Veronica wiped away tears as the roar of the plane engine grew louder. She gazed dreamily as the plane rose higher and higher, and decided to open the gift. She tore off the wrapping paper to uncover a brown box. She took off the lid. Inside there were a few books, a framed picture and a white rose. She put in her hand and took out a leather-bound book. Opening it, she saw it was the diary of Roxanna. Veronica decided to read the last entry first:

JANUARY13

I am in the hospital right now. I have been bitten by a rabid dog and while trying to protect Jonah Webb from it, I lost a severe amount of blood. I am weak. I am tired. But I will continue writing. My sadness is no competition for my weakness. I have lost the life of my child when I saved another. An unborn child has died. Gregory keeps saying to me I will be fine. That we can adopt a child. That we will be a family. But I know my husband well. From the look of his eyes I can tell he is lying. I will not arise from this bed ever again. But I want Gregory to adopt a child. If he cannot care for his own child, he should at least raise a child, who needs loving and caring, as his own. And he has promised me he will. He has already visited a children's home and told me he has picked out a tiny little girl named Veronica. She has an interesting, but sad past. I know I will go to my death in peace.

Two years went by before Veronica Robinson ever saw her father again. The police had finally found Veronica's real father and had thrown him in jail for life. By finding her father, they found her mother, too.

She was sick, in the hospital. When Veronica came to see her, her mother's eyes filled with tears of joy. Veronica came to her side, and a sad smile appeared on her mother's lips.

It was like knowing her child was alive left nothing else in her life to live for. During Veronica's visit, her mother passed away. She closed her eyes, and, smiling sadly, from her eye fell a single tear.

THE END