Stolen innocence. That is what Marsha thought as she stared out the window at her garden below. That’s where it had happened—just two years ago while she was weeding her vegetables, when John stomped over.

“You’re a fool!” he’d snorted, waving a paper in his hand. “I told you not to trust her.”

Marsha sat back on her heels, wiping the dirt off her hands. “Trust who? What are you talking about?”

“Our addict daughter, that’s who. The one you gave the password to your computer, remember?”

“But… but she was going to fix a problem I had. She did fix it—a glitch, she said—and my computer has worked perfectly ever since.”

“That’s lucky, since you won’t be able to buy another one. She’s wiped us out.”

“Wiped us out? What are you talking about?”

“Your little angel, the apple of your eye, has stolen every penny from our bank account. Every last cent. And have you checked her room today?”

Marsha felt dizzy. “No.”

“No need. She’s cleared that out too. Not one stitch of clothing left in her drawers or closet.”

Marsha sank down on the ground and curled into the fetal position. “But she said she loved me just when she left today.”

John shook his head and growled, “Loved conning you is more like it. She’s long gone.”

That was then. And today Marsha was up in her bedroom packing the last of her clothes before they left for good. The house had to be sold to raise money for them to live. As for their daughter, they’d heard she was somewhere in Spain, worse off than ever, since she’d never kicked her drug habit.

Marsha sighed. Yes, a loss of innocence and the beginning of a life lived with eyes wide open. It hurt, but at least now she knew better than to pretend not to see.