I was a lost little girl, scared and baffled, knocking on unfamiliar hotel room doors trying to find my way back. The vision was a spinning blur, not a single soul was around and the only voices heard were deep inside the paper thin walls.  On the night of the wedding, my cousin and I would wonder the large hotel playing around and tease each other. Simona and I always loved to explore unfamiliar venues and find interesting spots to continue our games, so this seemed like a pretty ordinary night. As we strolled around the lobby, we entered into the enormous unoccupied elevator. Then I noticed my cousin hit the highest button on the long button panel and ran out of the massive elevator. I stood there in shock and suddenly the elevator closed and I could feel the jolted movement. At the time, I was so short I couldn't reach the buttons to get back down. Just the thought of being in a foreign environment alone is incredibly alarming. So, when I reached the highest level, I stepped out and tried to see if I could get some assistance. Not a person was around once I started walking. Then all of the sudden I saw a room, with the door half way open, with light peeking towards me, so I decided to step in and ask for some help. The room was extremely neat, with an enormous king size bed, a wooden brown desk, an exotic painting of a map, and large bathroom with a quite modern look. There was a couple in the room, either checking in or checking out. "Can you help me get back to my mom please?" The couple starred at each other with bewilderment and mentioned a couple things in Slovak, but at this moment in time the knowledge to understand them was difficult for understanding.

They asked, "Where is your mother?" with a thick Slovak accent.

All I could respond is "I don't know."

The thought of not being with my family and being lost somewhere I didn't know and not being able to get back to them frightened me. The heartsick emotions inside me started to build up rapidly. I knew I needed to act responsible and get myself back to my devoted family.

A tall elegant women from the front desk came to the room. When she appeared, she had a look on her face that told me, she knew where I belonged. As we went downstairs, the women calmed me down. The conversation of staying put with my mother came up, but in my defense, I trusted my own cousin who then betrayed me. As we got to the bottom I heard voices coming from the outside and then a loud ding. The doors opened and my mother's face was white and worried soon as she noticed me. She dashed immediately and embraced my presence. I thought I was only gone for a little, but they said I was gone for 2 hours!

"Where were you? Why'd you leave Simona? You scared all of us!" said my mother.

  I did not want to mention everything that occurred to my mother until the crowds of my entire family left. Finally, when the mass of people died down and as the night went on, the explanation of the story turned my mothers appearance from worried to highly delirious.

Then my mother mentioned, "Well I'm glad you're okay and back. I understand, it was not your fault this happened.”
 

That night, I was instructed to stay away from my now wicked cousin and of course I obeyed. Simona kept trying to tell the rest that I was lying and the situation never happened, but everyone knew that was false. Deep down everyone knew that Simona was cruel and always had a corrupt imagination. From then on, I learned my harsh unforgettable lesson. You can never trust anyone in this world, not your friends and surprisingly, even your own family.