.°♡𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂♡°.

G̶o̶n̶e

        Suzy arrived home, with her cousin Charlotte. She seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. This all seemed to be very strange, like a pit of nervousness and doubt mixed down her tummy. Mummy did not come and pick Suzy, Charlotte did. This rang danger to her and only danger itself was what she was worried about. Suzy was curious. Suzy was eager to know why her mother did not pick her up at playgroup. She then looked up to her cousin who then gave her a small smile, which broke itself down after being tired of something Suzy wants to know. Where her mum disappeared to. "Charlotte, do you know where my mum is?" Asked Suzy, who could sense the anxiety in Charlotte's eyes. "Oh, she is coming back from work late. I wonder what's keeping her from coming to pick you up." After the answer Suzy got, she was satisfied. She did not want to get sucked into a rabbit hole, with questions unanswered.

       Thoughts echoed in her head as she and Charlotte entered the house, from the extra keys Mother lent to Charlotte. It did not feel welcoming, in fact it felt, nothing close to home. Suzy shivered from the Autumn wind, she never liked Autumn at all. Charlotte closes the door and turns the lights on, she then goes into the kitchen and checks if their is anything to eat. Suzy goes off to her bedroom, gets herself changed and goes off to the dining room. She finds her mother's laptop on the table, untouched. Suzy felt uneasy, a card on the table which is most likely a business card. Suzy did not know of her mother's work life, she only knew she was a fire fighter of some sort, nothing else. She looked at the window wide opened, curtains pushed away from the sight of the windows, which seemed odd to Suzy due to her mother always taking precautions in the house. Charlotte comes back and notices the card on the table. She quickly latches onto it like it was a clue for an investigation . It started to rain, and the two sheeps hated rain, so they stayed in and watched some television for a while.

     Suzy eventually became tired and went off to bed, leaving Charlotte in the living room. Charlotte then takes her chance and switches the channel to the news. 'This lady is driving me nuts, going missing and now I have to withdraw from my work and I have to take care of her child now, I somewhat feel pity though. Raising a child alone is a lot of hard work.'  The television then shows a picture of Mummy Sheep, possible from one of her coworkers, and the text above read 'REPORTED MISSING FROM WORK'. A shiver went down Charlotte's spine and tears formed one by one. The tears fell slowly but then eventually, she gets up to wipe her eyes. A doorbell rang, caused Charlotte to jump and for Suzy to toss and turn in bed. Charlotte went off to the door and opened the door to see Police Officer Squirrel and Panda. They came here to investigate the house. "Excuse me, is this the Sheep resident?" Suzy peeked from the window and saw the police, she knew something was wrong. "Yes.." replied Charlotte as she let them in. The police came into the living room and were now interrogating with Charlotte Sheep. Where she was, who she was with, what time did she arrive, and when was the last time she had contact with Mummy Sheep, those kinds of questions. 

      Suzy, heard them all. She now knew what was going on and what was going to happen. She heard Charlotte answer them with honesty, and to be honest, she did live pretty far ahead. Think, think, think. "Breathe in, breathe out." Officer Panda instructed to Charlotte like a Yoga instructor. "You will be having an interview, but not to fret because you will be questioned, so do not be worried about being a suspect ok darling?" Said Officer Squirrel, who was the kindest officer yet. Charlotte calmed down a bit, she drank some more water to purify her digestive system, if it was helping anyway. "Um, the last time I was in contact with her was two weeks ago." True, Suzy and her mum went to visit their relative at the park. "She arrived with her child Suzy and-" " You mentioned she had a child correct?" "Uh.. yes?" "Is she present?" Asked Officer Panda, "I will bring her, if needed." "Yes, thank you!" Officer Squirrel said, enthusiastically. Suzy was already half way down the stairs, so she came herself. "Ello ello! Hello citizen!" "Hi.." Suzy replied unenthusiastically. " We're going to ask some questions, please do try your best and answer majority of them, and be honest!" "Um OK." "When was the last time you saw your mother?" " On a Saturday." The officers then look back a each other in complete horror. "U-um who did you stay with when your mother went to work?!" "I used to go to Peppa's house, but then last week that stopped and I stayed alone from that time." The police were speechless. They had no words. Literally. The Squirrel was pale, and the Panda's eyes went backwards. They were horrified.

       "H-h-hUh?!" The police shout in unison. Charlotte was confused. "U-Uh..  what?" She then looked at Suzy in confusion. "Isn't that normal though? Mummy would sometimes leave work and I would be in charge of the house." Officer Squirrel then gets out a notepad and starts noting things down. "Have you got anything to do with this Charlotte Sheep? It says here, that you are Mummy Sheep's niece and the closest from her other relatives." "Ah, uh yes. But she hasn't told me about any issue or anything about her moving." Suzy then had an idea of where this was going. Her mother wanting to leave her. She realised that her mother was leaving her alone and has not been communicating with her friendly since her mother's birthday. 'Was it because I was rude? Bossy? Annoying?' She thought. Suzy's thoughts circling her in an endless parade. The police then asked, "Have you ever left the house without supervision, Suzy?" Suzy's throat then became dry. This was the end, this is it. "No." She spat back out. She knew what was to happen otherwise. The police would take her mother to prison and would never see her again, that is if they found her. She knew the police would believe a sweet, innocent, petite child. She knew, so she used it to her advantage. She knew the risks it would take, but she did not care. She was a child without responsibilities, an adult's responsibilities.

     "Our job here is done! Thank you Charlotte and Suzy Sheep for answering our questions!" said Officer Panda. "N-no problem!" stuttered Charlotte, she really was tired. "Hope we meet in the future!" beamed Officer Panda. "Thank you too.." Charlotte said as it trailed off. The house was empty again. Only Charlotte and Suzy. "Uh.. how did you know I had playgroup.." asked Suzy. Charlotte chuckled, "I've had enough interrogations for one day..." "What does interrogate mean?" "Questioning." "Ah, so how did you know when Mummy answered Madame Gazelle's phone?" "I'm the one who answered."

 "..."

 Silence filled the room. "H-huh.." "Come on, get ready for bed. We've had enough suspense for one day." Suzy realised one thing. Every room was empty, except the toilet, her room, the living room, and Mummy's room. Boxes surround her. "Am I moving out?" "Yes, you will be living with me and my mum. Once I'm done with university and get a job, we will be moving out and live in an apartment." Suzy shuddered. She will be leaving playgroup. She will be meeting new people. What if I don't fit in? What if I get lost? What if. That was all she was thinking of. She almost forgot her mum was missing. She was lost. "Ok, let's go to bed." "I'm not tired..." "Your eyes are red, you need some rest.." Her eyes were sore, Charlotte noticed before her. She felt stress and despair. Forget about love and joy, they no longer existed for Suzy. All she could do was cry. No one can make her the same. She was gone. All gone. "Tomorrow is Tuesday, will I have playgroup then?" "Maybe, most likely yes." Suzy was pleased, but that did not make her feel any better. She will see the faces of her classmates, of Peppa, Candy, Pedro, Danny... Freddy. She still had that same ache she felt when she saw him. Her heart was aching to be with him, to love him. She went to her bed, and laid down. Even with a straight face, she cried. She gave in. She was in despair, the greatest she has ever experienced. Her mother went missing for three days. She will never see her loved one again, due to her moving, and she won't be able to grow with her classmates. She cried even more.