“Mom, today at school we learned so many things! We learned how to count to 20!” Smiling brightly, the young child started reciting her numbers. “One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . uh . . . five . . . six . . . seven . . . eight . . . nine . . . ” she said, concentrating hard. “Ten . . . eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen . . . four . . . fourteen . . . fifteen . . . sixteen . . . seventeen . . . eighteen . . . nineteen . . . ” she paused. With a proud smile on her face, she jumped and yelled “twenty!”

The young child did a little dance, but soon she realized there was no clapping like she thought she would hear. She looked up in the sky to see the stars and right above shone the brightest of them all.

“Did I do good, Mommy?” She inquired.  

But she got no response.  

“Mommy?” The child asked.  

Still no response.  

“I miss you, Mommy,” she said as she looked down at her feet, suppressing a sob. She felt a brush against her shoulder, and the young child turned around suddenly.

Tears escaping from her eyes, she cried out in delight, “Mommy!”

She ran to her mother, throwing her arms around her tightly, sobbing loudly. The mother wrapped her arms around the small child, and buried her face her hair.

“I love you child, don’t you ever forget that,” the mother sobbed.  

“I won’t, Mommy,” the child responded quietly.  

The mother slowly put her back on the ground, prying her little arms off her. She kissed her forehead and began walking away. The child, confused and wanting her mommy to stay, ran after her and clung to her arm.   

But she just kept walking. The small child, unable to hang on, had to let go and fell to the floor.   

But she never stopped walking.  

“Mommy!” The child cried.  

But it was too late. She was gone.

Photo Credits: Google Images