As Laura sucked on her thumb thoughtfully, she heard footsteps. Pee squirted into her fresh diaper with fear. She looked around for somewhere to hide and dove behind a potted plant.
The source of the footsteps, the night security guard, rounded the corner, shining a flashlight. Unfortunately, the beam of light landed squarely on Laura, negating her attempt at hiding. The night security guard walked over to Laura and crouched down, smiling at her.
“Hey, sweetie, what happened?” he asked kindly. “Did your mommy and daddy forget you?” Laura took the lie. She nodded jerkily. “Well, that wasn’t very nice, was it?” Laura shook her head. “What’s your name?”
“Lowa.”
“Laura?” the guard asked. Laura nodded. “All right. Laura, I’m gonna make a couple calls. In the meantime, you can play with this.” The guard handed Laura a child’s tablet. He showed her how to use it, then walked away. Laura idly played the various toddler apps, enjoying it more than she thought she would. However, she kept an ear out for the guard’s conversation.
“This is Robert Stevenson, I’m the night guard at the library,” he said into his phone. Laura winced. Robert Stevenson? That was her high school boyfriend’s name! She thought he had seemed familiar. “I was doing my patrol when I came across a toddler or baby girl hiding behind a plant. She says her parents left her and her name is Laura. I was just wondering what I should do right now.”
There was a pause.
“Got it.” Robert hung up his phone. He came back to Laura. “Laura, sweetie, until we can find your mommy and daddy, you’re going to stay somewhere special.”
“Whewe?” Laura asked. Robert seemed surprised by her question, but answered it anyways.
“You’re going to stay…”