Months After My 4-Year-Old Daughter Died, I Saw a Man in a Chicken Costume – When He Turned, My Blood Went Cold

The child had a small birthmark on her wrist.

It was clearly visible as she pointed up at the balloons. The exact same little mark Maddie had.

My voice broke on her name.

The girl looked up.

She giggled at something the man in the chicken costume had said, and I knew.

I just knew it was her!

My little girl was alive.

My heart leaped and shivered at the same time, caught between joy so intense it hurt and confusion so complete I couldn’t think straight.

And then the man in the chicken costume turned around.

My stomach dropped when I saw the face beneath that ridiculous costume head.

He stiffened.

The recognition was instant, mutual.

Slowly, he lifted the chicken head off.

His smile appeared automatically, practiced, the same smile he’d given me a thousand times during our relationship.

But the look in his eyes was colder than the winter air around us.

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