I'm beginning to think they might have run away.
It's possible but I think unlikely.
When kids run away, even from far more horrible homes than either Elizabeth or Lyric have, it usually takes a few practise tries before they can do it for good.
For instance, Flora Jessop, author of
Church of Lies (referring to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints), wrote that she was being physically and sexually abused by her father and physically abused by several of her father's polygamist wives. It was absolutely horrible and there surely could not be a child more motivated to leave than Flora.
Yet it took her four tries before she figured out how to get out and stay out of her parents' home.
Surviving without one's parents is a complex skill set. It's not usually something a kid can figure out in one try.
Typically, they make several tries, each time staying away longer and longer.
For an eight year old and ten year old to succeed on the first try would be incredible.
Particularly given that I don't think Elizabeth, who is only 8 years old, would be comfortable staying away home and her sick mother for that long. No matter how close she is to Lyric, at that age, there's usually no one with more emotional pull on a child than the primary caregiver (which is usually the mother).
