Revised. Originally published as a Fiction Friday. This has been revised to add more to the story…

“Sure come on in,” Leslie said, looking up from her computer screen.

“I need to talk to you about,” Sarah began, but Leslie had already glanced back to the screen.

“Did you hear about this?” Leslie asked turning the screen toward her.

The mug shot of a young man stared back at her. His eyes looking straight forward, cold and uncaring. The headline read “Two Arrested After Human Trafficking Victim Found In Edmond.” Apparently a 16 year old pregnant girl had been rescued after police had created a sting to catch the traffickers. Sarah couldn’t believe it. “That’s happening here, too?”

“Yeah, apparently a lot,” Leslie replied, as she scrolled down the page. “I guess Oklahoma is a major crossroads for this type of crime because of all the highways that come through it.”

Sarah sat back in her chair. She’d never thought, never considered it happening right here.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” Leslie asked, turning the screen back around.

“Nothing,” Sarah replied, glancing up at her, “I’ve got to go look some stuff up.” She grabbed her purse and headed for her office. Fifteen minutes until her first client. She saw glancing at her clock as she entered her office and threw her purse in a desk drawer. Just enough time to do a little research.

A few minutes later…

Broken…

…Sarah stared at the computer screen broken by what she saw. From her trip to Romania, she’d know that human trafficking was a reality there, but here? Now? Children and girls and her own neighborhood were enslaved? How could this be happening here?

She felt impotent as she scrolled through page after page of facts and stories. Where did one even begin to help, she wondered. She’d thought she would have to go across the world to make a difference. “I never guessed it was here,” she whispered.

As she read, tears began to fall. For those who were hurting, for those who were ignorant of the pain, even for those who contributed to this way of life. Where was God?

“I’m here,” He whispered to her heart. “I’m here in you…”

Revised

…and others of my people who I’m waking up to this reality for so many. I’m here and I see.”

Sarah wiped the tears away, took a long drink of her coffee, and began to write down names and numbers.

A few minutes later, she called Will. “Sarah?”

“I know this is going to sound crazy but I’m staying,” she said leaning forward on her desk.

“You are? What happened to you being on the first plane out of here?” he said, his voice hesitant.

“I know, but what I’ve been reading the last few hours has changed everything. Did you know that this stuff is happening here?”

For more information about human trafficking in the US: http://abolitioninternational.org/what-we-fight/

If you’re following this story over the last few months, you may notice that this is a break in the story line. After hearing on Klove and other stations of the human trafficking taking place right here in the US, I’m changing the course of this story. We all know of what’s happening over there, but few are aware, I wasn’t aware, of what is happening right here.

Fiction Friday is for me to have fun and get back in the habit of writing fiction. I hope you enjoy it! To check out the previous installments of this story click here. The first one is at the bottom.

I’m using the Gypsy Mama’s Friday prompts to get me started. Every Friday writers join together at LisaJoBaker.com for Five Minute Friday. One word, five minutes, no editing, and no back tracking. Come join the fun!