Rainforest Enrapture

Elijah

 Dad has been worried sick ever since we heard about the first disappearance. I guess I shouldn't act like that's something abnormal; every parent should be concerned for their child's well-being if they find out that anything bad has happened to them. It's funny, though; Abigail and dad have never really gotten along. She was always more of a "momma's girl," if you will. Mom used to love the forest as well, and went on several expeditions. Abigail had begged to go with her, but she wasn't able to since she was only seven.

Then, one night, Mom just disappeared. Her plane was delayed and, once it landed in our closest airport, she wasn't there. Nobody knows what happened to her; the airport management said she got onto the plane along with everyone else and disappeared mid-flight. Abigail really took this hard. She stopped loving everything that she used to and stayed in her room, only coming out for meals and school. She never seemed to be herself, though; it was as if she was a zombie, or a walking shell. It was surprising when on the one year anniversary of mom's disappearance, she finally came out of her room and seemed to be a bit happy. At this time, she was fourteen. Dad and I were ecstatic but still tried to remain calm and collected. Finally, she was seemingly back to normal. Seemingly.

At the dinner table, dad is seated but not eating anything. I've become the "man of the house" since dad is too filled with concern to do anything. Don't get me wrong, I'm concerned as well, I just know that we need to stay healthy if we want to help in any way.

"Dad, please eat something. We need to remain healthy if we want to help." This has been my excuse every single time, and it never works. His usual response is, "I'm not hungry," but this time he says something different.

"Do you think she's ok?" Obviously I know who he's talking about; I've been worried ever since I heard as well.

"If I say yes will you eat?" I ask.

"No, Elijah, I want your honest opinion." I hadn't been expecting this response from him, but I take a deep breath anyway.

"Honestly, I'm hoping she's ok. I'm hoping that she somehow managed to escape or she got onto a later flight that was delayed. I'm hoping that she never had to go through any of this, and that she didn't have to see her friends get murdered. I'm hoping so, so hard, dad. But I don't know. I've gone through just about every possible scenario and thought of why they wouldn't work or how stupid it is to even think that. And I know that there's one more scenario that I'm just not able to grasp, but that could be the hope talking here. That's what I'm honestly thinking, dad." Half of the things I had wanted to say were kept in my throat; if I had gotten my way, I would have told him that he needs to step up and be the father that she needs, not the constantly grieving father that can't even be there for his child right in front of him. But I couldn't say that. He's hurting enough; there's no need to add anything to it.

"Ok..." He says slowly. After about forty seconds of waiting, he finally takes a bite, and I let out a little bit of the nerves I was holding back. Soon enough, though, I realize that was a mistake.