CONCLUSION

MARISSA woke her brother to take her to the upscale area on the East Coast where Aditya lived with his parents, prayers in her mind for the child. She met with the grandmother and an aunt who had stayed home to take any calls that may come in.

The grandmother, though distraught, was surprised to see Marissa and asked in a slightly condescending tone, “Why are you here?”
“Aditya called and asked if I could help in any way.”

A displeased look flashed across her face when she said, “I guess he has gone against what we told him.”
Marissa took a deep breath and responded calmly, “The reason being, I’m the child’s teacher and his safety is my concern.”
The grandmother was not receptive to her response and she asked, “Do you know the area?”

“No.”
“Well, I don’t see how you can help.”

Marissa did not let her tone bother her and made her observation, “It’s a gated community so I’m guessing he won’t go out, which means he’s in here somewhere. Was the front gate open?”
“No, and he can’t open it,” the aunt answered.

“Is there another gate?”
“Yes,” the aunt answered again, “Let me show you.”

A small gate at the side of the yard was open into a vacant lot.
When coming in, she noticed that the area had a playfield and a few vacant lots with tall weeds and thick overgrown grass. From her experience as a teacher, she knew a little child wandering away would most likely follow a pet so she asked, “Does he have a pet?”

“No,” the grandmother answered but on second thought, she said, “A resident’s bunny sometimes comes in our yard and he would run behind it, but never out of the yard.”
Marissa’s brother brought a flashlight from the car and they began searching the vacant lots, calling out Aryan’s name. She stepped into muddy patches, unbalancing and almost twisted her ankle once. They came out onto the road and met with other searchers and two policemen. Marissa identified herself and her brother, given they were strangers and the search continued.
Marissa couldn’t understand how no one saw a little boy in pyjamas on the road.

“Maybe he kept in the shadows,” she surmised to herself.
She went into the playfield though she was told the area had already been searched, thinking maybe they could have missed something because it was a big ground. She stood in the middle where the grass was thicker and higher due to the unseasonal rain.

The wind was blowing heavily with a moaning sound but somehow, she thought she heard a weak moan. She called his name again and this time as the wind lulled, she distinctly heard the sound. The other searchers were shouted for as she pushed through the thick grass. She found him weak and lying on the ground, mud on his pyjamas and a black bunny cuddled up next to him.

She picked him up in her arms after realizing he had hurt his ankle, crying with relief as her brother sent a message from her phone to Aditya.
Aryan was rushed to the hospital by relatives and Marissa returned to the house, not realising how muddy her clothes were, her arms bleeding from the scratches from the tall weeds. The grandmother was crying, overwhelmed by the whole frightening incident and she said to Marissa, “I’m sorry I was not nice to you. Thank you for finding my grandson.”
Aditya reached early the next morning, met with his family, his mother still somewhat traumatised, and then went to the hospital to see his son. He held him in his arms, so emotionally shaken he couldn’t speak for a long moment. The doctors assured him that Aryan was fine except for the sprained ankle that would soon heal. Both families were pretty shaken from the incident and deeply grateful to Marissa.

He went to see her late that afternoon, an overwhelming feeling of relief and joy filling his heart as he embraced her.
“I don’t have enough words to thank you,” he said.

“You don’t have to,” she said gently, “He’s a child of my heart, like all the children and I felt deeply concerned for him and you.”
He smiled with sincere gratitude and said to her, “Remember I told you Aryan recognised something in you?”

“Yes.”
“Well I must confess, I do too.”
She smiled, tears of happiness filling her eyes.

From a child’s heart, and the script of fate, love had found her.