The Lines We Draw
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 2:59 am
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>Start:
How could you, under these circumstances? It has been nearly a month without any new information regarding the almost-certainly-a-kidnapping of your brother and nearly the entirety of his senior class. You've started to grow restless. Your family has, too. Mom's barely been home, and Dad's rarely left the house. They haven't been to work in a while, but they're going to need to start soon. The support of your extended family can only last too long.
You are currently standing in the middle of your bedroom, the one that you used to share with your brother, Lucas. Since he has gone, you have taken to sleeping in the lower bunk of your bed, the one that he used to occupy. You have done this once before, when he went on a class trip with his fifth grade class what feels like eternities ago. Your parents know that you do this, and don't say anything.
It is currently 8:30 in the morning in the early middle of July. You don't know the exact date. The days have begun to blur into one contiguous slurry of information at this point. You've spent the past several hours reading books from your brother's shelf. If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino lays open face down on your brother's bed. You're not sure if he ever got around to reading it, and you don't know anymore whether it's right for you to hope that he gets a chance, considering what you think that would entail. It's obvious to everyone including you at this point what's going to happen to him.
The help should have arrived by now, you realize. You could go and greet them downstairs, or you could stay up here while they do what they need to. That's what your mother and father have been doing, anyways. Pretending like they have a household ghost that goes around and does their chores for them. You're sure you know what form they imagine the ghost taking. It's different for you, though, considering you know this person rather well. You consider yourself friends with them, even. It'd be rude not to go down and say hello at least, but the choice is up to you. You have an entire day to decide what to do. Where to go. What to see.
But you need to start somewhere.
What will you do?