Hi! This time I managed to write a little more, but I really don't know what to say in big words. I mean, I tried a little bit to breathe life into Keith and Amber. Keith acts like she is mentally unstable or something like that (but she has something completely different!). I really like Amber very much and for her age she is quite empathetic (hope you notice that too). Oh yes, thanks to Fortune, Maron01, Cat_Babe and to the lovely Tin for all your praise and help! I am really grateful to all of you for that. I hope the part is reasonably readable.



The penetrating ringing of the alarm clock rudely pulled her out of her deep sleep. She blindly groped for the annoying troublemaker and switched him off. Then she felt for Dave with her other hand to hug him. But there was no one. She opened her eyes abruptly and half straightened up. The other half of the double bed was completely empty except for the rumpled sheets.She remembered the events of the previous night only slowly. Before going to bed they had talked for a long time about their little daughter Amber and how she would fare at school. Then she must have fallen asleep. And then? Hadn't someone called in the middle of the night and Dave left. The whole thing seemed like a dream to her. But it must have been so, because otherwise why would the bed next to her be empty? When did he actually leave? Keith couldn't remember. Then the sound of the opening door ripped her out of her thoughts and for a moment she thought Dave would be back, but when the door opened, it wasn't Dave, but Amber.

She stood there with her bare feet, her long brown hair still tousled from sleeping, and her little fingers clutched her favorite stuffed animal tightly. She looked at Keith with wide eyes and then slipped under the covers with her. Amber's small, fragile body snuggled close to Keith, and tears of happiness ran down her cheeks."Mom, what have you got?" "Oh nothing, I'm just totally happy." "But why are you crying then, and where is Dad anyway? He promised me to take me and Tepi to school today." "You can't take a stuffed animal with you to school! And papa will definitely come. He would never break his promise to you!" "But mom! Why can't I take Tepi with me? I'll definitely leave him in my school bag! I want to Just that he comes with you! "" Come on, get dressed first. What time is it? What, almost 7 o'clock! Oh damn, that can't be true! Amber, get dressed quickly and then come downstairs . I'll make breakfast first. "

A little shocked by her mother's reaction, Amber quickly slipped out from under the covers and ran into her room to get dressed. Keith too was puzzled by her strange behavior that morning. She hurried to the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her curls, and got dressed in a hurry.Then she went into the kitchen, put the milk in the microwave, and made cereal for herself and Amber. The cocoa was just finished when the little one stormed into the kitchen in her new, dark blue sailor dress. Her hair was as messy as ever and Amber had forgotten to tie the loop of the dress. She pounced on the cereal and ate it with ravenous appetite. Keith too quickly finished her portion and kept checking the clock. She was getting nervous. Where was Dave going?

If he really wanted to bring Amber to school, he had to hurry up, otherwise she would be late. Or she would take her daughter to school herself. But Amber wouldn't be quick to forgive her papa if he didn't keep his promise. "Mom, where is dad? He promised that he would take me to school. Why isn't he there yet?" "Oh Amber, I don't know either.But maybe he'll come. Come on, I'll do your hair first and then we'll see. "

Amber was clearly worried and a bit fidgety when Keith braided her and tied the stitch of the dress. Keith had set up her daughter's school bag days ago and when she checked her watch she saw that she only had about 20 minutes left. Dave still hadn't shown up and she couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed the school bag and turned on the answering machine in case Dave called. "Amber, we're going!" "But mom, dad isn't there yet. He's definitely coming, he promised!" "Come on now, Amber, otherwise you'll be late. Dad will bring you in other time to school. "

Amber didn't speak a single word during the entire journey, just stared out the window and made a sad, almost absent impression. Keith was really worried about her.She had never seen her little daughter so sad. Otherwise she was always a real sunshine, but now she was very depressed. Keith sincerely hoped that Amber wouldn’t act so absently at school, but was again as kind and attentive as usual.

