Yes, what do you need?”
“What do I need! I need you to stop talking and listen.” He snapped. Anna froze in her spot.
“Where is Rebecca going? Where is she going to stay? I have to find her… I. I. I,” Jeff stammered.
“She is probably with that guy,” Anna mumbled under her breath.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing,” Anna responded.
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping on our private conversations!” Jeff’s voice started to raise.
“Well how could I not hear you, you were screaming so loud.”
“You nosey little girl. You should mind your own business. I never even wanted you in the first place. I could get rid of you whenever I want. The only reason we took you in was for some extra money,” He kept rambling on all these reasons for fostering Anna a bad idea. A single raindrop fell from Anna’s ocean blue eye.
“You shouldn’t be crying. I am the one whose wife just left,” Jeff said while shoving Anna.
“Leave me alone!” Anna shouted as she shoved him back. Jeff pushed her as hard as he could. Anna lost her balance and fell onto the ground. As Anna finally scrambled onto her feet Jeff was standing over her. She could hear him breathing above her head sending chills down her spine. Jeff grabbed her arm firmly as if he would never let go. She quickly pushed him away and ran like a tiny animal running away from its predator down the hall to her room.

Anna could hear Jeff’s shoes clunking down the hall towards her room. Anna curled herself into a ball on her bed flinching every time she heard his boots hit the creaky floor. She shut her eyes as tight as she could as if it would make everything better. She didn’t want to open her eyes again because she didn’t know what would happen next. She didn’t want to have to face Jeff. The footsteps were getting closer to the door. The monster of a foster parent was coming.


As the door burst open her heart was beating a million miles per hour. Jeff strolled over to the bed where Anna was curled up into a ball. Anna looked up with her puffy eyes at Jeff. She feared what would happen next, but before there was any time to think about it Jeff grabbed her by the arm and forced her to stand up straight. Her eyes were all red and puffy and waterfalls were falling from her eyes. Jeff was filled with rage and was not thinking.


His fist hit Anna in the lip filling her mouth with the taste of blood. As one drop of blood hit the ground the second hit was coming. Jeff’s hand like a wrecking ball knocked into Anna’s eye causing excruciating pain. Anna let out a groan as she was hit by the wrecking ball. She could feel her face blowing up like a balloon. As the wrecking ball came back for a third hit Anna sprinted away and into the hall. She ran all the way to the kitchen where she grabbed the phone.


She was dialing 9-1-1 when Jeff came bursting into the room. He was acting different than his usual self. It was like something snapped inside of him. Jeff chased Anna around the kitchen table as she finally hit call.


“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?” Asked the lady over the phone.

“Help! I am being attacked!” Anna screamed on the phone.

“What is your location?” As Anna was about to answer Jeff knocked the phone out of her hands. He quickly slapped her across the face. More tears started to pour down her face as her cheek turned bright red. She started to back away from Jeff slowly as she saw him winding up to hit her again she noticed something shiny. In the corner of her eye she spotted a knife lying on the counter. In one quick movement she grabbed the knife causing Jeff to back off.


“Come on I dare you, you won’t do it,” He teased her as he got closer to her. Jeff jumped at Anna and in one swift motion she stabbed the blade into his stomach. Jeff fell to the ground with the knife sticking out of his stomach bleeding uncontrollably. Anna sprinted away with the blood on her hands to her bedroom. She didn’t know what she had done, it all had happened so fast.


Anna didn’t know what to do, or what to think. She was hit with so many emotions all at one time. She was sad, mad and scared. She was upset that she hurt her only family. She was angry that her only family could hurt her so badly physically and emotionally. Lastly, she was frightened about what would happen to her next. With all these emotions Anna couldn’t think right. All she knew was that she had to get out of there now.


Anna snatched her sunglasses and started to sprint down the street away from the house. WEE WOO WEE WOO! The police sirens wailed behind her as she kept running faster and faster away. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get as far away as possible. As Anna was running she realized that there was only one place she should go.


She made her way down the long gravel driveway to an abandoned lake house. The lake house where she had spent almost every summer with her parents. The lake house where Anna and her babysitter heard the news of Anna’s parents death. The lake house where she realized her life would be different forever. That is why it was the perfect place for her to go.


Anna strolled slowly to the back of the house. The lake glistened as Anna made her way towards it. The shining sun reflected off the lake into Anna’s puffy eyes. The house was located in the middle of the woods where it was quiet and peaceful. It was a great place for thinking, and thinking was what Anna had to do. Anna might have killed her foster dad, her parents were dead, and she didn’t know what she was going to do next. So...she put on the sunglasses ---looked out over the lake and her life was never the same again.