Driving alone on a foggy night, a mother spots a young girl in a tattered dress, silent and familiar. As she pulls closer, she notices that the girl’s haunted eyes hold secrets that might be better left hidden.
It was late, and the night felt thicker than usual. The fog wrapped around the car like a heavy blanket, swallowing up everything beyond the headlights. I squinted ahead, gripping the wheel tighter than usual.
Driving through the fog | Source: Pexels
“Just get home,” I muttered, rubbing my tired eyes. It had been such a long day at work, and all I wanted was my bed.
I hated this road. I’d always hated it. I usually took the main highway, but tonight, I had thought: Just a quick shortcut. It’ll save me time.
A woman driving through the fog | Source: Midjourney
Then, something caught my eye. A shadow, right in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes, heart pounding, and stared. The figure was barely visible, just an outline in the mist.
“Please just be a tree or a mailbox or something,” I whispered, even though I knew it wasn’t. As I rolled forward slowly, the shadow appeared to be a girl. She was thin, and her white dress seemed to cling to her in tatters.
A girl on a figgy road | Source: Midjourney
I felt an instinctual chill crawl up my spine. Everything in me screamed to turn around, to get out of there. But something stronger kept me rooted in place.
I rolled down the window a crack, my voice shaky. “Are you okay?”
Slowly, I opened the door and stepped out, flashlight in hand. I aimed it at her face, and the beam caught her features for the first time. I gasped, stumbling back. I knew that face. The pale skin, the wide eyes, the mouth parted slightly in confusion.
A woman stepping out from her car | Source: Midjourney
“Emily?” My voice was barely a whisper, but she seemed to hear me. She looked up, her eyes locking onto mine, empty and wide.
“Mommy?” Her voice was soft, barely there.
Shock and relief crashed over me. It was her. My Emily, my daughter who’d been gone for five years. She’d vanished without a trace, no sign of where she’d gone or who might have taken her. The police and search parties had all come up with nothing.
A search party going through the woods | Source: Pexels
“Emily, oh my God… it’s really you,” I stammered, taking a step closer. “Where have you been? Are you hurt?”
She blinked, her face blank. “I… don’t know,” she murmured. Her voice sounded small. It was like it hadn’t been used in years.
I swallowed, my mind racing. Trauma, maybe. I had been warned that if we ever found her, she might not remember because kids could block out things that were too painful.
A shy girl looking down | Source: Midjourney
I knelt in front of her, heart racing. “It’s okay, honey. It’s me. It’s Mom. We’re gonna go home, okay?” My hand trembled as I reached out.
I wrapped my coat around her shoulders, feeling her icy skin through the fabric. “Let’s get you out of here,” I said, guiding her to the car. She sat silently in the passenger seat, staring out the window, her expression distant.
A woman hugging her daughter | Source: Midjourney
The drive home was quiet, her gaze never leaving the foggy darkness outside. I glanced over, trying to read her face, but there was nothing, just a blank stare, as though she was somewhere else entirely.
“Emily,” I tried gently, “do you remember anything? Anything at all?”
She didn’t look at me. “A room. It was… dark. And… there was someone. I think. I think he brought food, but… I don’t remember his face.”
A sad girl in the backseat of the car | Source: Midjourney
My throat tightened. “It’s okay, honey. You’re safe now. We’re going home.”
She didn’t respond; she stared into the fog as we left the dark road behind.
As we pulled into the driveway, I felt a pang of relief. The familiar porch light, the sight of home, everything safe. But as I opened the door and led her inside, a new unease settled over me.
A house at night | Source: Pexels
Emily sat stiffly on the couch, looking around like she didn’t recognize anything. Her movements were slow, almost robotic.
“Do you… remember this place?” I asked.
She shrugged, her eyes blank. “I think so.”
Her voice was so flat, so empty. I sat beside her, reaching out, but stopped, unsure if she wanted comfort or space.
A woman talking to her mother | Source: Midjourney
“Mom,” she whispered, her voice barely there, “I’m… cold.”
I wrapped a blanket around her and sat there watching her, unsure of what to do or say.
The days that followed were a blur of quiet tension. Emily barely spoke, answering my questions in monosyllables, her gaze always elsewhere. I only heard her voice when she sang an old lullaby that I used to sing to her as a baby. I knew she couldn’t have remembered that, but I didn’t want to pry either.
A girl covering her face with her hands | Source: Pexels
One evening, I found her sitting on the floor, surrounded by old photo albums I’d stored in a closet. She had one open on her lap, her fingers tracing a picture of Mark, her father. He’d passed away when she was just a baby, so young she couldn’t possibly remember him.
