The Wish

The little girl knelt at the window ledge looking up at the night sky studded with stars.

She closed her eyes and made a wish, as she had done before on many a nights, that one day her real mother would come looking for her.

She had been left at the entrance to the Church a long time ago, or so she was told by the Nuns who took care of them at the orphanage, after her many pleadings to find out about her birth mother.

She sighed and got off the ledge and made her way over to the bed and climbed in, carrying the tattered old teddy bear which was left in the wicker basinet along with her, many years ago.

She named him “Shabby" as now that’s exactly how he looked. She gave Shabby a kiss good night and placed him on the bed beside her and nodded off to sleep.

Elsewhere........

Jessica sat in her rocking chair on the porch, gazing up at the night sky sprinkled with stars. She had been married for two years and she and her husband were expecting their first baby, which made her think about her past.

She closed her eyes which were welling up with tears as she made a wish, that she could see her baby again.

The memory of losing her daughter had haunted her every single day for so long that many a nights she had cried herself to sleep.

She recalled the last time she saw her precious little one, she had gone back to finish high school four months after giving birth.

Her father was against her keeping the baby, he had been urging her to give it up for adoption. Her boyfriend Steve had wanted her to get an abortion as he didn't want to have anything to do with the baby.

When she refused, he dumped her and started going out with another girl. She didn't have the heart to get rid of it.

"It's another human being, another life. The baby was a part of her. "How could she bring herself to do it?" she had asked herself.

And so Jessica had made up her mind to have the baby even though it meant that she'd have to make certain changes in her life.

She found a part time job waitressing at the local Diner where she worked every weekday after school. She needed to make money now that she had an extra mouth to feed as she got no help from her father.

Her neighbour, a kind middle aged lady named Sarah who was like a mother to her, had agreed to babysit the little one while she was away at school which was a big relief for her.

One evening Jessica returned home from the Diner to find that her baby was gone.

Sarah told her how her father had come in with one of his drinking buddies and grabbed the basinet with the sleeping baby in it and ran out while his buddy held her down preventing her from doing anything.

Jessica was so distraught and angry at the thought of never seeing her child again. She never forgave her father for his actions, as he refused to tell her what he did with the baby. He kept telling her that she is better off, without it, having to drag her down.

"That's a human being, not an object and she has a name and it's Hannah!”

she remembered yelling back at him.

No matter how much she pleaded with him, she couldn't get him to tell her what he did. He died four years later taking the secret with him to his grave.

All this time she had been wondering what happened to her baby "was she in an orphanage? Was she given to someone to adopt by her father?" She knew that these questions will never be answered.

She had moved to this new city, which was actually a few hour's drive from her previous home town, after graduating from college and landing a job at the local school as a kindergarten teacher two years ago, which is where she met her husband.

Is her decision to become a teacher a way to fill the void left by the child she lost so long ago? She often wondered about that, maybe that's why she was drawn to the idea of teaching kids.

Maybe having this baby will help to fill the void. "That is highly unlikely, even if I have a dozen kids." She told herself.

One Saturday afternoon Jessica was on her way to their favourite restaurant with her husband after catching a movie at the theatre. They passed by the park where they saw a group of children from the orphanage playing, watched over by several Nuns.

She noticed a little girl sitting on a bench playing with her teddy bear. She walked over to the iron railing to get a closer look.

Her husband asked her what's wrong as he felt her tense. She looked at him and smiled saying “nothing's wrong honey."

Somehow that teddy bear seemed a lot like the one she bought for Hannah so long ago, she wondered, could she be her? Could she possibly be her Hannah?

She dismissed the thought at once. "There could be thousands of teddy bears out there which looked exactly the same," she told herself shaking her head and taking her husband's hand while continuing on their way.

Meanwhile..........

The little girl was having a great time, she loved coming to the park. They had been playing all sorts of games and having fun. She was sitting on the bench relaxing playing with Shabby when she saw her.

A beautiful lady was standing on the other side of the iron railing watching her. She was tall and had long sandy blonde hair just like her.

She was standing next to a handsome man, whom she assumed was her husband. Could she be her mommy? She thought to herself as she watched them continue on their way holding hands.

Later.............

They were returning back from the restaurant after lunch and passed by the park again on their way home.

Jessica wanted to see the little girl again, but all she saw was a few joggers and a couple walking their dog.

She glanced towards the bench where the little girl had been sitting, and spotted a brown lump on it.

Jessica ran all the way to the other side and entered the park, with her husband trailing behind her, confused.

As she reached the bench she realised that it was the teddy bear, the poor girl must have left it behind by accident.

She picked it up and turned to her husband and said, “we have to return this to the little girl. She must be missing him terribly.” Her husband nodded in agreement and took her hand in his as they made their way over to the orphanage.

The couple were greeted by the Nun in charge who showed them in to the sitting room. Once seated she began to explain why they were both there and showed the teddy bear to her.

The Nun let out a sigh of relief as she told them she had sent their gardener to look for it, but that he had come back empty handed which made the owner of the teddy bear even more upset thinking that she may never get him back.

She thanked them for their trouble and asked whether they would like to give it to the little girl themselves, to which Jessica replied “yes, of course if it's no trouble."

The Nun smiled and said, “it's no trouble at all, I am sure little Hannah would love to meet the rescuers of her friend Shabby."

Jessica looked at the Nun, confused and said, “I am sorry, did you say Hannah, her name is Hannah?”

The Nun looked at her equally confused and replied “yes, she was left at the Church, years ago and there was a hand written note pinned to her blanket, which mentioned her name as Hannah.

Jessica nearly collapsed to the floor. Her husband caught her just in time and made her sit on the couch.

She started to sob uncontrollably, as the Nun looked on in bewilderment, as her husband began to relate the story of his wife's past.

The Nun gave him an understanding nod and exited the sitting room to fetch Hannah.

A moment later she returned, with Hannah in tow. She looked a little nervous and shy as she hid behind the Nun and peered at them.

When she spotted Shabby she ran towards the young woman holding him, whom she now recognised as the lady from the park.

She said “thank you for bringing Shabby back" in the most sweetest little girl voice, as the young woman knelt in front of her holding the teddy bear gazing into those adorable bright blue eyes she remembered so well, and said,” I’ve found you, I have finally found you!"

THE END