The confusing truth

“You have three days until we are taking her away. Amber’s mother has asked for her and her tracking chip has shown us that she is here. We will be back in three days. Goodbye.” The two men in business suits and ties closed the door and walked away. Madeleine turned around and Amber walked into the room.

“What did you hear?” asked Madeleine 

“Everything! What have you been keeping a secret from me? I am your daughter, I should know this!” said Amber with an angry look on her face. 

“Amber, I am not your real mother, I have taken care of you and loved you for the past twelve years and…”

“I don't care!” Yelled Amber. “Tell me the truth!”

“Okay, I will tell you, this won't be easy for you though.”

Madeleine started to tell the story. “Twelve years ago, I was alone, I had no one else in with me, I was alone in this cottage. It had been two years since my husband died and I had been terribly lonely and sad. I felt like there was nothing I could do. I would go to work in the morning, work until 4 o'clock and then come home. I liked that routine because after work I had a lot of time to sit alone and be sad. It was definitely not what my husband, Ben, had wanted for me. He had loved all of the crazy crafts and projects I did and we loved biking to work together. After he died, I stopped doing all of that, I didn't care enough to do it. Anyway, one day, my coworker asked me to come with them for coffee to talk about a problem at work. I went with her and we talked for awhile then managed to solve the problem…”

“Mom, what do I have to do with all of this?” Asked Amber

“Be patient, I'm getting to that part.” Said Madeleine 

Madeleine waited for Amber to quiet down and then continued with the story. “ After we solved the problem we said goodbye and then left. I was walking through meadow park, the park just around the corner…”

“I know where meadow park is, you don't have to tell me this.” Said Amber 

“Let me finish the story please” said Madeleine and she continued. “I was walking through the park, feeling somewhat cheerful because we solved the problem. I suddenly stopped, I heard a soft crying but there was no one in sight. I followed the noise and found à bundle of blankets lying on top of a melting snow bank. I picked up the blankets and unwrapped them. Inside of all of those blankets was a little baby. That baby was you. I brought you home and took care of you. Suddenly, my life had a purpose, to take care of you.”

 Amber had never seen Madeleine look so sad. She was normally the most joyful, adventurous and loving person but right now, all Amber saw in Madeleine was pure sadness.

“Okay,” said Amber, “enough with the sadness, I will try to forgive you later on but right now we need a plan. Even though you have lied to me, I still want to stay with you.” 

“We need to leave,” Said Madeleine, “I talked to those people over the phone and they said that your mom was Florence Davis. I searched her up and found that she is à scientist, trying to create humans in labs. It also said that Amber Davis was her first attempt.”

“My last name isn't Davis though.” Said Amber.

“Yes it is, I just gave you my last name, Harris, instead.” Said Madeleine, “Anyway, we need to make à plan. Let's go to Italy, hopefully that is far enough away.”

“I've changed my mind,” said Amber, angrily, “You've lied to me, I don't want to go with a liar. I'll let myself get taken back by my TRUE mother. Maybe she’d treat me better than you!”

Amber stormed up to her room. She started to pack her bags and would get into Madeleine’s car and force Madeleine to drive her to her real mother. 

She finished packing and decided that she would leave tomorrow. In the morning, she asked Madeleine to drive her. After much convincing, Madeleine got in the car and Amber hopped into the back seat. 

“I'm only doing this because it is what you really want, not because I think that it is the right thing to do,” Said Madeleine, “Her office is at 16th and Oak street.”

They drove for about 20 minutes when suddenly Amber said “Hey! We just passed Oak.”

“I'm not letting you go that easily.” Said Madeleine. “We have another hour and 40 minutes of driving before we get to our destination.” 

“Where are we going?” Asked Amber, anxiously.

“You'll see” said Madeleine.

An hour and 40 minutes later, they drove into a small village. They drove past all of the houses until they stopped at the end of the row. Madeleine got out of the car and rang the doorbell. An elderly man came to the door. 

“Max, this is Amber, she is my adopted daughter. We need a place to stay for a few nights. Could we stay with you please?”

“Sure,” said Max “I will always have a place in my heart for friends of Ben”

They stayed the night. Halfway through the night Amber couldn't sleep so she got up and climbed out the window and into the backyard. In the yard, there was a small house with a door that was slightly open. She went in. In the living room there was à small kind looking man reading à book. He jumped up from his chair and saw Amber standing in the center of the room.

“Who are you and why are you here?” He whispered

“I am Amber, I came here with Madeleine because she didn't want me to go back to my real mother. My real mother is à scientist and I was one of her experiments.” Said Amber.

“I am Ben Harris, I have been living here for the past twelve years because I made the biggest mistake of my life. I need to stay here or else that one mistake could kill me. It broke my heart to leave Madeleine without an explanation but it wasn't safe for me to stay any longer. Do you think she will forgive me? I really wanted to see her again, I have been missing her so much.”

Together, they walked into the house and woke Madeleine up. When she saw Ben, her face lit up with joy. “Where have you been all of these years, I thought you were dead.” Said Madeleine 

“I made the huge mistake of helping Florence Davis with her studies, when I quit, she said she would kill me because I gave away her plans. I never wanted to leave you but I can't stay with you. You and Amber will leave tomorrow, I can't put you in this kind of danger.”

“I love you both. Hopefully we will see each other sometime again” Said Ben as he went into the small house.