After Her Mother's Death, Teenage Girl Is Left Alone Until an Unknown Man Shows Up at Her Door – Story of the Day

After losing her mother, a teenage girl is left to face the world on her own. Struggling to make ends meet, she’s doing her best to survive until one day, a stranger knocks on her door. His arrival will turn her world upside down. Who is he and what does he want from her?

Ellie stood in the kitchen, pouring the last of the cereal into her bowl, scraping it all the way to the bottom so she’d have something to eat before school.

She reached for a tin can on the shelf where she kept her money and, realizing there was hardly anything left, sighed heavily.

I’d have to figure something out, Ellie thought. No kid ever thinks they’ll be left alone at thirteen, without parents.

But that’s exactly what happened to Ellie. Her mom passed away a week ago. Cancer. A disease she couldn’t beat.

Ellie’s uncle, Tom, was supposed to move in to take care of her since she was a minor.

But Ellie didn’t want anyone around, so, using various recordings on her grandmother’s voice recorder, she called Tom, and in the phone call, “Grandma” told him she’d take care of Ellie.

Then, Ellie made the same call to her grandmother, but this time, pretending to be Uncle Tom.

Ellie thought she didn’t need anyone but her mom, but now her mom was gone.

So, she had to make do. She still went to school, made her own meals, cleaned the house, and when the money ran out, she planned to help neighbors with chores and take money from them.

Still, life alone didn’t last long. One day, social services knocked on her door.

“Hi, Ellie. Where are the adults?” asked the woman, who looked like a witch from a children’s fairy tale.

“Um... at work,” Ellie replied.

“And who do you live with?” asked another woman, who didn’t look as scary.

“With Uncle Tom,” Ellie answered.

“We’d like to speak with him,” said the one who looked like a witch.

“But he’s at work,” Ellie replied.

“Could we talk to him somehow?”

“You can talk to him when he gets home,” Ellie said.

“And when will that be?” asked the friendlier one.

“I don’t know, and besides, I was told not to talk to strangers. Bye,” Ellie said, slamming the door in their faces. Phew, she thought.

“Ellie, we’ll be back next week. Tell your uncle to be home,” one of the women called through the door. Ellie peeked out the window, watching them walk away and get into their car.

“They’re so persistent, damn leeches,” Ellie muttered as she started to prepare dinner (mac and cheese from the box).

In the following days, Ellie walked around unsure of what to do about social services.

She was seriously considering asking Tom to come over for a day, but then he’d find out she’d been lying about living with her grandmother.

Then she thought about just ignoring them and pretending no one was home, but that would lead them to call Tom, and he’d realize she’d lied again.

It was a tough situation, especially for a 13-year-old girl. But Ellie’s mom had always said she was smart and could find a solution to anything. So, Ellie had no choice but to figure this out.

One day, as Ellie was coming home from school, she found another surprise waiting for her. Some strange man was brazenly climbing over the fence into her yard.

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked.

The man turned around, still perched on the fence. “Trying to get into the house,” he casually said.

“This is my house, and if you don’t stop right now, I’ll call the cops!” Ellie said sternly.

The man jumped down from the fence and walked up to Ellie. “So, you’re Alice?” he asked.

“It’s Ellie,” she said, offended. “And who are you?”

“My name’s Mike. I’m your dad,” the man said.

Ellie just scrunched her face and headed for the front door to go inside.

“No hugs, no joy?” Mike asked.

“You weren’t around for 13 years. What hugs?” Ellie asked.

“I... I can explain everything, but I’m here now,” Mike said.

“You’re not needed here now,” Ellie said.

“Really? I peeked through the window, and it’s pretty obvious you’re living alone. So you have two choices. Either you let me in, or I’ll call social services,” Mike said.

“Blackmail’s bad,” Ellie said.

“Living alone at 13 isn’t great either,” Mike said, crossing his arms.

“Fine, come in, but you’re sleeping on the couch,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes and letting Mike in.

“Why can’t I sleep in the bedroom?” Mike asked.

“Because that’s Mom’s room!” Ellie shouted. She slept there too, but she decided not to mention that.

“Alright, alright,” Mike said, raising his hands as if he was surrendering.

So, Mike started living with Ellie. Of course, she wasn’t thrilled about it, but at least there was more food in the fridge, all the bills were paid, and the laundry was done.

“So, what do you do?” Ellie asked during a pizza dinner one evening.

“I’m an artist,” Mike said.

“Yeah, but what’s your real job?” Ellie asked.

“That is my real job,” Mike said.

“I saw your wallet. It’s almost empty,” Ellie said.

“Because you’re expensive, but don’t worry, I’ll sell another painting, and I’ll have money again,” Mike said.

