Invisible

Carlotta - 10

I needed to know what was going on. I'd been abandoned with Marie's younger brother on our brief phone call. Then after my conversation with him, Marie had snatched the phone from him. I was so confused and worried - she looked frightened.

"Sorry," she whispered as she hung up. She had left me sitting on my sofa, disorientated and crammed with anxiety.

Normally I would think she was apologising for her brother taking over her phone, and coincidentally her Internet had gone, but none of this was normal. Normal was the antonym of this whole circumstance. I tried to shrug it off, going with the 'normal' option but as much as I tried my curiosity took the best of me. I started to think and went through everything on the phone call. There were some noises but what? I sat and thought about what they were. It hit me - glass smashing! There was another one, a much darker one, I shivered at the mere thought of it, screams. I jumped down my staircase. I shot over to the kitchen to open the draw with some stationary things. I quickly wrote a letter on a neon green post-it.

Hi mum, I don't want to worry you, but I have gone to Marie's house. Something bad has happened. It's really urgent. Sorry, but she needs me. I love you, Carlotta. I signed it with two 'x's representing kisses. I opened the back door to our mouse sized garden. There wasn't enough space to swing an ant, let alone a cat. I went over to the shed, but quickly remembered that my bike had gotten too small and mum had sold it a year ago, forgetting to replace it. Or perhaps, she just couldn't.

I'd have to run. I can not run. I have always come last in cross country, sports day and can never tag anyone in tag. It's not that I have not tried, I try to go on runs around the park every weekend but I just can't. After so much effort, I gave up. Typical of me, giving up on stuff I find too hard. I searched around the garden for any other sort of vehicle. Then I thought about how dangerous it can be at night, and scary, if I walked on the streets alone. I sprinted back inside and found a couple pounds. The bus would be here anytime. I ran out of the house, not forgetting to grab the spare keys. I had to get Marie. I had to see what was going on. I raced out of the front door, slamming it behind me. I heard the bus approaching so I ran faster. Luckily, Marie didn't live too far away from me, only a couple stops. The whole bus journey, I felt my leg shaking. That was normal for me, it always happens when I am agitated. When the bus pulled up at the end of Marie's street, I heard sirens. I then saw the sirens. A couple police cars were parked outside of Marie's home. A bright yellow ambulance stood by the side of the road, its sirens blaring. I looked around and rapidly pressed the red stop button, noticing that people on the bus were also looking out of the windows. I paced out of the bus and ran over to her house. What the hell had happened here? As usual, I came up with the worst conclusions, murder, a breaking in or a fire. Well, if a fire had happened, a fire truck should've been there, so that was erased from my mental list. People were piled around her family home. Police and detectives were travelling in and out of her home, bringing out what looked like shards of glass and other broken items. I didn't know what they were back at that very moment, but they were also bringing out someone's blood samples. I raced through the waves of people to find Marie or at least someone who knew what was going on.

"Hello, sir, do you know where Marie Mayers is?" I asked when I came across a police officer exiting a police car.

"She is sitting in the ambulance," he said, not even looking at me, pointing to the giant sunflower yellow vehicle. I pushed my way through the crowds that were gathering outside the normal family home. Not really normal, a home that held many secrets, many problems. I must say, the Mayers family is very good at acting - especially when put in the situation of acting as a happy and ordinary family. I guess they were like me. Perhaps this world is just a whole bunch of actors? People pretending to be something they aren't - happy.