Chapter 1

May 14 20xx

It was a lovely day and quite hot. So some people had to stay indoors. Hope and her family though decided to go to the beach.

It was a nice family of three. Hope with her parents played in the sea until they were practically exhausted.

"Hope we should take a break now. Daddy is tired, and we can relax under the shade for now. "

" I wanted to play more.... but.... if you are tired, I guess we can"

She was pouting because she waited months to go to the sea. It was her favorite place, where she could vent all her emotions. Now she was feeling extremely happy and a little disappointed since she had to go outside.

But she loved her dad more than anyone, so they both went under the shade.

"Thank you, princess. Since you were a good girl, you can have this"

It was a big ice cream, her favorite - after the sea, obviously.

"Let's keep this a secret from mommy, or else she will take it away. We don't want that now, do we, little one?"

They both laughed as they nodded their heads.

Her mom, though, took a while to come back. She said she would go to buy food for everyone since they were hungry and tired.

Half an hour passed, and Hope finished her ice cream with her dad- It turned out it was a big one for a small person.

Hope's dad, Carl, took out his phone to call his wife, Ashley.

He called twice, but she didn't answer the calls.

He was hesitant to go look for her since Hope would be alone. He couldn't leave her alone.

He waited a bit more and right when he was about to search Ashley with Hope she came holding the boxes.

"Honey, I'm back. There was a huge line."

"Oh really, it must have been hard to wait under the sun. But where is your phone?"

She was looking for her phone inside her bag and then took it out. It was on silent, so she couldn't have answered the calls.

"Please be careful. I thought something had happened."

Carl was relieved that she was okay. They both went to Hope and ate what Ashley brought.

Hope wasn't that hungry since she ate the ice cream. But she took some food because her mom had been waiting for so long under the sun to get it.

She was grateful for it, but if she ate more than she could handle, she would get sick.

The sun was now setting, and it was getting chilly. They stayed until they could the sun's reflection on the water slowly fading.

Hope's parents started packing their things. Her dad then saw her that she sad.

"Come on princess, we will visit the sea again, I promise you."

She finally went back to her usual self. Hope was 9 years old, a child that would always smile. She was the sunshine in their house.

She was the light that hid the secret that would destroy that "happy" family. Unfortunately, not for long, even the sun sets , and darkness is revealed at some point.

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