TUESDAY NIGHT

Amy was sitting by the door, crying and hugging her knees to her stomach and calling my name again and again. I stood a couple feet away, afraid that if I cried any more I would have no more tears left. It was four o’ clock, and Mom and Dad would be home in one minute, and for me it was one minute too long. I remembered what the two had said to me. To stay with my family, no matter how painful. I didn’t know the details of that condition, so I limited it to my house.

I ran upstairs as I heard Mom and Dad pull up in the Ford. I quickly hid the laptop after erasing the history as I heard the door open. I went to the top of the stairs to that I could see the entryway. Mom was holding the weeping Amy as Dad looked around for me. Amy told Mom what happened and they looked all over the house for me, calling my name again and again. They came upstairs, going through me. I didn’t even feel it. I followed them, not bothering to call out. They found the phone in my room and immediately called nine-one-one.

The police showed up in less than ten minutes. The advantages of a small town were that everyone knew everyone, and more than one neighbor came along with the police. Several had brought money and searching tools with them. There was a large gathering in my house till a very late hour, and it was all about me: Finding me, worrying about me, and searching for me as they organized the one big one. People looked in the field and forest by my house as the police organized a larger search in the morning. I went up in my room, too ashamed to watch anymore. It was my entire fault. My stupid curiosity had gotten me to vanish, and now everyone was using their energy and resources to find someone who wasn’t lost.

People were in my room, searching it for me. I grabbed the laptop, hoping that no one would see a floating laptop hovering its way to the Ford. No one stopped and stared, so I went into the Ford and climbed into the back seat as usual, and opened the laptop. I checked the email, but they had not replied.