He wasn’t stopping to ask anyone for money. He wasn’t eating the bun or drinking the tea.
He was walking with purpose.
So instead of trying to catch him, I followed him.
We walked for blocks until we reached the edge of the city.
There he stopped in front of an abandoned house surrounded by weeds and overgrown grass.
The old man knocked gently on the door.
I hid behind a tree nearby and watched.
The door creaked open.
“You said I should tell you if anyone ever asked about the jacket…” the old man said.
I peeked around the tree.
And my breath caught in my throat.
“Ethan!”
My son stood in the doorway.
His eyes widened in shock.
Then a shadow moved behind him. Ethan glanced back at it—and suddenly ran.
“Ethan, wait!” I rushed forward.
I burst into the house and chased him through a hallway. A back door slammed open and I saw Ethan and a girl sprinting toward the woods.
“Ethan!”
I ran after them, shouting his name.
But they were faster.
Within seconds they vanished among the trees.
I drove straight to the nearest police station and told the officer everything.
“Why would he run from you?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice shaking. “But please help me find him before he disappears again.”
Hours later, close to midnight, the officer approached me.
“We found him near the bus terminal. They’re bringing him in.”
Relief hit me so hard I nearly collapsed.
“And the girl?” I asked.
“He was alone.”
They brought Ethan into a small interview room.
The moment I saw him, tears filled my eyes.
“You’re alive,” I whispered. “Do you know how worried I’ve been? Why did you run?”
He stared at the table.
“I didn’t run from you.”
“Then why?”
“I ran because of Lily.”
Slowly, he told me everything.
In the weeks before he disappeared, Lily had confided in him. Her stepfather had become angry and unpredictable, yelling and breaking things nearly every night.
“She said she was scared to stay there,” Ethan said quietly.
I remembered the man who had answered the door at her house.
“He told me she was staying with her grandparents.”
Ethan shook his head.
“He lied.”
Lily had come to school that day with a bag already packed. She planned to leave.
“I tried to stop her,” Ethan said. “But she was determined.”
“So you went with her.”
“I couldn’t let her go alone, Mom.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
He swallowed.
“I promised Lily I wouldn’t tell anyone where we were. She thought if people found us, they’d send her back.”
“And today?”