I Heard a Young Woman on the Street Singing the Same Song My Daughter Sang Before Going Missing 17 Years Ago, So I Went Closer

Walking home from work one evening, my mind was occupied with the bills I needed to pay. As I turned onto the quiet street leading to the town square, a melody reached my ears, and I froze mid-step. It was a song I hadn’t heard in 17 years—a lullaby I had made up for my daughter, Lily, before she vanished from our lives. It was a tender tune about sunlight and fields of flowers, meant to fill her dreams with warmth. No one else could possibly know it. Yet, there it was. Sung by a young woman standing across the…