A woman abandons her little girl outside a church, but twenty years later, the girl is still looking for her — and then she finds her.
Sometimes there are truths so dark and painful that we simply cannot face them, and that’s what happened to Carly DIngles. When Carly was 5 years old, her mother took her for a ride in her big red car.
They drove far away from the streets Carly knew until they came to a large white church set in a green field. “Carly, honey,” her mother said. “You wait here, sweetie, and Mommy will be right back!”
Even after being abandoned outside a church, Carly still believed her mother loved her | Source: Shutterstock.com
Then her mother kissed her on the cheek and got into the car, all those bracelets she loved so much fluttering, and drove off, her beautiful blond hair fluttering like a flag in the wind.
That’s how Carly will remember her mother, driving off, bracelets flapping around her hand, and her yellow hair flowing back. Carly watched until her mother’s car looked like a dot on the road, and sat down on the church steps.
She waited and waited, but her mother didn’t come back, and no one else came by. Then, when the sun was very high and Carly was starting to get really thirsty, a pretty lady arrived at the church carrying an armful of beautiful flowers.
“My child,” she cried. “What are you doing out here in the sun?”
Carly sat for hours waiting for her mother | Source: Unsplash
“I’m waiting for my mom,” Carly explained. “She said she’ll be back.”
The woman mumbled, fidgeted, and put her hand on Carly’s forehead, saying it was too hot. She went back to her car and returned with a handful of peaches and a bottle of water. “Now you’re going to sit here in the shade,” she told Carly. “Get some water and a peach, and I’ll be back later.”
The woman took the flowers inside and came back with a tall man in a black robe (he later explained that it wasn’t a robe and that he was a priest, but it looked like a robe to Carly). The woman and the priest had a big argument, and then the woman made a phone call.
It was almost dark when a thin woman and a police officer arrived and took Carly away. She kept saying she had to stay because her mother was coming, but no one listened.
The church priest called social services | Source: Pexels
Carly was taken to an orphanage. She was very angry and didn’t want to talk to any of the other children. “I’m not an orphan,” she shouted. “I have a mommy, and she’s going to come back for me!”
None of the other children tried to befriend Carly; she was always so angry and bitter, except for one boy. His name was Peter, and he was a pale, sickly boy. The other children said he had a bad heart.
They didn’t mean that Peter was bad, just that his heart wasn’t working properly, which meant he couldn’t run, play ball, or do anything fun. So Peter would build paper airplanes and sit on the stairs to see how far they could fly.
One day, he saw Carly crying while sitting on the bottom step of a staircase, so he sent his best airplane to her. It flew high, high before floating gently to land at her feet. Carly picked it up and saw that there was something written on the wings.
Carly was very unhappy and didn’t want to make friends | Source: Unsplash
It said, “You’re going to be okay.” Carly looked up to see where the plane had come from and saw Peter. “You did this?” she asked him.
“Yes,” said Peter. “I can’t run, so I make planes that can fly high.”
Carly climbed the stairs to return Peter’s plane, and the two began to chat. They became best friends, and in fact, he was Carly’s only friend.
“Children need and deserve to be loved by their parents.”
Whenever Carly was having a bad day, a paper airplane would appear out of nowhere and land on her desk, bed, or at her feet, reminding her that everything would be okay.
The years passed quickly, and soon after, Carly was seventeen, about to turn eighteen, and her plan was to go find her mother as soon as she could leave the orphanage.
Peter sent her a paper airplane with a love message | Source: Unsplash
She went to the principal and asked for any information that might help her find her mother, but the woman tried to discourage her. “Carly,” she said kindly. “You have a bright future ahead of you, a scholarship. Forget about going looking for your mother for now…”
“Never!” Carly shouted. “I know my mother is looking for me! She came back to that church and I was gone. It’s all your fault!” Carly ran out of the headmistress’s office and into the garden, crying.
She was sitting there, disgusted, angry, and miserable, when a paper airplane landed in her lap. She looked down, picked it up, and crushed it in her fist. “STOP!” she screamed. “Your stupid airplanes aren’t helping me, Peter! I HATE THEM! I HATE YOU!”
Soon after, Carly felt ashamed of her behavior and wanted to apologize to Peter, but she was too embarrassed to seek him out, and he seemed to stay away. She left three days later without saying goodbye.
Carly knew she had hurt Peter but she didn’t apologize | Source: Unsplash
For the next two years, Carly traveled across America looking for her mother, and finally, after many adventures, she found her in a trailer park outside St. Louis, Missouri.
Carly walked over to her mother’s trailer and knocked on the door. A woman opened it, but she didn’t look at all like the pretty mother Carly remembered. She was much older, and her hair was stiff and brittle.
“Yes?” asked the woman. “Who are you? I’m not buying anything!”
“Mom?” Carly whispers. “Mom, it’s me, Carly!”
Carly’s mother looked very different | Source: Pexels
“Carly?” her mother said in a surprised tone. “Well, I’ll be… What the hell are you doing here?”
“Mom, I came to see you,” Carly said. “I know you came back to church while I was gone…”
The woman laughed sternly. “Come back? Hun, I brushed the dust of this city off my heels by sunset! I had a new man in my life, and he didn’t want what another man did!”
“You left me?” exclaimed Carly, who couldn’t believe it. Everyone had been right all along. “You abandoned a five-year-old in front of a church?”
Carly learned that Peter had died | Source: Unsplash
“Well, honey, don’t they all say children are a gift from God? I was just giving you back!” The woman laughed again, and Carly turned and ran off.
Three days later, she was back at the orphanage. She told the director about her trip and its bitter end. “So I came back, hoping to get in touch with Peter…”
“Oh, Carly,” said the headmistress. “I’m so sorry! Peter’s heart… It gave out a few weeks after you left…”
Blinded by tears, Carly went outside and sat in the garden. She had run away after the fantasy of a mother who loved her, when all along, a sincere and loving heart had been there, by her side.
“Oh, Peter,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry!”
A yellow leaf floated down just like one of Peter’s paper airplanes | Source: Unsplash
And then something strange happened. A leaf landed in his lap. A bright yellow leaf, shiny and vibrant, shaped exactly like one of Peter’s airplanes. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it was a message.
I think it was Peter telling Carly that everything would be okay, and Carly thinks so too.
What can we learn from this story?
- Children need and deserve to be loved by their parents . Carly needed so much to believe that her mother would return that she refused love from others.
- Those who love us are always with us, in our hearts, and comfort our souls . Peter’s kind spirit was always with Carly, giving her courage.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
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