An apple a day [Max w/Artemis]

Sydney Faustus

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It's like every friday on routine. By the time I pick up Jules from the sitters, we always head into town. It's more of a mommy and daughter outting where I buy her a cute something before we go home and eat something sweet that we normally don't do during the week. On Fridays though, we always try to match with our shirts and she's always gotta have her hair put up in something other than just straight down. She don't like her hair in the way and she refuses to let me cut it any shorter then it already is. Who am I to make those decisions when she's such a headstrong little girl with a furocious attitude.

By the time we've reached the fruit stand, she's getting antsy and yawning at the same time. I figured there was too much stimuli here, but I still had to do the shopping.

"Mumma. I wanna go home. I tired." She complains, whimpering as she holds my hand as if I'm killing her. She pulls slightly and then with a simple glare from my mother's eyes, she quiets down enough that she's satiated to stand beside me. The vendor man in front of me offers her a simple bit of a sweet 'On the house' he mentions to her with a wink and I look at her with a nod telling her it was okay. She meekly took a bite and then turned around while I messed with the fruits in front of me.

"I need to get a dozen bananas if possible and whatever else you have that I can get with this." I show him the money in my hand and he goes to collect a few apples as well. It happened quickly as I watched the old man with a beard and balding that as I looked beside me, her presence was no longer there. My heart jumped into my throat. My fingers instantly held onto the table as I looked underneath it thinking that just maybe she was playing a game of hide and seek, but as I turned either which direction, I notice that she was completely missing.

"Jules... no. JULES." I screamed out as the vendor man came back with my fearful yell and he showed enough concern to ask what happened until he noticed that the little dark haired girl he had given a peice of fruit to only moments earlier, was now no where to be seen with a mother frantic in front of him.

"She can't have gotten far. She's little." He turned to the vendor beside him and got the woman's attention. When the word got out, three voices started calling out for the little girls name. Mine was loudest as I forgot the fruit and felt my world tumbling down around me.

"JULES! Come back. Mommy's right here. Where are you?" I turned to the man and then dashed off in search of my missing daughter.