“Mom?” she whispered, her brow furrowed. “I know him.”
I felt a strange chill. “Honey, that’s your dad. Remember? I told you about him.”
A sad girl hugging herself | Source: Pexels
“No,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I know him. From… the place.” Her eyes filled with confusion, and she stared at the picture as if trying to make sense of a dream.
My throat went dry. “What place, Emily?”
Her hands trembled, and she shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember… but he was there.”
A concerned woman talking to her scared child | Source: Midjourney
My mind raced. Emily couldn’t have known Mark. She was just a baby when he died. But someone who looked like him… my thoughts shifted sharply. Mark’s brother, Jake.
He looked so much like Mark that they could’ve been twins. He’d even stayed with us a few times after Mark’s death. He’d been there when I sang Emily her lullabies. A memory rushed back of Jake standing in the doorway, listening to me sing her to sleep.
Bothers posing for a photo | Source: Midjourney
I couldn’t ignore the thought any longer. I had to know the truth.
The next morning, I drove out to the old family cabin, an isolated place nestled deep in the woods on the edge of town. I hadn’t been there since Mark died.
After his passing, the cabin became a hollow shell of memories I couldn’t bear to face. And no one ever had a reason to visit it. The police hadn’t even searched there when Emily disappeared; they’d assumed it was abandoned, unimportant.
A shack in the woods | Source: Pexels
I parked the car and stepped out, the silence of the forest pressing in around me. The cabin looked just as I remembered, except more rundown. But something was off.
As I moved closer, I saw one of the windows was covered with a piece of heavy cloth. I felt a surge of unease. Why would someone cover the window?
A window covered with a peace of cloth | Source: Pexels
The door creaked as I pushed it open, and stale air hit me in a wave. Dust lay thick over everything except for a narrow trail leading toward a door in the back. My pulse quickened. I followed the trail, my shoes stirring up the dust in the silent cabin.
When I opened the back door, my stomach clenched. It was a small, dim room. And unlike the rest of the cabin, this room was eerily clean. On the floor lay a few scattered toys, faded but well-loved, as though they’d been played with often. A shiver ran through me.
A dim room with a small window | Source: Pexels
This was where she’d been.
I backed out of the room, heart pounding, and reached for my phone. Within minutes, the police were on their way.
Hours later, I sat with Emily in the living room as the officers worked at the cabin. She was quiet, her fingers clutching the edge of her blanket. When I took her hand, she looked up at me, her eyes filled with a sadness that broke my heart.
The police searching a cabin in the woods | Source: Midjourney
“Mommy… I remember now,” she whispered, her voice quivering. “I remember the man.”
I swallowed hard. “Who was it, sweetheart?”
Her voice shook. “It was Uncle Jake. He… he looked like Daddy, but different. He… he would bring me food, but he never spoke. He just sat there, outside the door. He… he used to hum that song.”
A sad girl | Source: Pexels
The police confirmed it that evening. They had enough evidence in the cabin to make an arrest. When they found Jake, he confessed, claiming he had taken Emily to “protect” her, that he’d wanted to be the one she depended on.
It was twisted and sick, and knowing he’d been that close to us all those years made my skin crawl.
A sad man covering his face with his hands | Source: Pexels
When they told Emily, she broke down, sobbing, the weight of years of silence finally releasing. I held her close, rocking her as she cried, whispering over and over, “You’re safe now. No one will ever take you away again.”
The days that followed were quiet, but a warmth was beginning to bloom again between us. Emily started to talk more, little by little, and she would hum that old lullaby at night, almost as if testing if it was safe to hear it again.
A woman drawing with her daughter | Source: Pexels
One evening, as we sat by the window, she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. I began to hum the lullaby softly, how I used to when she was little. She looked up at me, and for the first time, I saw a spark of peace in her eyes.
“I love you, Mommy,” she whispered.
I held her close, tears slipping down my cheeks. “I love you too, sweetheart. Forever.”
A girl kissing her mother | Source: Freepik
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
For 10 Years Old Man Sits on a Chair by the Sea Daily, One Day Two Boys See the Chair Empty – Story of the Day
Two brothers would see an old man sitting by the sea every day on the same chair. One day, they were bothered when they found the chair empty and decided to find out why.
Adam, 8, and Peter, 10, visited the seaside with their mom Alice every day. They would walk together along the shore, enjoying the sea breeze.
Every single day, they would come across an old man who would sit motionlessly on a chair, watching the waves. “Mom, is that man okay?” Adam asked one day.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
“He is, sweetheart. He just likes to be alone. People have tried to talk to him, but he always just tries to avoid people. Let’s not bother him,” Alice replied.
