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#Post#: 125--------------------------------------------------
It's Not Okay | Chapter Two
DIR By: Abbey Bominable
Date: July 7, 2013, 11:24 am
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I reach Auburn Oaks Village thirty minutes later. By this time
my legs are aching, unused to walking for so long with so little
rest. I decide to look for a place to stay for a couple of hours
and am wondering where the best place would be when I remember
that Aunt Jo lives somewhere in the village, but can't put my
finger on where.
After unsuccessfully racking my brain for a minute or so, I
think to ask other people for directions. I see an older woman
with streaks of gray in her black hair and figure she's the kind
of person that would help someone like me out, so I go up to
her.
"Excuse me, ma'am." I say.
She turns to look at me. "Is there something I can do for you,
dear?"
"Yes, actually. I'm looking for my aunt's house but don't
remember where the exact location is. Would you happen to know
of a house belonging to a Joanne Winslow?"
She smiles. "As a matter of fact I do. Joanne is a good friend
of mine. She lives in the smaller house at the end of the left
side of the block."
"Thank you." I turn away and begin to head in the direction the
woman pointed me in when she speaks again.
"You're welcome, dear."
I walk swiftly towards Aunt Joanne's house and am halfway there
when my phone vibrates. Taking it out of my pocket, I see that
Mom is calling me. I sigh and answer the call.
"Oh, Emerald, I'm so glad you picked up. I really need --" Mom
starts to say.
"Mom, if you're going to ask me to come home, it isn't going to
work. I'll come home when I'm ready." I interrupt.
"That's not why I called."
"Then why did you?" I ask challengingly.
"Annabelle is gone!"
I hadn't been expecting to hear that. I'm shocked, and very
worried. Where could Annabelle have gone? How will she manage?
How will she find her way around? Then I think of something
else. What if Mom sent her away?
"What happened after I left?" I demand.
"Well," Mom says. I can hear her crying. "After you left she
upstairs to her room and started throwing a huge fit. She
wouldn't let me come near her and wouldn't do anything. I cooked
some pancakes and brought them to her, hoping that would help
calm her down. It did, and after eating them she stopped
screaming but still wouldn't do anything but cuddle her stuffed
cat. You know, the one identical to yours? Well, then I told her
I was going to pull weeds and fill up the pool. She seemed
interested in that and I told her I'd come get her when the pool
was full and not too cold. When I went to tell her that, she was
gone."
I'm silent for a while. My theory that Mom sent Annabelle away
is luckily able to be tossed aside and forgotten, but this
doesn't help much. I'm nervous that something will happen to my
sister and that it will be my fault because I didn't let her
come with me. Then I whack myself on the forehead. She must be
trying to follow me!
I tell Mom my new theory and she gasps. Obviously she hasn't
considered this. She asks where I am exactly and I let her know
that I'm at Aunt Jo's house.
"Will you stay where you are for three or four hours to see if
she comes that way? And go slowly once you start traveling
again?" Mom asks. "I'll see if she comes back to the house. If
we don't find her by tonight, I'll call the police."
I realize that Mom really has thought this out, which surprises
me, and I agree to do my part. She thanks me for helping and I
refrain from giving a sarcastic reply only because she's upset.
We hang up and I rush to Aunt Jo's house to tell her the news.
"That's horrible! Tell your mom that I'll do everything I can to
help locate Belle." Aunt Jo says after I fill her in. I send Mom
a text repeating what Aunt Jo said and she's glad for the extra
help.
Aunt Jo and I don't talk much; we're too busy worrying about
Annabelle. I know that we probably should talk so we can at
least try to forget about our worries, but I don't think that's
possible in a time like this.
I go up to the guest bedroom without speaking to Aunt Jo and
flop onto the full-sized bed. It's soft and fluffy, and it
smells like lavender and vanilla. The scent makes my eyes droop,
but I don't let myself go to sleep. Because of this, my mind
wanders to Annabelle and I see tons of different things that
could be happening to my little sister; starvation, dehydration,
getting lost, getting kidnapped, even dying. I shudder at the
thought of any of these things happening and whack myself again.
Why didn't I just let her come with me?
"Em?" Aunt Jo pushes open the door. I'm about to get on her case
for not knocking, but then I decide against it; she's worried
about Annabelle and it's her house anyway.
"Yeah, Aunt Jo?" I say as I sit up.
"How are you?"
I can tell she's forcing small talk to take her mind off
Annabelle's disappearance and I'm glad for the distraction.
"Pretty good. I won first place in a nationwide songwriting
contest about a month and a half ago. I went to see a guy about
getting my own CD, and he liked me, so I've been told to work on
twelve or more songs and go back to him."
Aunt Jo beams, and despite the negative turn in events her tone
is cheery. "Oh my gosh, I'm so proud of you!"
I smile and am trying to think of something else I can tell her
when my mind wanders back to Annabelle and how I'll never
forgive myself if something happens to her.
