Lost And Found: A Bedtime Story

Hello, beloveds.

Tonight's offering is a sweet short story about being re-united with a part of yourself that you didn't know existed.

I hope you sleep well dear ones.

Music is generously provided by Nature's Eye.

Thank you for listening and take care.

Transcript

Hello dear ones and welcome to today's reading.

A story that I wrote called Lost and Found.

As always just taking a few moments to arrive here in the space.

Maybe taking some longer deeper breaths.

Maybe stretching out your body.

If you're in bed maybe snuggling down into your duvet.

Just making yourself comfortable and ready to enjoy the story.

And when you're ready dear ones,

We will begin.

When Olivia looked at the woman sitting across from her in the dimly lit coffee shop,

She felt something strange tighten in her chest.

The resemblance was uncanny.

The same dark curls that tumbled over her shoulders.

The same dimpled chin.

Even the same deep brown eyes.

But that wasn't possible.

Olivia was an only child.

Her mother had told her so.

Emily stared back,

The silence between them stretching like a taut wire.

She had spent years searching,

Following scraps of information,

Hoping against hope.

And now here she was,

Face to face with the sister that she had never known.

Neither spoke at first.

The weight of unspoken words,

Of lost years,

Of wounds neither had known existed,

Sat between them like a third presence.

I… Olivia started,

Then stopped,

Swallowing hard.

How do you know?

Emily exhaled sharply,

Pulling out an old creased photograph from her bag.

It showed two infants,

Tiny hands grasping each other.

I was adopted,

She said quietly.

My parents never hid that from me.

But when I started asking questions,

When I dug deeper,

I found the hospital records.

They were two of us.

Olivia's mind reeled.

Her mother had never spoken of a twin.

Was it possible she never knew?

Or had she kept it a secret?

A lump formed in her throat.

Her mother had died two years ago.

There were no answers left to give.

Anger flared in her chest.

Why would she keep this from me?

Emily hesitated,

Then spoke with care.

Maybe she was protecting you.

Or maybe she was protecting herself.

Grief and betrayal warred within Olivia.

But beneath that,

Something deeper.

A longing she had never fully understood until this moment.

A sense of loss she had never been able to name.

Over the next few weeks,

They pieced together fragments of a fractured past.

Emily's adoptive parents had loved her,

Given her everything they could.

But she had always felt like something was missing.

Olivia,

Meanwhile,

Had grown up feeling a vague sense of loneliness,

Even in the presence of love.

They had been two halves,

Torn apart before they could know each other.

There was pain in uncovering the truth.

Their birth mother had been young,

Overwhelmed,

And had made an impossible choice.

One child to keep,

One to give away.

A decision made in desperation,

Not malice.

Forgiveness did not come easily,

But it did come.

Olivia and Emily leaned into each other,

First cautiously,

And then with trust.

They spoke of childhood memories,

One full of laughter and bedtime stories,

The other full of longing and unanswered questions.

They cried for the time they lost,

For the mother they had loved in different ways.

They let themselves grieve together.

And in that grief,

There was healing.

Months passed,

And what began as tentative meetings became inseparable weekends.

Emily taught Olivia to cook the dishes she had grown up with.

Olivia introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

Emily taught Olivia to cook the dishes she had grown up with.

Emily introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

Emily introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

Emily introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

Emily introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

Emily introduced Emily to the old record player that had been their mother's pride.

You were out there.

Tears slipped down Olivia's cheeks.

I think I was always waiting for you.

And in that moment,

In the warmth of shared understanding,

In the quiet joy of rediscovery,

The years of separation melted away.

They were no longer just strangers bound by blood.

They were sisters,

Finally home.

Their bond deepened in ways they never expected.

Olivia,

Once guarded and hesitant,

Found herself opening up in ways she never had before.

Emily,

Who had spent years searching for connection,

Felt a wholeness she had never known.

One autumn afternoon,

Emily invited Olivia to meet her adoptive parents.

Olivia hesitated,

Nerves twisting in her stomach.

What if they resented her?

What if seeing her reminded them of what they had lost?

But when she stepped into their home,

She was met with warmth.

Emily's mother,

Susan,

Enveloped her in a tight embrace,

Whispering,

We've wanted to meet you for so long.

Her father,

Robert,

Shook her hand,

His eyes misty.

Emily always knew she had a missing piece,

And now we understand why,

He said.

For the first time,

Olivia realized that family wasn't just the people who raised you.

It was the people who made room for you in their hearts.

As winter approached,

They decided to visit their mother's grave.

Together,

Snow blanketed the cemetery in an unbroken sheet of white.

They stood in silence before the headstone,

Their breath curling in the cold air.

Olivia finally spoke.

I wish I could ask her why.

Emily took her hand.

I think she did the best she could,

And I think in some way,

She loved us both.

It wasn't an easy answer.

It didn't erase the pain,

But it was enough.

As the seasons changed,

So did they.

They became sisters in every sense,

Sharing holidays,

Late-night talks,

And laughter that filled the empty spaces in their hearts.

They learned to navigate the past without letting it define them.

And in the end,

They found not only each other,

But a new kind of joy.

A joy born from love,

From forgiveness,

From healing.

One spring morning,

Olivia and Emily decided to take a trip together,

A road trip along the coast,

A journey neither had taken before.

It was Emily's idea,

A way to create new memories,

Untethered from the past.

They sang along to old songs on the radio,

Stopped at roadside diners,

And dipped their toes into the freezing ocean.

In a small beach town,

They found a bookshop and spent hours browsing,

Discovering their shared love for the same authors.

It was as if they were uncovering pieces of each other that had always existed,

But had never been named.

One evening,

As the sun dipped below the horizon,

Olivia turned to Emily.

What if we hadn't found each other,

She asked.

Emily smiled,

Reaching for her sister's hand.

I think we would have,

Somehow,

Some way.

As the stars began to emerge,

Olivia thought of all they had endured,

All they had reclaimed.

She no longer felt the ache of something missing.

That night,

As they sat by a bonfire on the beach,

Emily pulled out a small notebook and began writing.

I want to remember this,

She said,

Every single moment.

Olivia glanced at her,

Warmth spreading throughout her chest.

Then,

Let's keep making more moments.

And so they did,

Through new adventures,

Through the quiet comfort of shared experiences,

Through the love that grew stronger with each passing day.

The past would always be a part of them,

But it no longer defined them.

Because despite everything,

The years of separation,

The pain,

The unanswered questions,

They had found their way back,

Not just to each other,

But to a life filled with love,

Understanding,

And a future they would face together.

They were no longer lost.

They had finally been found.