Twelve hours before the flash flood hit, the entire city was under an emergency evacuation order. My parents frantically stuffed all their valuables into the SUV and sped away. They took their adopted daughter, and they even took her two pet turtles. But they forgot me. As the muddy water began to pour into our street, my mother finally realized I was still at home. "Lynn, you need to run! The flood is coming!" "Where are you guys?" On the other end of the line, my mother's voice sounded guilty. "Just run! Now!" Then, I heard Chloe's excited voice in the background. "Mom, Dad, look! The highway gates are open! We can get through!" In that instant, cold reality hit me. They had already abandoned me and fled. After I miraculously survived the disaster, they came back, crying and begging me to recognize them. But I walked right past them and ran into the arms of my adoptive parents. "Lynn, you need to run! The flood is coming!" When the landline rang, I was woken up by the sound of rushing water. My backpack was already floating on the floor, and my second-grade worksheets were soaked into mush. "Mom, there's water everywhere. Where are you?" I burst into tears, completely panicked, not knowing what to do. My mother didn't answer right away. Her voice trembled with guilt. "Just... just run, okay?" That was when I noticed every door in the house was wide open. My parents' room looked like it had been ransacked. Chloe's room was completely empty. Even the two pet turtles on the balcony were gone. A loud buzz echoed in my head, and my face turned paper-white. A terrifying thought crept into my mind. No, it couldn't be... My parents wouldn't just abandon me. "Mom, Dad, the water is so high. Where are you? I'm scared, please come save me..." My small, frail body curled up into the corner of the sofa. I clutched my stuffed rabbit, my voice shaking violently. My mother remained silent. Instead, Chloe's cheerful voice drifted through the receiver. "Mom, Dad, look! The highway gates are open! We can get through!" At that moment, my entire world collapsed. The disaster was here, and my parents had fled with my cousin. They had packed up every single piece of luggage, not forgetting Chloe's pet turtles, yet they had somehow forgotten me. Then, my father's angry, defensive voice boomed through the phone. "Why are you even asking? You slept like a dead pig! Who could have woken you up?" I sobbed even harder. I had been running a high fever for two days before my mother even noticed. She had called my school to get me sick leave, and after giving me some heavy medication, I had fallen into a deep, drug-induced sleep. My mother sounded annoyed now. "Stop crying! There's still some time before the worst of the flood hits. Go downstairs right now and find some other neighbors who are evacuating. Your father and I will come back for you with Chloe later." Suddenly, the phone let out a sharp, static screech. The power went out. The water kept rising. Crying, I struggled to run upstairs. We lived in an old three-story apartment complex. Halfway up, I remembered the inflatable swim ring Chloe used for her swimming lessons. I waded back through the dirty water, sobbing, to grab it. The water rose higher and higher until it completely swallowed the third floor. With one arm looped through the swim ring, I clung desperately to a floating wooden door. I drifted in the dark for what felt like eternity. My body grew colder and colder, until my consciousness faded into black.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on a cot in a makeshift emergency shelter hospital. In my hazy state, I felt someone feeding me medicine and gently wiping my face. A sharp sting in my hand made me let out a weak whimper, and I slowly opened my eyes. A woman in a white nurse's uniform looked down at me with a gentle smile. "You're awake, sweetie. Don't move, the IV will help you feel better soon. Why were you all alone in the water? Where is your family?" I looked down, my tears dripping onto the white sheets. I just cried and didn't say a word. The nurse looked startled, and out of pity and guilt for bringing up a painful topic, she quickly changed the subject. "Are you hungry? Do you want some chicken tenders? I'll get you some." I looked at her and nodded timidly. Because of the prolonged high fever, my throat was severely damaged. Whenever anyone asked about my family, I simply shook my head. They assumed I was an orphan. Everyone in the shelter looked at me with pity, whispering about sending me to a foster home. But I gripped the nurse's uniform tightly. Wherever she went, I followed. I was terrified of being abandoned again. Her heart melted. Unable to leave me, she took me home. When she opened her door, a little boy gasped in excitement. "Mom! Dad! Did you really bring me a big sister?!" He circled me, looking at me with pure curiosity. I stood there, awkwardly pinching the hem of my shirt. Helen, the nurse, laughed softly. "Peter has been begging for a sister every single day." Helen's husband, Arthur, worked for the local government. He was a kind, gentle man. After looking at me, he and Helen exchanged a long glance and went into the bedroom to talk for a long time. Later, Helen knelt in front of me, her voice incredibly sweet. "Would you like to stay with us, sweetie? Can I be your mom?" I looked at her, overwhelmed. My vision blurred as warm tears spilled over my hands. "Mom..." I whispered. Helen gasped in pure joy. "Oh my god, you can talk!" Later, they went through the legal adoption process. Arthur changed my last name to Miller, and they named me Brooke—because Helen said she had rescued me from the water.