The brothers couldn’t help but feel drawn towards the old man. They were curious as to why he would sit motionlessly on the same chair every day.
One day, they thought of a plan to approach him. While playing catch, they threw the frisbee in his direction so that they could come closer. When they ran up and apologized, the old man said, “You threw it here on purpose. I know you did… You,” he said, pointing at Adam, “you are great at throwing. And you,” the old man smiled, pointing at Peter, “are great at catching. So I know this was not an accident.”
The brothers’ eyes widened in shock. They didn’t know that the old man had been observing them, too.
For some reason, despite Alice knowing that the man didn’t talk to other people, he indulged the two boys in a long conversation. After they introduced one another, Peter finally asked the question they’ve been longing to ask: “Sir, why do you sit out here every day and watch the sea?”
“Well, I am here waiting for my brother. I have been waiting here for 10 years,” he responded. Adam and Peter looked at each other, confused.
“We were in the army together and were separated and sent to different countries. This happened a long time ago. When we last saw each other, we promised to meet at the same place, right here, where we constantly used to walk with our mother,” the old man explained.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
“You wait for your brother every day?” Adam asked. “How do you know he’s still coming?” he asked. The old man smiled at Adam’s innocence.
“That’s the thing. I don’t know if he’s coming. I used to come, years ago, but my work transferred me to another city. Now, for the past 10 years of living here, I’ve been coming daily. They gave me his army dog tag, but they never found him. He is still missing,” he said, taking his brother’s dog tag out of his pocket.
Adam and Peter were sitting beside each other at that moment. The old man patted their heads and said, “That’s why you must take care of each other, boys. Brotherly love is the greatest strength in the world.”
After sharing his story, the old man introduced himself as Walter. The boys enjoyed his company that ever since that day, they would make it a point to spend time with him, bringing sandwiches and drinks. They would spend the afternoons talking and listening to each other’s stories.
One day, Walter and the brothers were surprised to see each other walking in the same direction while on the way home. “We live near each other!” Peter exclaimed. Walter couldn’t help but smile.
“I guess we do, sweet boy,” Walter said, waving before he entered his house.
The two boys felt extremely close to Walter already, after days of talking to him. They were so moved by Walter’s story that they decided to use social media to spread it, hoping to find his brother.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
One day, they went to the beach to find him and tell him about what they did. But when they got there, he was not at his usual spot. “He comes here every day! Every single day! Why isn’t he here?” Adam asked his mom.
“This can’t be. Something must have happened to him. We need to go to his house,” Peter said. At that, Alice allowed them to check Walter’s house by accompanying them there.
When they got there, they knocked. After a couple of seconds, Walter opened the door. The boys exhaled with relief. “Walter! Why didn’t you come to the beach today? Have you given up?” Adam asked him. Walter was smiling. Behind him stood a man who looked exactly like him.
The two boys were taken by surprise when the man suddenly shouted, “IT’S THEM! THOSE TWO BOYS POSTED ON THE INTERNET! I RECOGNIZED THEM RIGHT AWAY!”
Walter’s brother, James, found him thanks to the publication that Adam and Peter had put up. Walter smiled and hugged the two boys. “Thank you for finding my brother after forty-four long years,” he said, giving them both hugs.
It turns out that James was injured at the battle he was in, and he ended up losing his memory. He was sent back to the US, where he was diagnosed with dissociative amnesia caused by the overwhelming stress brought about by the war.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Pexels
“I was told I would likely regain my memory either slowly, or all at once. In the past few decades, I slowly started to remember things like my first name, the fact that I lived in California, but nothing conclusive enough to bring back my old life,” James explained.
“Then one day, I was looking through the internet when I saw a post by these two sweet boys. It had a photo of you, Walter, and I suddenly remembered you and our brotherhood. I just knew we were brothers. I made my way to the address they posted right away,” he added.
At that, Walter and James took out their army dog tags from their pockets and handed one each to Adam and Peter. “We no longer need this. Because of you, we’ve found each other again. These are yours now. May it be a reminder to always take care of each other,” Walter said.
As they lived near each other, Adam and Peter would always visit Walter and James, who ended up moving in with his brother.
What can we learn from this story?
- Keeping the faith can be rewarding. Every day, Walter hoped that his brother would show up. One day, after choosing to share his story with Adam and Peter, his brother eventually showed up.
- The most unexpected relationships can mean the most. Adam and Peter never thought they’d get close to Walter, but when they did, and it brought about life-changing memories for everyone.
Share this story with your loved ones. It might inspire them and make their day.
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