My name is Shen Xiaoxue (pseudonym). I am 11 years old and a fifth-grader in elementary school. My family lives in Shenfu Village, Dawei Town, Baohe District, Hefei City, Anhui Province. Our family of three, including my dad, Shen Qiang (pseudonym), and my mom, Chen Li (pseudonym), had been living a simple and happy life. However, my mom ran away from home under the influence of the "Almighty God" cult and had been absent from home for three years when I was still a child. Her three years’ absence from home is a painful part of my childhood that I could never forget.
I was the apple of mom’s eye during the years when my mom took care of me at home
My grandma said that my mom got acquainted with my dad in 2008 through the introduction by Grandma Chen in our village. They got married in 2009 and gave birth to me the following year. As it snowed on the day I was born, my mom named me Xiaoxue (Little Snow).
As I was still a child during those years, my mom took care of me and our family life at home instead of working away from home. She provided the driving force and the strong backing for my dad to work hard outside. My dad started a bike repair shop in the market. He worked hard from dawn to night every day. Time passed quickly during the uneventful days. Soon, I became a student in elementary school. In the first semester of my second grade, two aunts frequently called on my mom at my home. Since then, my mom seemed to have changed.
I was like an abandoned child in the three years after my mom ran away from home
For some time, I often met two aunts reading books and chatting with my mom in the bedroom when I came home from school. I tried to enter the room to have a look, but my mom sternly reprimanded me, telling me not to disturb them. My mom did have changed. She no longer cleaned the house or sent me to and from school, nor did she check my homework. Besides, she seldom did the cooking for me, so I had to go to my grandparents' home for meals. My dad had been busy in his repair shop all day long, seldom available to accompany my mom. Later, my mom frequently quarreled with my dad, clamoring for divorce with him. I hid in my room and cried secretly. I didn't want them to divorce, but my mom insisted on divorcing my dad, threatening to die if she couldn’t get divorced.
One day just after the National Day holiday in October 2017, I found our house in a mess when I came back from school at noon. My dad was sitting there crying with his head in his hands. He said that my mom had believed in the lies of the "Almighty God" cult and left home with all our family's savings to "preach the gospel". I burst into tears, crying loudly for my mom. How I wished my mom hadn't left! I wished my mom would be home soon!
My mom had really left home, but I didn't know where she went. My dad closed down his repair shop and went out every day to look for my mom. My dad said he had looked for my mom in all the streets and alleys of Hefei city. He had also been to nearby Lujiang, Liuan, and other places, posting many Missing Person Notices, hoping that my mom could see them and come back soon. When there was no school, I’d go out with my dad to look for my mom. I cried “Mom! Mom!” while walking, but there was no response from my mom.
I missed my mom every day during the three years of her absence from home. I put her photo in my textbook. Whenever I looked at it, I couldn’t refrain from shedding tears silently. I was especially envious of my classmates when I saw them being picked up or dropped off by their moms at the school gate every day. How I wished my mom would suddenly appear before me when I was ill and saw other children held in their moms’ arms in the hospital. My dad and I had looked for my mom for three years, but we had never heard from her.
Mom, my dearest mom, I missed you so much! Where did you go? Did you miss me?
I became a happy child again when my mom finally came home three years later
How quickly time flew by! Three years had passed in the blink of an eye. It is 2020 now, and I am already a fifth-grade student. One day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, my dad told me happily that the township government had found my mom and she would be back tomorrow. I was so happy that my dear mom was finally coming home. That night, I didn’t fall asleep, looking forward to my mom’s return full of joy.
The next day, my mom came back as expected. She was sent back by several uncles and aunts as well as Grandma Shen in our village. My dad said they had helped find my mom. My mom seemed very haggard. With a thin body and messy hair, she looked like she was ill. I ran over to hug her and cried: "Mom, I miss you so much!"
Dad stayed at home to accompany my mom during the following time. Staff from the township government came to visit us at our home regularly. With care and help from everyone, my mom's mood got better and better. It seemed that the mother I used to know was back. She made braised pork ribs for me, combed my hair, and helped me with my homework. It was a special blessing to have my mom with me while I was growing up.
Our house in Shenfu Village has been demolished. Now we live in a relocated modern community with better living conditions. Both my dad and mom work in a nearby factory. Our life is much better than before.