“You need to find a real job,” Ellie said, shaking her head.

“It is a real job! I’m not going to be some corporate robot working for ‘the system,’” Mike said.

“Then we’ll both starve,” Ellie said, and Mike shoved her shoulder.

“Eat your pizza, the one I bought,” Mike said.

As much as Ellie hated that she wasn’t living alone anymore, she had to admit that living with Mike wasn’t so bad. He made her lunches for school, showed her his favorite movies (even the ones Mom had forbidden), and taught her to paint.

Ellie loved painting, but after her mom’s death, she had stopped. Mike had almost forced her to pick up a brush again.

With each day, Ellie grew more used to life with Mike, and to him. But the anger and hurt never left her.

He had abandoned her and her mom, and he didn’t show up for 13 years. He didn’t care about Ellie, even though she was his daughter, and she wasn’t going to forget that easily.

So one day, when Mike had fallen asleep for his afternoon nap, Ellie decided to snoop through his stuff to understand him better.

She quietly approached his bag, but there was nothing interesting there. So, she grabbed his phone and unlocked it.

Ellie had seen Mike’s password once and remembered it. She went through his call log and saw a voicemail from Mom. Ellie’s hands shook as she pressed play.

Hi, Mike. I know you’re very busy with your ‘creativity.’ But I want to remind you that you have a daughter, Ellie.

She’s amazing, smart, funny, loves painting, just like you. And she’s just as stubborn and independent as you.

She’s basically a copy of you. So, why am I calling? I don’t have much time left, and I know that. And Ellie knows that. I want you to come. I want you to take care of her. She needs you.

The message had been sent months ago, and Mike had only come now. Ellie wiped the tears from her face and began hitting Mike with a pillow to wake him up.

“What the...?” Mike grumbled when he woke up.

“Mom asked you to come! A long time ago! And you didn’t even reply!” Ellie shouted.

“You went through my stuff?!” Mike yelled, seeing his phone in Ellie’s hands.

“You’re selfish! You don’t care about me!” Ellie screamed.

“You’re not supposed to snoop through other people’s things! Didn’t anyone teach you that?!” Mike shouted.

“No, no one taught me! Because you weren’t here to teach me!” Ellie yelled, throwing his phone at him. “Take your stupid phone and you can leave too!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mike said firmly.

“Then I’ll leave!” Ellie screamed, running out the door.

But she didn’t get far. She was stopped by those same social workers she had completely forgotten about.

“We talked to your uncle, and we know you’re living alone,” one of the women said.

They put Ellie in the car and were about to get in themselves, but Mike ran up to them.

“Where are you taking her?” he asked. Ellie heard them through the slightly cracked window.

“We’re putting her in foster care. The girl’s living alone. That shouldn’t happen,” other women said.

“I’m living with her. I’m her dad,” Mike said.

“Dad? That’s a new one. Then come with some identification and proof of employment.”

“I’m an artist, I don’t have any work documents,” Mike said.

“You can still come, but the chances of you getting Ellie back without a stable income are slim,” one of the women said, and then they both got in the car and drove off with Ellie.

Ellie opened the window wider and looked out at Mike. “You’re a traitor!!!” she yelled, slamming the window shut and crying.

Ellie was placed in a foster home with three other kids, and it was awful. She didn’t like kids, especially little ones.

One day, someone knocked on the door of her foster parents' house. Roger, her foster dad, went to answer it while Ellie peeked out from her hiding spot.

Mike and the social worker, Carol, were standing there. Ellie learned her name when they took her.

“Hello, where’s Ellie? We want to take her,” Carol said.

“Who’s this?” Roger asked, frowning at Mike.

“I’m her dad,” Mike replied.

Ellie came out from her hiding spot and walked to the door. “You can’t take me. You don’t have a job,” she told Mike.

“I’ve got a job,” Mike said.

“So now you’re in a suit going to an office?” Ellie mocked.

“That’s right,” Mike said.

“What happened to not wanting to conform to the system?” Ellie asked, just as mockingly.

“I wanted to get you back, so I had to make sacrifices,” Mike said.

“Ellie, do you want to live with Mike?” Carol asked.

“You’re just going to leave me again,” Ellie said, looking at Mike.

"No, I promise. I’ll always be around now. I know I was a bad father, or rather, an absent father, and I have no excuses. But I want to make things right. I want to be your dad." Mike said.

Ellie still hesitated.

“Come on, I got a job for you,” he added, and Ellie laughed, though tears were already in her eyes.

“So, what will it be, Ellie?” Carol asked.

Ellie nodded, then hesitantly walked up to Mike and gave him a brief hug.

After a few seconds, Mike hugged her tighter, and for the first time, Ellie felt what it was like to have a dad’s embrace.

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