As Leesa was walking down the street just after shopping, she was thinking of Serai. 'I'm so worried about her! What if she came back when I was gone?' The very thought made her sick to her stomach. 'She'd be so confused, especially since all her friends moved as well. None of them wanted to help me look for her, they were all too worried that they would get lost in the forest too.' It had been two and a half years since Leesa lost her house back at Hanasee and had to move to the city. She sighed,
"hey! Leesa." A voice sounded behind her.
"Oh, hey Luke." Luke, Serai's father looked just like her, with dark brown hair, forest green eyes, with a tall and thin body. Luckily, when she lost her house, Luke offered for her to stay at his place, and though it was rather far away, and in the city, Leesa took the offer. After all, she had nowhere else to go.
"You heading back home?" He asked.
"Yea, I just got some shopping done" she explained. Even though Leesa and Luke were married since before Serai was born, he was rarely there for most of Serai's childhood. He was always traveling cause of work, and about five years ago, he had to settle down in the city to take care of his parents that were sick. So Serai doesn't have very many memories of him.
"Here, let me help you." He said, taking the bags from her.
"Thanks."
"No problem. So what are we having tonight?" Luke asked.
"A lot." It was thanksgiving tonight, so Leesa already planned out a whole dinner plan, since both his family and hers were coming over, as well as friends from both sides.
"I can start dinner if you can look after Mark," Luke said
"Ok, don't burn the house down," Leesa laughed.
"I won't, I'll just put up the water and make the salad."
"Ok fine by me," she said, getting out the house keys and opening the door for Luke.
"Thanks." When they got back inside, they put down the groceries and Luke started cooking.
"Welcome home!" Lukes mom greeted them.
"Thanks. Where's Mark?" Leesa asked.
"He's in you guys' room sleeping."
"Ok, I'm gonna check on him." When Lessa got to her and Lukes's room, Mark was sleeping in the middle of the bed. He had short black hair and light blue eyes. Leesa's heart melted as she looked at him. It had been almost two years since she had him, his birthday was coming up in about a month. As Leesa picked him up, she remembered Serai, and how she always wanted a brother. 'she'd be thrilled if she knew she had a brother now.' Leesa thought.
"Hey Leesa, I need your help in the kitchen!" She heard Luke request her from the other room.
"Coming," as she replied, she heard Luke ask his mom to watch over Mark, followed by the sound of him dropping something in the kitchen. When she got there, she saw that what he dropped was a pan full of stirfry.
"I don't know why I ever let you cook," she said, cleaning up the mess he made.
"I'm getting better, I only drop the pan every ninth time now." He always has some sort of excuse to make a mess like,
"the oil splashed me" or
"the handle was too hot".
When Leesa first moved in with him, he always had take-out. Now she was mostly in charge of the cooking, except for the times he wants to try to cook.
"Just go and watch Mark with your mom. I'll make the food." As she spoke, she couldn't help but giggle a little bit. 'He would have gotten along with Serai so well, she was just like him when she was younger, about ten or eleven, Always spilling or dropping things. She's better at cooking now though.' Leesa thought. 'We'll find her soon.' In just a few months, both her and Luke will go back to Hanasee to try and find Serai. By the time Leesa finished up cooking, she only had a couple of hours left till people started coming. 'I should probably check on Mark and Luke.' When she got her and Lukes room, both Luke and Mark were sleeping
"Can you wake up Luke and tell him to get ready?" Leesa asked Luke's mom,
"I'll be in the shower"
"Ok. I'll clean up the house" Lukes's mom replied. When Leesa had finished showering, she got everything ready for the gests. But she couldn't stop thinking about Serai. 'What happened to her?' She wondered. 'I know she wouldn't just disappear like that, without telling anyone especially.' By the time all the guests had arrived, everything was ready. It felt like time flew by, and before Leesa knew it, the evening was over and everyone left, and Leesa, Luke, and Mark went to sleep. In the morning, Leesa woke up, and just like every other morning, Luke had gone to work and brought Mark to daycare. So Leesa took a shower and started her daily morning routine. As she was cleaning the house, her thoughts were with Serai again. Wondering why she left and never came back, and what happened to her, or is she okay. After Leesa cleaned the house, she made breakfast and sat down at the table. But she could barely swallow the food she made, It felt like her throat was filled with sorrow. After Leesa finished the rest of her food, she washed the dishes and went out into town to get groceries for dinner. As Leesa was walking to the store, she saw one of Serai's old friends, 'I hope they don't come and try to talk' Leesa thought. She was still bitter about them not helping her look for Serai, instead, they just left in fear that they would get lost to. But sure enough, they came over to chat.
"Hey, Leesa. Any luck with Serai?" asked one of the moms that came over.
"No, and why would you worry Karen? If you would have really cared, you would have helped me look for her, but instead, you just ran away." Leesa snapped at her.
"You don't have to snap at me, and I do care, I just didn't want to have my kid get lost as well. Plus it doesn't look like you stayed" Karen snapped back.
"I only left cause my house got taken away, and luckily Luke offered for me to stay at his place!" Leesa Replied.
"Also I'm going back soon, Luke and I bought a house back as Hanasee and were moving there in a few months."
"Well just tell me if there's any luck," Karen replied.
"I will," Leesa responded. All-day, Serai was all Leesa could think about. 'Serai, please be okay!' She hoped.