Three years later, it was the start of the school year in September. Peter was entering the first grade, and I was in the fifth. I confidently led my parents through the crowded hallways to find Peter's new classroom. "Mom, Dad, that's Mrs. Davis! She was my English teacher, and now she's going to be Peter's homeroom teacher." Just as I was about to walk over to greet Mrs. Davis, a shockingly familiar voice rang out. "Lynn? Is that you, Lynn?!" The next second, a woman grabbed my arm with brute force. It was my biological mother, Sarah. Behind her stood Chloe. Right, Chloe would be starting first grade this year too. Sarah stared at me in shock and frantic joy. Once she recognized my face, a heartbreaking sob escaped her throat. "Lynn... my baby girl! I thought you were dead! Why didn't you come find us? Where have you been?!" She held me in a suffocating grip, crying hysterically. "Lynn, I missed you so much! Why aren't you calling me Mom?" I looked at her with utter confusion. "Ma'am, I think you have the wrong person." Under her stunned gaze, I pulled my arm free, ran over to Helen and Arthur, and hid behind them, pretending to be terrified. Sarah looked heartbroken. "How can you not recognize your own mother? Lynn, look at me! I'm your mom! We got separated in the flood three years ago!" I furrowed my brows, looking at her with cold, distant eyes. "You really have the wrong person, ma'am. My parents are right here." Sarah froze. She stared at our family of four, shaking her head in agony. No... She couldn't understand how her perfect daughter had suddenly become someone else's child. And why was I calling another woman "Mom"? The surrounding parents and students were startled by her hysterical behavior. Helen and Arthur exchanged a look, instantly realizing who this woman was. Helen looked down at me. I gave her a tiny, subtle shake of my head. Although Helen didn't understand why I was denying them, she immediately stepped in front of me to shield me. "Excuse me, ma'am, but you have indeed mistaken her. This is my daughter, Brooke Miller. She is not the Lynn you are looking for." Just then, my biological father, Mark, arrived and overheard the exchange. The hope in his eyes instantly died, and he muttered in a daze, "Brooke? But she looks exactly like Lynn..." Mrs. Davis stepped in to defuse the situation. "Chloe's mom, you must be mistaken. Brooke has been my student for a while now." Seeing everyone staring, Chloe felt embarrassed and tugged at Sarah's sleeve. "Mom, stop it! Get up from the floor!" Everyone assumed it was just a tragic mistake—a grieving mother who had lost a child and was seeing things. Some even offered words of comfort. But just as I let out a sigh of relief, Sarah suddenly lunged forward. She grabbed my shirt and tried to pull it up. "Lynn has a red birthmark on her stomach! Let me see!" I screamed in terror. Helen and Arthur immediately shoved her away. "Are you insane?! Trying to strip a little girl in public! If you don't back off, we are calling the police!" Arthur roared. The hallway fell into absolute chaos. Until Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs, "I saw it! She has the birthmark! She is Lynn!" At that moment, my heart sank to the bottom of my chest. She had seen it.
An hour later, both families were gathered at the local police station. In front of the officers, Mark and Sarah were furious, pointing at Helen and Arthur and screaming. "They are kidnappers! Monsters!" "They abducted our daughter and changed her identity! They deserve to rot in prison!" Helen and Arthur looked pale, but out of respect for me, they kept their composure and didn't argue back. I watched my biological parents throw their tantrum. My face was completely blank. I felt absolutely nothing for them. Officer Carter slammed his hand on the desk. "Enough! This is a police station, not a circus! Keep quiet or I'll have you thrown in a holding cell!" They finally shut their mouths, though they kept glaring at us. Officer Carter turned to me, his voice softening. "Sweetheart, who are your real parents?" Under the desperate, hopeful stares of Mark and Sarah, I clung tightly to Helen's arm. "I don't know them." Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "Lynn, think about it. I'm your mommy." Mark barked at the officer, "Officer Carter, she must have suffered some severe trauma! She lost her memory! You need to investigate these two kidnappers!" Arthur frowned. "Listen, I understand the pain of losing a child. But please calm down and stop terrifying my daughter. You claim Brooke is the child you lost. Tell me, how exactly did you lose her?" Mark and Sarah suddenly froze. Sarah's eyes darted around guiltily, and Mark began to stammer. "We... we got separated during the evacuation of the flood." A cold, mocking smile crept onto my lips. "How clumsy of you." Sarah's face went pale. To cover her guilt, she wailed dramatically. "Oh, sweetie, you don't understand how evil people can be! If it weren't for these sick kidnappers, you would have never been lost! They must have drugged you to make you forget us! Aren't you afraid of God's wrath, you monsters?!" Sarah cried as if she were the star of a tragic movie about a mother searching for her lost child. Yet, she didn't mention a single word about leaving me behind in the rising flood. Mark pointed a finger threateningly at Helen and Arthur. "You child thieves! I bet that boy of yours was bought on the black market too! Officer Carter, these kidnappers need to be locked away forever!" Arthur's face turned red with anger, and Helen shook with rage. "Watch your mouth in front of the kids!" I stepped in front of my adoptive parents. "Whatever garbage comes out of your mouth just bounces off us and sticks back onto you." Mark and Sarah's faces twisted in shock, unable to believe I had spoken to them that way. Officer Carter rubbed his temples. "Look, is this child biologically yours? If you have her birth certificate, show it to us. Otherwise, we'll have to do a DNA test." Helen and Arthur exchanged a worried look. Just as they were about to speak, I cut them off. "Why should I have to take a DNA test with strangers? If they want to prove something, they should be the ones bringing the evidence. Don't I know who my own parents are?" I didn't want to go back to them. Not even a little bit. Officer Carter blinked, surprised by my sharp logic. "She has a point. Do you have any proof?"
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