No matter how hard she tried, Lily could not keep her focus on her studies. She sat in the library of the college campus she attended, nervously tapping her foot against the rough carpet. Lily had so much on her mind; the last thing she cared about was the evolution of mankind.

Lily was a new mother, who was working at earning her master’s in education. Her son, Lance, was like an accessory to Lily; everywhere she went, Lance went as well. Lily was still trying to make ends meet, and she had no extra money for a baby-sitter. Her goal was to become an English teacher, but more importantly, she wanted to be a good mother.

It was a cloudy Thursday morning, a typical day for Lily. Even when the sun was gleaming outside, Lily still seemed to feel as if she was trapped in a storm. She raced around the house, trying to prepare herself for the day. As soon as she fed and clothed Lance, Lily put the focus on herself. With only twenty minutes until her first class started, Lily decided that applying make-up was not a necessity, and her blouse would have to remain inside out. As she was shutting the lights off in the kitchen, she heard a knock on the door. Lily sighed; she had no time for visitors. After a second knock, she opened the door for the impatient visitor.

“Hey Lils, mind if I come in for a minute?” The man was dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. He was Lance’s father, or lack there of.

“Actually, yes I do mind. Alan, what are you doing here? I have class in less than ten minutes.” Lily asked, continuing to lock up the house.

Alan was persistent, and let himself in the house. “Come on Lily, I came to get Lance. I figured I could help out a bit.” He glanced at Lily, offering a half smile. Lily paused and looked at Alan, she was in complete shock. He hadn’t come to see Lance in over a month, so why was today any different?

“Oh, so now you want to help? Alan you have been nonexistent in your son’s life since he was born and you think you can just waltz on in and take him? No!” Lily screamed, walking out the door with Lance in his car seat.

Alan raced after her with desperation glued on his face. “Don’t be like this Lily. You know I’ve been busy.” Lily stopped in her tracks. Her pulse began to race.

“Busy? You don’t think I’ve been busy? I’m a single mother trying to balance my home life with my education. It doesn’t get any busier than that.” Lily was filled with rage. Alan grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Yeah I know Lily and I’m sorry. Just let me help out.” He was practically begging for his child. Lily looked at her watch and realized she was late for class. The idea of having some help seemed to take a weight off her shoulders.

“Okay,” Lily sighed, throwing her hands up, “take him. But I want him back by six.” A smile spread across Alan’s face.

“Thanks Lily!” He replied as he grabbed Lance. He buckled Lance’s car seat into his old Honda and sped off. Lily watched the car until it was no longer in sight, and then she ran to class.

It was almost six, and Lily was still studying her notes in the library. She knew she wouldn’t be home in time to meet Alan, so she stepped outside to call him. After a few calls, he finally answered.

“Alan, what are you doing?” Lily asked in a hushed voice, trying not to disturb anyone. Lily heard several men’s voices in the background.

“Oh..yeah. Uh what’s up?” Alan replied. Lily could tell he was paying no attention to her.

“Alan, I’m going to be running late, do you want to drop him off at eight?” Lily asked, glancing around the room to make sure she wasn’t disturbing anyone. The other end of the phone was silent for a moment.

“Mmm yeah okay.” Alan murmured, and the line went dead. Lily rolled her eyes, but thought nothing of it. This was just typical behavior from Alan. She put her phone back into her pocket and continued to study.

Lily arrived home a little before eight and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to squeeze in a quick shower. She sent Alan a text message that read: “Taking a quick shower. Please take Lance to his room and put him in his crib. Thanks.” Lily set her phone on the counter and stepped into the shower. She let the hot water run down her back. It was like the water was washing all of her problems away. Lily realized that she had been in the shower for quite a while, and Lance was probably all alone in his room. She quickly got out and slipped into some silky pajamas. Lily skipped into Lance’s room and froze when she looked in the crib. It was empty.

“Lance? Where are you baby?” She frantically searched the room. She threw the neatly arranged pillows to the side and searched every corner until she was certain that Lance was nowhere to be found. Lily ran to the bathroom and snatched her phone off of the counter, already dialing Alan’s number. As she was dialing the number, Lily received a text message from Alan.

The text message read: “Hey Lily, just wanted you to know that you won’t be getting Lance back for a while, or ever. You want some time to yourself, you got it. He’s mine now.” Lily’s heart rate was speeding up faster than ever. Her hands trembled at the thought of her baby with this crazy man. She tried to call Alan, but his phone was off. Lily quickly called the police and reported her stolen child. They told Lily that they would start the investigation by retrieving some background information on Alan, and they would call her back as soon as they had done so. Lily paced through the house, trying to think of where her son could be. Suddenly, the phone rang. She raced to the phone and quickly picked up.

“Hello Lily, this in Detective Jones, we spoke earlier.” He said in a stern voice.

“Yes, please tell me you know where my baby is.” Lily replied in a helpless voice. The other end of the phone was silent.

“Well, we did find some information on Alan,” the detective started. “It turns out the Alan is wanted for the murder, and countless felonies.” His voice was now sympathetic. Lily erupted into tears.

“Please find my baby.” She managed to stutter out. Her collapsed against the coach and sobbed for what seemed like hours. Lily continued to wait by the phone for three days until she received a phone call.

“Hello?” She said, in a lifeless voice.

“Ma’am, this is Detective Jones. We need you to come down to the station. We..need you to identify a body.” The man hesitated as he choked out those words. Lily immediately ran to her car and drove to the station. When she arrived, she sat in her car for a minute and sobbed. There was a good chance that her baby would not be alive. After Lily pulled herself together, she walked into the station. Detective Jones was awaiting her arrival.

“Hello, Lilly. If you could follow me this way.” He said, leading her into a small dark room. Lily slowly walked behind. When they entered the room, she saw a small blanket draped over a lump on the table. This couldn’t be Lance, Lily thought. He was bigger than that. The detective walked over to the table, placing his hand on the blanket.

“I know this will be hard for you,” he started, “and you don’t have to look at it for a long time. We just need to know if this is Lance.” Lily nodded and watched as he removed the blanket from the body. Before the blanket was completely removed from the body, Lily collapsed onto the floor. The image of her lifeless baby’s body lying on the table was overwhelming. The detective knelt to the ground and embraced Lily. She cried for what seemed like hours, and the detective finally suggested that Lily head home. She agreed and drove home with a blank expression glued to her face.

As soon as she got home, she went straight to Lance’s bedroom. She held his fleece pajamas to her face and took a deep breath to embrace the smell of his skin. Tears rolled down her face, and she flopped down into the rocking chair that was located beside his crib. Lily closed her eyes and let herself relive the memories that she and Lance had shared. Life as Lily knew it would no longer be the same.