I stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and a little less annoyed than I had been a half hour earlier when I was arguing with my five year child. It wasn't something that I enjoyed doing or that occurred regularly, but since they began going to school things have changed at home. The attitudes and ideas are no longer those that occur in my house. Often these arguments are over concepts that feel alien and wrong within my heritage. I didn't teach them. Their other parent didn't teach them these things.
Sure being separated from both parents due to divorce can be hard on a child, but that has been the way of things for several years. These new problems didn't occur until after a half year in public school. In fact my referring to my child as my child is so I don't get into debates over proper gender pronouns and whether or not my five year old is allowed to have hormones and gender reassignment. From a five year old.
Well enough of that. I need to stop thinking about it as that'll get me annoyed again and that was the purpose of the shower. I take some calming breaths as I pull my clean clothes on.
I walk out into the front lounge area where my child was busy playing some social media educational program that is assigned as homework by the public school system. In fact, if children are not assigned to at least two hours of this programming per day then CPS (Child Protective Services) will visit and if it continues you will no longer be a parent as they steal your child from you and relocate them somewhere that it can be certain they receive the proper programming.
They are not there, but the programming is still on.
I check their room. No one is there. My house is not large.
Where are they?
I frantically rush to the front of the house while voice activating my phone to begin calling for help. My car is gone.
Was I robbed, and did they kidnap my child while I was in the shower for thirty minutes?
I call the police and report my child missing, and my car missing. I certainly will be getting a visit from the CPS now. Some people likely would not report even this for fear of the CPS kidnappers taking their children. For me my child is more important than the government bureaucracy.
I then call my ex.
"Hello, our child is missing."
"No, they just came here."
"But my car is gone."
"They told the car to drive them to my house."
"WTF!"
"Do you want me to tell your car to drive home?"
"No, I want my child to come home."
"They wanted to be here."
"That doesn't matter it is my time. When it is your time do you want them to learn they can drive your car here when they don't like something you say?"
"Well no..."
"How about learning that if they don't like something they can just run away? Is that what we want them to do?"
"I'll put them in the car and tell it to drive home."
"And when they just tell the car to drive somewhere else...?"
"Can you come get them?"
"They took my car, how do you propose I do that?"
"Very well, if I ride in the car back with them can you bring me back after that?"
"Yes, of course."
"Alright we'll be there in twenty minutes."
knock knock knock
"Hello"
"CPS," some government drone says in an artificial voice with a predetermined proper amount of inflection to show cheeriness.
This world is hell...