"I tried my best to find him while you were sleeping," said Mylo. "I still couldn't find him. Though I don't approve of your relationship, I don't want him to disappear just like that."
"He didn't disappear." I didn't want to hear any bad news at all. "I…" I could somehow see an aged look on Mylo's face, the same look I saw on him when I was little.
I met Mylo when I first arrived at Elsingborg. At that time, Selina was tired from a long drive and in an instant, she bumped into a child.
Selina immediately stepped on the brakes, and we got out of the car to check. A ragged, beggar-like child was lying in front of the car. Selina carefully crouched down in front of him, wanting to reach out and touch him. However, just as her hand was about to touch his face, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
It was getting dark, and there was no one en route to the city. His movements were clean and quick like a spring, scaring Selina so much that she quickly retreated and hugged me tightly.
I was shocked too, but he didn't move after he sat up. Selina and I hugged each other and looked at him anxiously. He looked exhausted, as if he had just traveled thousands of miles. He was languid, just sitting there as he waved at us listlessly. "I'm sorry, I bumped into you." His voice was also weak.
"Oh gosh. A-are you okay?" Selina suspected he'd hit his head. He just said that he'd hit the car and apologized for it. "Do you need us to take you to the hospital?"
"I'm fine. Let me sleep." With that, he lay down on the ground and fell asleep the next second.
Selina called him, but he didn't respond. She crouched down and patted him, but he just turned around and continued to sleep.
We had never met anyone like that before. We looked at each other, and Selina's motherly love made her decide to take him along and send him to the hospital.
So the first thing we did when we got to Elsingborg was to drop Mylo off at the hospital.
The doctor did a number of tests on Mylo, and finally diagnosed that it was extreme fatigue and that he needed good rest.
We took Mylo home. He slept for three days before he finally got up.
We cleaned up our new home and then contacted the Child Protective Services. After Mylo woke up, the agency took him away and eventually found him an adopted family.
After that, I visited him frequently. He seemed really tired every time we met. This lasted for around four to five years before it gradually improved.
But today, I saw the fatigue that was gone for a long time.
I'd been so worried about Abraham that I hadn't observed him properly during the day. Now that I looked at him, he had heavy dark circles under his eyes, a beard, and his clothes were greasy, as if he hadn't washed them in a long time.
"Have you not been sleeping lately?" I asked in a softened tone.
He didn't expect me to suddenly ask him that. A trace of surprise flashed across his eyes, but it was soon replaced with joy. "I couldn't fall asleep, but I'm fine."
"I'm sorry, Mylo. I just, I was just… really worried about Abraham."
"I know. I also hope that you can find him quickly so that you can stop worrying. Let's not talk about the past. I've searched all the libraries today, and the hospitals are almost done too. Do you have a next step?"
"The park. All the parks." Abraham often visited the park when he was in a good mood.
"Alright, let's go."
We headed back to the camper van as Mylo drove towards the nearest park. We searched tirelessly for the rest of the night. Elsingborg was just too big. I never knew that this would pose as a problem for me.
The next morning, we sat in front of the last park we could search, and were unsure of what to do. Advertisements were playing on the big screen of the mall across the street. It was glamorous and colorful. At that moment, the more beautiful those things were, the more my heart ached.
Why didn't Abraham enjoy this wonderful world with me?
Mylo wanted to say something, but he swallowed his words. He went to the camper van and brought a loaf of bread and a bottle of water.
I didn't have much of an appetite so he didn't force me. He just sat quietly with me.
There were many elderly men and women walking behind him. They were laughing and joking as they were about to start their morning exercise in the park.
One old man was listening to the radio. The news report sounded very disturbing to me.
I was about to cover my ears when I realized I was too tired to even lift my hands. The noisy announcements traveled into my ears.
"Eight citizens have gone missing for no reason in the past two days. They are Kelly Davis, Dean Miller, Duncan Garcia, Bill Wilson, Brady Jackson, Abraham Fisher, Angus Taylor, and César White. None of them have been found. After investigation, they are all employees of the Hall Corporation, but the reason for their disappearance is unknown. Please take note of your safety…"