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She vanished as the year ended and Noone knew why. They searched and never found a trace of hope. She would always be remembered as the one who cared too much. The one who sacrificed herself for others yet as the summer ended and a new year began everyone slowly began to forget her. Meanwhile three towns over a young woman freshly turned thirty saw hope for a new life. She had decided that she would find her son and this time Noone would stand in her way. She prayed daily in hopes that she would lose her heart even though she had to make some tough decisions for the sake of her and her son. She knew that to go against a man so evil she couldn't risk being too kind, she had to toughen up. Her heart had always gotten in her way and she was left with nothing. She had alot of work to do. First she started with a part time job, it barely fed her but it was enough. She volunteered her extra hours to save up money for a small apartment. Sleeping alone at first was scary she had nightmares nearly every night of the things he used to do to her. She woke up every night in terror afraid of what her son was going throw, hating herself for not being there to save him. She cotinued her search every weekend she would drive down every place she knew his father was likely to be around and called everyone he'd ever known. Finally three years later she had gotten a call from her sister "Hey Daisy I think i know where your son is!" Ruby said in excitement "How? Where? Are you sure?!" I said frantically "Yes, Tim was just arrested in Salem for a shooting on two different accounts. He's has to be somewhere around ther!" So I quickly grabbed my I overnight back and rushed to my car and drove that night to salem. I felt a glimpse of hope in my heart as if my soul knew he would be here. I arrived around 2 in the evening and waited until the elementary school let out. My heart felt a tugging drowing me to this location. My son was here and I could feel it. 3 o'clock the bell rang and kids were rushing to the buses and near the end of the line was a light brown headed boy with green eyes and a ninja turtle backpack. I followed the bus hoping to not be noticed. Luckily the third stop the boy got off and walked up to a rundown trailer with an older lady standing at the door. I walked up ready for anything but I didn't even make it to the door before the boy recognized me. "MOMMY!!!!" He yelled and ran up to me and hugged me. Tears instantly fell down. I turned to his grandmother and told her "I am taking my son home. And don't try to fight me we have waited long enough." She looked at me in shock "I never tried to hide him i swear it was all him I promise!!" She pleaded "Then you have no problem grabbing his things then?" I replied "Yes." She said in defeat. Soon after she returned with a few outfits a bag of toys and a booster seat. "He will be out one day you. You know that right?" I looked her in her ieyes and she knew i meant every word. "Yes. And when he is, if he can find me, I'll be ready and this time he should be the one terrified. And everyday since I have been training myself for his return. And me and Simon lived safe and happy ready to defend our home.
She has disappeared, just as the New Year celebrations are to reach their climax. She often disappears. Rather she hides, and it's his role to find her. But the timing his wrong. He follows the clues to look for her, hoping to do so quickly to re-join the celebrations. He finds her, but not where either of them expected or wanted to be.
The story starts with a girl disappearing, but was she ever really gone? A bit sadder than your average challenge entry, but I hope you enjoy. This story is written in first and third person, in an unusual format that seems more poem than narrative.
Leaving in the Republic of Ireland, I created a story which involves the Magdalene Laundries, which existed in Northern and in the Republic of Ireland. I set the story in the year 1996, so no cell phone etc. existed, as we know it today. It is hardly mentioned what happened at the crime scene, ore what stood in the diary. All persons are fictional, so made up by myself. I do not know, if a similar case once happened, but I think it did not, so also that crime is made up.
What is not fictunal is, that the last Laundry did close in 1996 in Dublin. Also some other things which are mentioned, like, when another Laundry was closed, or how they could find some mass graves can be read at the internet, although I did not go too much into details, so it does not get too terrible for reading it. Yes it is a sad ending, but I also tried there to be as positive as possible. I have no clue, what I am allowed to write in todays world, but I tried to write so nice as I could. To be honest, every real news, for all when war is involved are more cruel, than what I wrote, still you will realise it is a crime story. I know, that normally you write a summery of the story, but I wanted to make clear, that this is not a true story, that only some places existed in reality, but none of the persons mentioned or the story itself happened in that way. The one or other thing I have from news-article of BBC and Co.
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Paid StoryThem. New Year’s Eve- New Year
"She vanished just as the year ended. I don’t know how else to put it." Annie’s husband was trying to explain what had happened to the police officer taking his statement, though he didn’t understand it himself.
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On a frigid New Year’s Eve, Donna disappears, leaving behind only a faint trail of footprints in the snow that mysteriously ends beneath the old sycamore tree. The heart of her neighborhood and the glue of her family, her absence sends shockwaves through her husband, David, and neighbor, James. As fear and unanswered questions mount, the search for Donna grows desperate. With every passing day, the silence grows louder, and the freezing winter air becomes heavy with longing, guilt, and unspoken truths. As the snow blankets the town in stillness, those left behind are forced to confront not only the mystery of her disappearance but their own fears of what might never be found.
When my mother took her life the day before the winter solstice, five days before Christmas, she didn’t just leave me behind—she left me with an inheritance I couldn’t refuse. Darkness became my shadow, grief my companion, and every step forward felt like slipping further into her absence. But the body has a way of keeping score, and now mine has secrets it refuses to let me ignore. This is the story of reckoning with what we inherit, what we bury, and what refuses to stay buried.