Lost and Found by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online Page A

cannot overlook the fact that Fran needs to get to school on time. Her tardiness has become a problem.
    Mom was always late? It seemed funny that Mom would be so angry with Dad for being late when she herself had a problem with lateness on many of the report cards Madison was reading.
    Inside the report card box, she discovered newspaper clippings from Mom’s school paper, showing Mom taking a jump shot at a basketball game and cramming for finals in a school library.
    Next to the report card box, Madison noticed another box marked KEEP OUT! THIS MEANS YOU, MOM AND DAD . Madison recognized the handwriting. She had written it a long time ago. Mom hadn’t cracked the seal yet, but Madison did. She found something inside she hadn’t seen in years.
    Nesting at the top of the box was an old, wooden cigar case covered with decoupage. A long time ago Madison had saved letters, comics, and other special notes in it. Most of the letters and papers had rough edges, torn sides, and broken seals. She’d called this her “secret box.”
    Opening the box slowly, Madison gasped. She’d forgotten all this existed! She read and then reread every letter. Her favorite was a note from Gramma Helen, who had written while traveling with Grampa Joe in Europe. Madison had saved the envelope because the stamp was so pretty.
    She looked deeper inside the mystery carton to see what else lay buried or wrapped in newspapers beneath the cigar box.
    First Madison found a yellow diary with a lock from five years before. It had never been written in. The pages were crackly to the touch.
    Then she saw a stack of pictures she’d finger painted in kindergarten. They were mostly painted orange. It had been Madison’s favorite color back then, too.
    On the bottom of the box, she found a photo album, the one with the word SNAPSHOTS spelled out in big, gold letters across the fake leather album cover. She had gotten the book from Aunt Angie for her eighth birthday.
    Madison opened the book very slowly in case there was anything stuffed inside. She didn’t want things to fall out. Turning the plastic pages made a lot of noise.
    On the first spread of photos, Madison saw herself wrapped in a fuzzy yellow blanket, looking more like a chick than a little baby. There were three poses in that outfit, next to a picture of Madison lying with a bare bottom on the living room floor. She had a big grin on her face and a teddy bear in her hand.
    Madison turned the page quickly. Baby pictures could be so embarrassing.
    The next spread showed Madison sitting high up on her dad’s shoulders. He was standing in the yard, watering flowers. In another photo he was barbecuing hot dogs. That was back when Madison’s mom still ate meat. She’d been a strict vegetarian for a few years now.
    There was a big photo of Mom and Dad seated together on a hammock. They were kissing, in the picture. Madison stopped to look at that photograph a little longer than the others.
    She couldn’t take her eyes off her parents. They had looked so happy then. In the photo, Madison could barely make out the shadow of a little child on the left side. She realized she was the one standing just outside the photo’s frame. She’d been standing there, watching Mom and Dad kiss.
    She glanced through the next few pages to find even more shots of Mom, Dad, herself, and other family members:
    Gramma Helen putting Madison’s hair into braids.
    Grampa Joe carrying Madison into the ocean.
    Dad pouring soapy water over Madison’s head in the tub.
    Mom feeding Madison green mushy food.
    Madison jumping on her bed.
    Page after page, Madison found the baby and then grade school pictures she’d always loved. She looked through them all twice. And then she got to the pictures of second grade.
    There was Ivy Daly. In almost every single one.
    Their best friendship dated back to the beginning of school. Ivy and Madison had been inseparable. They had dressed alike and liked the same things. They had both liked