Harry raced down the street, his worn out sneakers splashing in puddles that litter the empty alley. Aunt Petunia would be furious with him for getting so wet and dirty. Uncle Vernon would murder him for being outside without permission. Any other time, he would have done anything to avoid her screeching and his angry bellows. But now he would have given anything to see her, or Dudley, or even Uncle Vernon.

Harry was lost.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had taken him and Dudley to the park. A real park! Harry had rarely been allowed to go to the park with Dudley and was very excited. They even let him have a go on the slide! If fact, they let him play all by himself on the jungle-gym, like they let Dudley. Harry liked being outside, in public, where there were lots of people. As long as Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon did not leave him alone, Harry was fine. Being outside meant that Uncle Vernon could not hit him, and Aunt Petunia could not scream at him without attracting attention. Even Dudley was told to behave outside, when there were strangers or neighbours around.

Harry had been having fun, but then Dudley had to go to the loo, and Uncle Vernon had to take him. Harry paid them no mind, he had all but forgotten about his relatives. It was not like Harry not to pay attention, but he had not had so much fun in such a long time. And so when Aunt Petunia decided to go and get some hot dogs from the food stand, Harry did not notice.

She never came back, none of them came back.

Harry played on the jungle-gym--trying out the swings even though he never got them to swing anywhere, dangling from the monkey-bars as he was too small to make it to the other side and crawling up the slide from the bottom up like all the other children. Long minutes passed and Harry forgot to worry about Aunt Petunia’s shrieks, Uncle Vernon’s bellows and Dudley’s bullying. Then it was as if a light went off in his head, a sudden realization that his family was nowhere to be seen.

Aunt Petunia was not sitting on the bench where he’d last seen her. Uncle Vernon was not standing forbiddingly nearby looming over him, eyeing him with suspicious and threatening looks. Even Dudley had not been there to push him off the swing or kick over his pile of sand in the sandbox. Where were they? Immediately, Harry’s heart speed up. No, he could not be lost, he hadn’t gone anywhere.f

Harry started to look around frantically, calling out their names. But no answer came. He ran from one side of the playground to the other, searching high and low, but there was no hair or shadow of his relatives. Harry ran to the little boy’s room, and searched every stall, but there was no one in the loo. Harry hurried back to the playground. Maybe they were just playing with him, thought Harry, a game of hide and seek?

But Dudley never played with him.

Dusk began to settle over the city and only a couple of kids were left, Harry shied away from them. Soon, all but Harry remained on the now empty playground. Tears started forming around Harry’s eyes as he searched and searched, but to no avail.

Where were they? Where were Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley?

Half an hour since he noticed their disappearance, Harry wandered off the clearing where the playground had been, and found himself in the quiet streets surrounding the park. He tried to remember which way home was, but as the boy ran up street after street, he just got more and more confused. Now, even the park was nowhere in sight.

He was in so much trouble!

Harry wiped the tears from his eyes, he was cold and wet and more scared than he’d ever been in his life. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would find him, and he was going to get punished so bad for this. They would probably called the police, and make them comelooking for him. His aunt and uncle hated attention and wasting time on a freak like him. All the neighbours would think awful things, and it was all his fault.

He was so going to get it. After this little stunt, he would be in the cupboard for weeks! Harry sniffed and choked as the tears kept coming. As much as he hated being locked in his cupboard, not allowed supper and getting smacked and his ears pulled, right now Harry wanted nothing more than to go home. Anything, anything would be better than being lost in this scary place, cold and wet. But what if they never found him? What if he ended up in an orphanage where all the bad boys went? What if this was the last straw and his aunt and uncle had had enough from a freak like him? What if...multiple scenarios ran through Harry’s head…what if the policeman sent him to jail for being a bad boy for getting lost? But it was only an accident, he didn’t mean to get lost, he was only playing.

What Harry didn’t know was that this was no accident, and that his family wanted him lost. They had no intention of calling the police or even looking for him. They never wanted him to be found, ever.

Harry was exhausted, it was pitch dark and he was sure he’d been running for hours. Any second now the sun would be up. Uncle Vernon would want his coffee, and Dudley would be screaming for his bacon…and he would not be there to make them, nor would he be there to wash the dishes afterwards.

He didn’t know, it but Harry had wandered all the way to centre of town. Feeling absolutely drained from his misadventure, Harry curled up in an hidden alley, hid behind some boxes near an empty dumpster and cried himself to sleep.