Chapter 4

The New Year's Town Blessing began.

The town mayor read the blessings, and people stepped forward to light candles.

My mom bowed half-heartedly, her mind elsewhere.

When the town ceremonial poppers were brought out to the center of the square, stretching a long red line across the snow, and someone was about to light them—

"Wait!" my mom suddenly shouted.

Everyone looked at her.

"My Elena isn't here yet," she said, her voice sounding a bit dry. "For such a big town event, our whole family needs to be here."

I narrowed my eyes.

My mom still cared about me after all.

"Maybe she's watching from nearby? Let's start first, we don't want to miss the blessed hour."

"But..."

"Mommy."

My sister suddenly tugged at her coat, pointing her other hand toward the shallow pit partially covered by snow nearby.

"Was Elena... there yesterday?"

My mom looked in the direction she was pointing. There seemed to be something at the bottom of the pit.

My dad saw it, too.

Frowning, he walked over and brushed away the thin layer of snow.

It was my sweater and coat from last night.

They were frozen solid.

My dad's hand froze in mid-air, and my mom walked over, too.

She stared at the pile of clothes for a few seconds, then suddenly looked around.

The vast, snowy field was empty.

My sister squeezed the button eye in her hand and whispered,

"Elena took off her clothes... isn't she cold?"

My dad picked up the sweater, standing completely still.

"What does this brat mean by leaving her clothes here? Is she trying to play the victim to make us feel guilty?"

My mom snatched the sweater from his hands and shook it.

Ice crystals showered down.

"She thinks if she leaves her clothes here, we'll get worried and search the whole world for her? In her dreams! Even if she freezes, she brought it on herself! So childish!"

But my dad's face had gone pale.

"Did she... spend the whole night here last night?"

My mom froze for a split second, then threw the sweater to the ground with even more force.

"A guilt trip! This is definitely a guilt trip! She just wants us to worry, to make us regret yelling at her yesterday! I bet she's hiding in some neighbor's warm house right now, laughing at us!"

My sister let go of my mom's hand, ran to the edge of the pit, and started digging like our dad.

Suddenly, she pulled something small out of the snow.

It was my hair tie.

My sister placed the hair tie and the button eye together on her tiny, frozen hand. She looked up at her mother, then at her father.

"Elena's."

My mom snatched the hair tie away, her knuckles turning white.

The neighbors noticed something was wrong and gathered around.

"The girl left her clothes here, and she's missing? She didn't come home last night?"

"It's freezing. Where could she go in just a T-shirt? Could she..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" my mom interrupted sharply. "What could happen to her! She did this on purpose!"

But I could see her hands shaking violently.

Without a word, my dad began searching around the Old Oak Tree.

Sensing something was terribly wrong, the neighbors joined in.

My mom held my sister in her arms, and my sister whispered to her,

"Is Elena hiding, too? Like I did yesterday, hiding in that pit."

My mom heard her.

She froze, her gaze slowly dropping to the pit.

"Elena... don't play with me. If I find out you're lying, I will seriously beat you!"

Even though she said that, she let go of my sister and took a slow step toward the pit.

Then, she began to dig with her bare hands.

"If you're playing a trick on us, I'll disown you! I'll make sure you forget us forever..."

Before she could finish, a patch of pink fabric appeared.

Then... my face.