While walking through the woodland areas around his house, Allan discovered an old abandoned car. But there were fresh tracks around it, and he found his daughter’s special doll inside. Then someone shockingly approached him.
Allan lived in Hood River, Oregon, and loved walking through the woods around his house for hours. He picked cherries and bird-watched as much as possible. It kept him calm, and although it was a solo activity, he felt less alone in the woods than at home.
But one day, while walking, he stumbled upon a new path that led him to an abandoned car in the forest. This was odd. This was not a road-safe area at all. But the car looked old and damaged. It must have been there for years.He approached it nonetheless as he felt curious for some unknown reason. He noticed that there were fresh tracks around it, so maybe someone was actually living in that car. There were some shoes, clothes, and the remnants of a fire near the vehicle.
“Yes, someone is living here for sure,” he nodded to himself and looked inside the car to get a closer inspection. He was about to walk away, go home, and call the police. But something caught his eye. There was a doll inside the car. Usually, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, this toy was unique. It was not from a store, and only one person in the world could have it: his daughter Susan.
It was her doll. His ex-wife, Laura, had made it especially for their daughter. It even had a tag with Susan’s name and address on it in case she lost it because their little girl loved taking it with her anywhere.Allan hadn’t heard from his wife or daughter in months. Their divorce was not pretty, and Laura got awarded full custody of their child. Allan didn’t want to hurt their kid by fighting for more visitation and taking her mother to court, so he just accepted it and tried to move on with his life, knowing that Laura was at least a great mother.
They lived in Seattle, so he was a bit away from them. Laura kept their house, and they were supposed to be living there happily. But had someone stolen his daughter’s doll? What was happening?
He tried to open the car door, which was a bit stuck, but he finally managed it and grabbed the doll. He confirmed it was Susan’s toy due to the tag and looked around the woodland area, feeling lost. Had something happened to his daughter? Why didn’t Laura call him?
Allan looked inside the car, riffling through the dirty and discarded items inside, but he stopped after hearing a voice.
“What are you doing?” a female voice surprised him, but he could tell right away who was speaking: Laura.
Allan rose from the car and looked at his ex-wife, who was clutching his daughter’s hand tightly. They looked disheveled, and Laura was almost scared. But the little girl distracted him from his ex-wife’s face as she recognized him. “Daddy!” she yelled and came to hug him.
He leaned down to hug his daughter, giving her the doll and smiling at her. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Did you come for us, Daddy?” the little girl asked, and Allan nodded, although he had no idea what she was saying.
“Laura, what’s going on here?” Allan questioned after standing back up.
She looked around, seemingly ashamed of herself, and talked directly to Susan. “Honey, why don’t you go inside the car for a minute? I need to talk to Daddy.”
Their daughter obeyed, and Allan closed the car door gently when she went inside, then he looked at his wife. “Ok, what’s happening?” he asked again, his hands raised slightly at his sides.