Walking through the snow, thoughts whirling around in Emma's head. Who am I? Why am I here? She trudged on through the snow, away from her family.

From her father who harassed her, her brother who didn't care. And most of all, her mother. Emma's mother cared for her more than anyone else in the family. She loved her. Emma loved her mother too.

Pushing back the thoughts running through her head she kept walked on the side of the highway. It looks like no one cares about her, except her mother.

"Hey!" someone yelled. "What are you doing walking in the snow on a highway?"

Emma didn't care. She didn't pay attention, she just kept on trudging. 

It was nightfall. Emma fell on the snow, breathing very fast. Emma was very cold, she didn't even have any food. Emma cried herself to sleep.

When Emma woke up the next morning she was sleeping on a bench. 

What am I doing here? Who did this? Emma thought.

She got up from the bench and rubbed her eyes. She saw she was in a town- with a cafe near her! Emma ran across the street to the cafe and opened it. Emma remembered she didn't have any money.

"Crap," she whispered. 

"Hello! My name is Lee, how may I help you?" the cashier said. 

"I don't have any money but I'm really hungry." Emma exclaimed, looking into the woman's eyes.

"Okay, I'll give you a donut if you want. But just this once. I don't want my boss to find out." the woman whispered, looking around. She handed Emma a strawberry donut and a ten dollar bill. 

"Thanks for giving me the money. I really needed it. I love strawberry donuts. Thanks!" Emma said hungrily.

She sat down at a table and started eating her donut. Emma finished her donut with a satisfied sigh. Emma got up and walked out of the cafe. Feeling refreshed, Emma walked to a place that looked like a park. She wiped away the snow with her hand and sat down on the bench. Little kids were running around her everywhere. 

"Pray the Lord I will be alright," Emma whispered.

A man noticed her and sat down next to her on the bench.

"Are you okay? You don't seem like it. Here, take my jacket." the man said, taking his jacket off him and handing it to Emma. 

"Thanks," Emma thanked him through her chattering teeth. 

"Anything to make a lady not freeze to her death."

Emma laughed. "I better go now," Emma handed back the man's jacket to him. The man rejected it.

"Keep it. You need it more than I do."

Emma wrapped the jacket tightly around herself. She was very cold. She walked and walked. She saw houses!

 Maybe there is a person I could live with for a while. She thought. 

Emma walked up to the door and knocked. Someone opened the door.

"Hello there. May I help you?" an old lady said.

Emma shivered. "Y-y-yes. I'm cold and I have no where to stay."

"Well then come on inside. I'll warm you up."

Emma followed the old lady into the kitchen.

"Do you like chicken noodle soup?" the woman asked, handing Emma a bowl of chicken noodle soup with a spoon.

Emma nodded and drank the soup.

"My name is Emma." Emma spoke up.

"Nice to meet you Emma. My name is Linda Bergen. But you can call me Ms. Bergen."

Ms. Bergen was never married and she never had any kids. She had curly gray hair and was wearing an apron.

 "So how did you manage to get here?" Ms. Bergen asked.

Emma told Ms. Bergen about how no one liked her except her mom. She told about how she got here. When Emma was done, Ms. Bergen said: "Wow, you must've been through a lot of torture."

It was afternoon. Starting to turn into night.

"I'm sleepy. Why don't we go to bed?" Ms. Bergen exclaimed.

Where will I sleep? Emma thought.

"You'll sleep on the couch." Ms. Bergen said, like she was reading Emma's mind. "It's a fold out couch. It can be made into a bed."

I hope you enjoyed this short story! Please vote and comment! In the future I might update this short story. If you want you can write an end for this story. Just tag it 'Snowflake'.