I must have a negative expression on my face because Aunt Jo
rubs my back and says, "I'm worried about Belle, too, Em. It's
not your fault she's gone."
"But it is, Aunt Jo." I tell her, my eyes watering. "I wanted to
leave the house so I could get away from all the negativity and
Belle wanted to come with me. But I refused because I wanted her
to stay with Mom, where I thought she'd be safe. And look where
that got us."
"Em, don't think that way. You were being responsible and trying
to protect her." Aunt Jo tries to comfort me, but it doesn't
work. "Why don't you take a nap? You sound like you could use
some rest. And when you wake up, I'll make you something to eat.
Then you can go search for Belle. Okay?"
I nod and lay down. Aunt Jo eases into a standing position and
quietly leaves the room, the door clicking shut behind her.
Suprisingly, it doesn't take me long to doze off. What doesn't
surprise me is the haunting vision I have while I sleep. I
imagine occurrences too horrendous to describe and wake up,
panicked.
Aunt Jo is sitting on the edge of the bed and I notice she's
holding a tray. On it is a salad; crisp Romaine lettuce,
mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions topped with Ranch
and croutons. There's also a bowl of vegetable soup and a glass
of pink lemonade. She sets it on the dresser and leaves.
I take a huge bite of the salad and savor the taste. Three more
massive bites follow, and before I know it half the salad is
gone. How hungry I am surprises me, but I don't think about that
long. I quickly finish my salad and down half my glass of
lemonade.
I'm about to start scarfing my soup when I realize what a pig
I'm being. Sure, no one is watching and I'm hungry, but I've
never been like this. I force myself to eat slower and enjoy the
soup, spoonful by spoonful. My delicious meal comes to an end
when I finish my lemonade and set the empty glass on the tray
beside the bowls.
I decide to take the tray back downstairs instead of waiting for
Aunt Jo to. This is dangerous since I'm sort of clumsy, but I
risk it. I haven't made a fool of myself in almost three weeks,
so maybe I can get away with it once more.
Standing at the top of the stairs, I wish I could hold the
railing, but I know it'll take both hands to carry the tray down
without messing up.
Twelve stairs and ten steps later, I set the tray on the kitchen
counter and sigh in relief. I did it. By this time Aunt Jo is in
the kitchen and talking rapidly.
"--where Belle is." Aunt Jo finishes.
My eyes widen. "What about Belle?!"
"I told Mae, the one that helped you find my house, about
Annabelle going missing and she said that she saw a small figure
with auburn hair run into the grocery store."
"Really?!" I say excitedly. Aunt Jo nods.
"I'm going to the store!" I declare. Without waiting for an
answer, I bolt past her, grab my backpack, and am out the door
in mere seconds.
I don't let the fact that I have no clue where the grocery store
is deter me. Sprinting around the village, I dart left and
right, narrowly avoiding quite a few people, and search for the
grocery store. Finally I see a large Wal-Mart and, as I wonder
how I possibly missed that, zip inside.
Breathless, I make my way over to a person greeter and ask him
if he's seen a young girl with auburn hair.
"Yes, I have, miss. She looked to be about five and was hugging
a stained white teddy bear. Is that who you're looking for?"
"No, but thanks anyway." I sigh, disappointed, and exit the
store.
As I walk away from the store and turn to Aunt Jo's house, my
phone rings, startling me out of my depressed thoughts.
"What's up, Melly?" I ask my lifelong friend Melody as I answer
her call.
"Belle is at my house!" She tells me.
My jaw drops. Why would Annabelle go to Melody's house when she
knew I wouldn't be going there?
"When I opened the door, she ran toward me and said that she
wanted you. She was crying so hard. Where are you?" Melody
explains.
"Um, Auburn Oaks Village... Heading east."
"Oh my God! You're actually going through with your plan?!" I
can easily detect shock in my friend's voice.
"Yeah, so?" I say defensively. "You supported it, too!"
Melody laughs. "I still do. I just didn't think you would follow
through with it."
I hear loud sobs in the background and automatically know it's
Annabelle. Melody then tells me that she's hasn't done anything
but cry for the past fifteen minutes.
"Can I bring her to you?" Melody asks.
I sigh. This is exactly what I'd been hoping to avoid. I thought
about it for a few minutes, only talking when Melody makes sure
I'm still on the line.
"SISSY!" I can hear a faint scream.
"Yeah," I tell my friend reluctantly. "I'll be staying at my
Aunt Jo's house for a few hours, so bring her there."
Melody says she'll bring Annabelle over in a few minutes and we
hang up. Then I call Mom and tell her the news. She's so happy
she's in tears, and promises to come right over. I let her know
that this isn't necessary, but she doesn't listen, so I give up
and end the call.
As I trudge back to Aunt Jo's house, I realize that with
Annabelle in tow, my trip is going to be a lot harder. It's
going to be fun.
Not.
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