Emma, a single mother struggling to make ends meet, found herself in a tight spot when her regular babysitter canceled at the last minute. With no other options, she approached a homeless woman named Sarah, who had often sat outside the local café. Nervously, Emma explained her situation and asked if Sarah would mind watching her young daughter, Lily, for a few hours. To her surprise, Sarah smiled warmly and agreed. Emma left, hoping for the best but also feeling uneasy. As Emma drove to work, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She had just left her daughter at home, alone with a stranger. She had spoken to Sarah a couple of times before, but she didn’t know much about her, except for the fact that she was homeless. But today, she had no other choice than to leave Lily with her… Emma couldn’t stop thinking about what she had done. Had she made the right decision? What if this was a huge mistake? She got increasingly worried, especially when she couldn’t reach Sarah or Lily. She couldn’t take it any longer and hurried home to check on her daughter. When Emma walked through the door, she saw something that she had never expected. She couldn’t believe what she had come home to! She was shocked and tears were streaming down her face. What was it that Emma saw when she came home? And why was she so shocked? Emma sighed as she looked at her phone. She was just about to leave for work when she saw that Lisa, her babysitter, had canceled their appointment last minute. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t take her daughter to work with her. Emma decided to call her boss and explain the situation to him. She quickly called her boss, Mark, and explained what had happened. But, unfortunately, he was very harsh. “I don’t care what you do, just figure it out! I expect to see you here in 30 minutes.” She was disappointed, but she was not surprised. She was used to this behavior from him. But still, she needed to come up with a plan. Luckily she had already brought her son, Sam, to daycare. But Lily did not have any school today, and even though she was no baby anymore, Emma didn’t feel comfortable leaving her home alone just yet. What was she going to do? She knew that all of her friends were at work right now, too, so she couldn’t ask them for help. She stared out of the window, trying to think of a plan, when something caught her eye. Actually, it was someone. A thought popped into her head, but quickly, she tried to shake it off – she couldn’t do that… Or could she? Emma decided that even though the idea sounded completely crazy, she had no other choice. She walked outside and walked toward the local café right across from her flat. She took a few deep breaths and thought about the risk she was taking, but she knew that she had to do it. Through the window, Emma had seen a woman sitting on the pavement next to the café. She had spoken to her a few times before, and she knew that her name was Sarah and that she was homeless. Emma had given her some food and money a couple of times. And now, she was walking directly toward her. Sarah looked up as Emma approached her, and she smiled. Emma greeted her and carefully explained the situation. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to ask her this question, but she took a deep breath and said, “Would you mind watching Lily for a few hours?” To her surprise, Sarah smiled warmly and nodded. She got up and followed Emma back to her front door. Lily didn’t really react when she saw her mom entering their home with this strange woman – she had seen Sarah before, but Emma wasn’t sure if she had recognized her. Not that it mattered now, anyway. She was going to be late for work! Emma quickly showed Sarah the basic things she might need while watching Lily, like the fridge, the oven, and the tv remote, and then she left in a hurry. She had the feeling that she could trust Sarah, because every time they had spoken she had been very polite and kind. But still, she felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing. At work, Emma tried to focus on just doing her job, but she had a hard time doing so. She couldn’t just forget about the fact that she had left her daughter at home with a homeless woman… As Emma realized the gravity of what she had just done, she became increasingly worried. What was she thinking?! Emma realized that right now, she couldn’t do anything about it anymore. She needed to accept things as they were and wait until her shift was over before she could go home. She had asked Mark if she could go home early, but he didn’t want to hear it. Luckily, today’s shift was a short one, she thought to herself. You see, Lisa had recently become a single mom of two, and it was tough. She loved her kids more than anything, but she couldn’t deny that it was difficult taking care of an entire household all by herself. But even though it wasn’t easy, she knew she had made a good choice. Her ex-husband had changed a lot over time. Their relationship wasn’t what it used to be, and he had picked up some bad habits… He had started drinking and coming home late, and he even lost much of their money to gambling. So, she made a decision for herself and the kids, and she filed for divorce. Now she lived alone with Lily and Sam. They had needed some time to adjust, but the kids had gotten used to their weekly visits from their father now. And things were going well! However, there was still one person making Emma’s life a lot more difficult right now… And that was her boss, Mark. He knew that Emma really needed this job right now, and he made use of that! He gave her the worst tasks and hours, and even made her come to work on her days off. And Emma just tolerated all of it – she could not afford to lose this job, so she didn’t want to take any risks. That was why she had asked Sarah to watch Lily for a bit. But she was almost starting to regret that decision… She couldn’t wait until her shift was over so she could go home. She kept looking at the clock and the minutes were creeping by. She decided she needed to do something to try and calm her mind. Emma pretended she had to go to the bathroom and locked herself in a stall. She quickly grabbed her phone and called the landline at home, hoping Sarah would pick up. This way, she could check whether everything was okay and continue working with peace of mind. But, nobody picked up the phone… Sarah returned to her desk feeling even