Someone entered the clothing room. Laura looked up. It appeared to be a security guard. Her stomach churned, concerned that the guard would recognize her as the bike thief. Instead, the security guard smiled at her.
“Hi there. What’s your name?” he asked.
“Laura,” Laura squeaked.
“Laura. Little girls like you shouldn’t be unsupervised. Do you know where your parents are?” Laura’s mind went blank. She couldn’t think of a single answer that would satisfy the security guard. “Hmm. Okay, come with me then, sweetie.” The security guard held out his hand. Having no other choice, Laura took it.
Next to the big, burly security guard, Laura felt particularly small. The guard led her over to the desk in the children’s section of the library, behind which a friendly-looking young woman sat. The woman smiled at Laura.
“I found this little girl in the clothing room. She doesn’t know where her parents are.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” cooed the woman. She stood up and walked over to Laura. “You can sit with Miss Kelsey for a while, okay?” Kelsey brought Laura behind the desk and put her on a stool next to her chair.
“How long?” Laura asked timidly.
“However long it takes to find your parents,” Kelsey said. She looked at the security guard. “Check around to ask if anyone knows of a toddler named Laura. If you can’t find anyone, call the authorities to tell them we have an abandoned child.” The security nodded and left. With the security guard gone, Kelsey smiled at Laura again. “Do you like coloring books?”
“…Yes,” Laura mumbled, uncertain of how else to respond. Still smiling, Kelsey grabbed a coloring book and a box of crayons off her desk and handed them to Laura. Kelsey watched her expectantly. Laura silently opened the book to a picture of a dinosaur and began to color it in.
As she colored, her mind worked overtime, trying to think of a way to get out of the situation.