The Morgensterns: One Shots

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ: ᴄʟᴇᴏ

chapter one: cleo

september, 2015
gujarat, india.

•

ishaan: hi cleo.

ishaan: it's been four months. four months since we... i cannot even say the words. i miss you cleo.

ishaan: life has been difficult without you. almost unbearable. every morning i find myself looking for your texts, and every night i find myself looking for your calls.

ishaan: please come back to me cleo. i cant do this without you.

•

ishaan: i remember the first time i saw you. i was in 10th grade going around doing a teacher's errands when i saw you on the staircase laughing your ass off with Ms. Kulkarni.

ishaan: the guys with me were shocked because no one had ever seen Ms. Kulkarni smile, let alone laugh. we had made jokes about how she was physically and biologically incapable of smiling.

ishaan: but there you were, being your fabulous self, making Ms. Kulkarni laugh so hard we could see tears coming out of her eyes.

ishaan: i remember looking at you and thinking, what an extraordinary creature. despite the fact that you'd made Ms. Kulkarni laugh, it was your smile that made me think such.

ishaan: i still remember that smile cleo. i have it carved in my brain.

ishaan: i wish i could see you smile one more time. see you laugh and make horrible jokes to make me laugh one more time.

ishaan: come back to me cleo. please baby.

•

ishaan: i dont know why i keep texting you here. it's not like you're ever going read it. but in a way, it helps me cope up with... you know.

ishaan: im sorry.

ishaan: im sorry i said i didnt understand what our friendship meant. im sorry i said i didnt understand what your feelings for me meant. im so fucking sorry for everything.

ishaan: i saw you too late cleo. i saw you too late.

ishaan: that... night, i was there to meet you, not kena. i had come to meet you but kena must've followed me and made it look like we were...

ishaan: cleo, i wanted to be with you. i had come to tell you that i was in love with you and i wanted to be with you. i didnt care about kena anymore, she was my past. but you, you were my future cleo.

ishaan: i love you cleopatra ray. i hope you can forgive me for not seeing you.

•

times of india:

15 year old cleopatra ray, who had been missing since night of may 19, 2015 has been assumed dead after cops of her hometown found parts of remains near the sabarmati river in ahmedabad, gujarat.

the 15 year old, who had now as of november been missing for about seven months was first reported missing by her parents on the afternoon of may 20, 2015, stating that the teenager had not returned home the previous night as she had informed to her parents.

an incredibly huge search was conducted to find the missing teen after the confirmation of her kidnapping by a witness.

"it was around midnight, i was getting ready for bed in my room when i had first heard the screams. they were the screams of what sounded like a nine year old and that of a teenager. i had then rushed out to get my phone and quickly called the cops to inform them of the situation."

- says the anonymous witness for their statement in the police report.

it was only after a dna test was conducted and reports of a missing teen had come in that the detectives connected the dots.

cleo ray was presumed to be first a runaway, then a victim of harrassment after which she was finally concluded to be kidnapped. her kidnappers remain free in the world, as the detectives were unable to find any other dna on the crime site except of ray and a homeless 10 year old boy.

the boy was found dead near the dev ashish school in bodakdev three weeks after the investigation had begun. no one was able to identify the departed.

when ray's remains were found near the river, it had been difficult to conclude the identity, but after a couple of lab tests, the doctors had announced the remains belonging to the missing teen.

ray's family was given her remains on the morning of november 30, 2015, after being missing for six months and ten days.

our deepest condolences to the ray family.