more stressed than she was before. What was going on? Why did nobody pick up the phone? She knew Lily wouldn’t do it – she had taught her not to – but it was a little weird that Sarah didn’t pick up either. Right then, Mark came to her and started complaining about something that wasn’t even her responsibility. Emma looked at him, but she wasn’t even listening. While he was talking, she suddenly stood up, packed her things and stormed out of the office. She had enough of it! Emma felt that her daughter’s safety was more important than this job. Mark had taken advantage of her for far too long, and now it was time to make it stop. She couldn’t believe how she had let him control her – because of him, she had needed to leave her daughter at home with a stranger! She quickly got in the car and drove home. The whole way home, Emma was feeling a mix of emotions. She was proud and relieved for finally standing up for herself at work, but she was also a little worried about Lily, and sad and ashamed for letting things have come this far. She should have never let Mark influence her life like this. But she comforted herself with the thought that she had finally stood up against him now. She didn’t care about the consequences – if she would get fired because of this, she would find a new job. All she could think about now was that she was finally on her way home to see Lily. Finally, she parked the car in her street and rushed home. She groaned when she saw that the elevator was out of service, but she ran up the stairs. Minutes later, she was standing in front of her own front door, completely out of breath, searching for her keys in her bag. She quickly found them and unlocked the door. As she opened it, she listened… and she heard nothing! The apartment was completely silent. This felt odd… Emma called out for Lily to let her know that she was home, and waited for a reaction. However, it remained silent. She walked into the living room, and to her surprise, it was empty! Emma got more and more worried and decided to check the rest of the house. She quickly walked upstairs to check the bedrooms – maybe Lily was taking a nap? She opened the door to Lily’s room, but once again, she found herself in an empty room. She checked the bathroom, her own bedroom, Sam’s room, every room! But no matter where she looked, she didn’t find Lily or Sarah. She quickly ran downstairs, already imagining the worst-case scenarios in her head and starting to deeply regret the decision she had made earlier that day… A thousand questions were racing through Emma’s mind, and she was extremely worried right now. Lily had no phone of her own, and she had no way to contact Sarah either. She needed to come up with a plan, and quickly! She needed to find her daughter as soon as possible. She grabbed her phone and called the police. Luckily, someone answered her call pretty quickly. Emma explained the situation to the officer on the other side of the phone, hoping that he would be able to help her. But, sadly, his reaction was something totally different, and Emma felt hopeless… The officer was not helpful at all. He just scoffed and told Emma that she shouldn’t be surprised at what happened, since she literally invited a homeless woman into her home. Emma tried to explain that she had had no other choice, but the officer wouldn’t hear it. The officer told her that she needed to wait 24 hours before she could report the child missing, anyway. Emma angrily hung up the phone and decided that she was going to take matters into her own hands. If they would not help her, she would find Lily herself! She tried to calm herself down and come up with a plan. Yes, she was terrified that something bad might have happened to her daughter. But if she wanted to find her, she needed to remain calm and think straight. And soon, she knew where to start looking for her. Emma was going to check the café across from her window, where she had often spotted Sarah before. She wondered what had happened… She still didn’t want to believe that this woman would actually hurt her daughter. She had always been so kind and polite! But now, the situation might have changed. Emma ran down the stairs and to the café. She saw no signs of Sarah or Lily, but she went inside to ask the owner if he had seen them walk by that day. If he had, maybe he could tell her in what direction they had gone! But sadly, he had not seen anything that could help her… She was a bit disappointed, but she was not going to give up just yet. She had only begun searching! She already knew what she was going to do next: check if any of the neighbors had seen anything. The street she lived in was not busy at all, and surely people would have noticed it if a homeless woman had been walking around with a girl. After a while, she had already asked some of the neighbors if they had seen Lily outside, but nobody had seen her. Now, she had arrived at the end of the street, and she did not know any of the people who lived there. But still, she was going to knock on their doors. But here, too, she had no luck. At some houses, nobody came to open the door, and at others, people told her that no, they had not seen her little girl, with a concerned look on their face. Emma felt hopeless and she was about to cry. How could she ever have been so stupid? She was going to knock on a few more doors, and then she would take a different approach. But luckily, one of the neighbors had some unexpected news for her. The woman looked at the picture of Lily that Emma showed her on the phone, and then, she said something that shocked Emma. “Yes, I have seen that little girl!”, the woman told her, and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, someone who could help her! She asked the woman some questions, and after a few minutes, she was on her way again. She had an idea of where Lily could be. The woman had told Emma that she had seen Lily walking with another woman, who perfectly matched Sarah’s description. Luckily, she said that they looked alright, and Lily seemed excited. She had thought it was a weird match, such a sweet little girl and the older woman in dirty and ripped clothes. That was why she remembered them. Emma was relieved to hear that Lily had seemed happy, and she also knew where to go looking for her now. The woman had told her that they had gone right around the corner next to her house, so Emma went that same way. She was getting closer! She