At first, I thought it was nothing.
My daughter had been a little distant for a few days — quieter than usual, spending more time in her room, barely talking during dinner.
I told myself it was just a phase.
Teenagers go through these things.
But then I started noticing small details that didn’t add up.
One evening, she came home and rushed straight to her room without saying a word.
That’s when I saw her shoes.
They were covered in mud.
But it hadn’t rained all day.
I didn’t ask her anything.
I just watched.
Later that night, while she was in the shower, I went to her room.
I didn’t want to invade her privacy… but something didn’t feel right.
So I opened her school bag.
At first, everything looked normal.
Books. Notebooks. Pens.
Then I saw it.
A folded piece of paper.
My hands started shaking as I opened it.
It was a note.
With an address I didn’t recognize.
And next to it… a bus ticket.
Not from her usual route.
That’s when my stomach dropped.
If she wasn’t going where she said she was…
then where had she really been going all this time?
I didn’t sleep that night.
The next morning, I made a decision.
I would follow her.
