ONE WEEK AGO
Her phone never rang after ten. The world might still be churning outside,
but in the little white house at the end of a winding brick path, everything
stopped as soon as the clock ticked past nine. So, when her phone started
ringing at almost midnight, it took Sandra a few seconds to process the
sound. It seemed to ring from a far distance, somewhere she wouldn't be
able to find it. But as the fog of sleep dissipated, it sounded stronger and
louder, finally leading her to snatch it from the bedside table where she
left it when she toppled into the sheets hours before.
"Yes?" she muttered, rubbing away the sting in her eyes with her
fingertips.
"Mrs. Brooks?" a voice asked.
"It's Ms."
The correction was a reflex. Four years after her bitter divorce, Sandra
still felt like she was fighting to reclaim herself. People always assumed
she was still attached to him. The 'r' was implied, a given to most people
who wrote to her. It was just a letter. Just one tiny letter. But it made
so much of an impact. Even in her almost-sleep, she snapped back against
it even before she could fully process the voice speaking to her. It sounded
familiar in that distant kind of way that she knew she'd heard it before, but
no face formed in her thoughts.
"Yes?" she repeated.
"This is Troy Macmillan, from Twin Rivers Camp."
The mention of the summer camp she sent her daughter to just three
days before snapped her awake. Sitting up against the headboard, Sandra
turned on the lamp beside her and squinted at the sharp pain the
bright light cut through her eyes.
"What's wrong? Is Alice homesick? Let me speak to her," she said.
It was the first time she let her daughter go away from home for
more than a few hours. At ten years old, she hadn't even had a sleepover
with a friend from school. She preferred to be at home, to lose herself
in her world of books and dolls, her pets and her mother. This summer
was meant to be different. Sandra saw glimpses of change in her daughter,
YOU ARE READING
The Girl that vanished
Mystery / ThrillerA ten year old girl has vanished on her way home from camp. And things took a turn for the worse when another child, a child that Emma knows, goes missing. Disappearances death and tragedies have followed Emma Griffin throughout her childhood. Her o...