felt good that she had finally found something that would help her get closer to her daughter. As she walked, she thought about locations in this direction that Lily liked going to. She decided to try the park first – Lily always asked her if she could go down the slide there. A few moments later, Emma arrived at the park. There were so many kids there – school had just finished as well, so they had all gone to the park to play. She felt confident that she would find Lily here! She just had to keep her eyes open. Emma walked around the park, looking for her daughter. She looked near the slide, the swings, and the seesaw, but she just could not find her. She wanted to sit down for a minute and collect her thoughts when suddenly, she saw something that made her gasp. There was Lily, running around a tree with another little girl! She jumped up and ran to the tree, ready to give her daughter a big hug. She almost ran over a couple of other kids on her way there, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was Lily! Once she finally got there, she said, “Lily! I am so glad that you are okay, honey. Come here, let me give you a hug!” However, she did not receive the reaction she expected. At first, Lily ignored her. She didn’t even turn around to look at her mother… Emma was confused by this reaction. Why didn’t Lily even bother to look at her? Hadn’t she missed her? She said her name a few more times, and when the girl still showed no reaction, Emma grabbed her by the shoulder. Then, she finally turned around, and Emma was shocked… The girl was not Lily. Besides the same hair, she didn’t even look like her! Emma was embarrassed and apologized to the little girl and her mother, who was throwing dirty looks in her direction. Emma felt ashamed and quickly walked away. She really thought that she had found Lily… She was starting to feel desperate, but she knew that she still had a few more places to look. There was a fountain nearby, and Lily loved just sitting next to it and watching the water flow in all the different directions. She decided to take a look there, next. On her way to the fountain, Emma kept her eyes open and even approached some people on the street to show them a photo of Lily and ask if they had seen her. However, she did not see anyone who looked like Lily, and neither had the people she asked for help. When she finally arrived at the fountain, she walked around it a couple of times, but yet again, there was no sign of Lily. She sat on a bench next to it and looked at the fountain, just like she had seen her daughter do so often. She felt extremely guilty and could not believe that she had done something so incredibly irresponsible… She sat there and cried for a while, but as she looked at a picture of Lily, she pulled herself together. She needed to be strong for that beautiful little girl! She would never find her by sitting there, being miserable and wasting time. It was time to continue her search. Emma decided that she was going to the police station and ask to speak to an officer there, instead of over the phone. But before she went there, there was one last place that she wanted to check. She put all her hopes on Lily and Sarah being there… She walked and walked, and she was going really fast. She was almost running! People on the street were looking at her, but she did not care. She would do anything to find her kid. She was getting out of breath, but she only had a few more blocks to go. She was almost there! You see, Emma was headed to the ice cream shop downtown. Lily loved going there and sometimes, the woman who owned the shop even gave her a free cookie. Maybe this is where she and Sarah would be right now… Emma could only hope for it. Minutes later, she was finally there. The plaza in front of the shop was full of people enjoying their ice cream, young and old, boys and girls. She quickly skimmed the mass of people, but again, she didn’t spot Lily or Sarah. Then, she headed inside. Emma knew that there was a kid’s corner in the back of the ice cream salon, and it was Lily’s favorite place to eat her ice cream. She quickly walked over to the corner, and when she got there, she saw something that made her eyes fill with tears. She had been so worried about Lily, and her head was filled with many horrible ideas of things that might have happened to her, but she never expected to find her like this… She stood there and watched Lily from a distance. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing! There was Lily, finally! She was enjoying a bowl of ice cream, and Sarah sat right next to her. The woman was telling her a story, and Lily was laughing uncontrollably. When Sarah noticed that Emma was standing there and watching them, she waved at her and called her over. “Mommy, mommy! Look what I got!’”, Lily yelled, as soon as she set eyes on her mother, who was still standing there, perplexed. Lily ran to her, gave her a hug and pulled her coat, so she would follow her. She had the biggest smile on her face and she was really excited. Emma finally joined her daughter and Sarah, relieved to see that everything was completely fine. Sarah told her, “I’m really sorry that we just left like that, but she really wanted to get some ice cream… I left you a note on the fridge telling you that we were here, did you see it?” Emma blushed and nodded. She had obviously missed that note, but she pretended that she hadn’t been scared to death for the last hour or so… She felt guilty for ever thinking that Sarah would have done something bad to Lily. From the way they interacted, it was obvious that they had really bonded that day! “Sarah got me this ice cream, and she is my best friend now! Can she come back tomorrow, mommy? Pleeease?”, Lily said to her mom. Emma looked at Sarah, and she was smiling just as brightly as her daughter. Emma said, “Of course she can, honey! Whenever she wants to.” From that day forward, Emma stayed in touch with Sarah. She was so thankful for the way she had watched Lily that she reached out to local organizations, sharing Sarah’s story and helping her get back on her feet. Soon, Sarah had her own apartment and a new job. Sarah even encouraged Emma to stand up to her horrible boss, and eventually, she even got a promotion! And, Sarah continued to babysit Lily and Sam. Emma and Sarah became lifelong friends – the difficult choice that Emma had made that one day, changed her life for the better!