They barely made it to class to ring. Amber clutched Keith's hand tightly and only released it when she was securely in place. Keith gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, wished her all the best for the day and then hurried out of school. She would pick Amber up in less than 2 hours, but in the meantime she would try to find out where Dave was.



Her search had been pointless from the start. She didn't know who had called and after calling his sister, the rest of the family and some close friends and no one could tell her anything, she was on the verge of despair.What was so important that Dave left in the middle of the night? And why had he broken his promise to Amber? Or had he just forgotten what an important day today was for his daughter? She couldn't imagine that Dave could forget something like that. And if he did, then he would certainly have reported remorsefully. But before she could worry about her husband's whereabouts, she first had to pick Amber up from school.

Keith got to school just in time. When Amber saw her, she ran up to her mother and chatted straight away. She had recovered and was as happy as usual. "Mom, it was great! First we played a very funny game and then we had to tell about ourselves and we have a twin in our class and you can't tell them apart and they wore the same and the teacher also has confused them all the time and then asked them not to wear the same again.I've already made friends with the two of them and they are really nice and I've also made friends with a lot of others. I now have another seat at the window in the penultimate row and Liz is sitting next to me and the teacher has put her sister in my old seat so that she can tell them more easily. And I got a list of what I need tomorrow and I already have a schedule for this week. "" I'm happy that you've made so many new friends and that you enjoy school so much. But we really have to go now. I still have to do something! "

Arrived at home, Amber stormed straight into her room to change. Keith was busy with other things again. She was still pondering where Dave might have gone. She was only torn from her thoughts when she heard a loud clang from the kitchen. She immediately jumped up, alarmed, and hurried into the kitchen.Amber sat there in the midst of pots and broken plates and pressed her left hand tightly to her body. "Oh God, Amber what happened here? Did you hurt yourself?" Amber tears ran down her cheeks and there was already a big bruise on her wrist. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break anything! * Sob * But I was so hungry. And you looked so sad, I didn't want to ask you. I just wanted to get the cornflakes from above! I, I Really didn't want to break anything! "" Oh Amber, I don't care about the dishes. Much more important is that nothing serious happened to you! Come on, show your arm. "Reluctantly, Amber stretched out her arm and Keith examined it so gently and as thorough as she could. During the entire procedure, not a single sound of pain came from her little girl's lips, after a few minutes the last tears dried up and she tried to smile bravely."Does it still hurt a lot?" "No, actually not at all. I just thought you were angry with me and would scold me. Mom, where is dad?" This question was not unexpected, but Keith still didn't know what she should answer. She decided to just stick with the truth. "I don't know exactly, but I'll go look for him now. Do you want to go to Aunt Becky and play a little with Jamie and Luke in the meantime?" "OK, but only if I can take Tepi with me!" Can you do that. I'll just give Aunt Becky a quick call and then we'll go, so hurry up and pack a few things to take away. And be careful not to cut yourself anywhere! "Amber left the kitchen and carefully a moment later Keith heard her running up the stairs.

Becky was immediately ready to take care of Amber and was very worried about her brother and her sister-in-law. She had tried to get Keith to stay, but she hadn't agreed.Why hadn't she paid attention to her daughter? What was the matter with her? Dave had been gone less than 10 hours and it wasn't even certain that he was gone at all. It wasn't usually his way of not reporting, but something like that could happen. She was exaggerating, but what if something terrible had happened to Dave? If he had had an accident, was badly injured in some ditch or even dead! No, she couldn't drive herself crazy. She had to stay calm and think carefully about everything again. Dave had been called in the middle of the night. She didn't know from whom, or why, but there weren't many people for whom her husband would just disappear in the middle of the night and much less for whom he would simply disappoint his daughter. But she'd all called his family and her own, and even his closest friends didn't know anything.What options were left open? Not a pleasant one in any case. And what if Dave had been kidnapped? This insecurity would drive her completely crazy. She had to do something! What if she just called the police now? She would definitely declare her crazy and completely hysterical, but wasn't she a little bit too? But she couldn't just sit around doing nothing either. But she could try something else. Dave had a lot of