Only Emptiness Remains

Desperately Seeking Brittany

The next morning, Jeanette walked down the stairs for breakfast after waking up. Her nose led her to the kitchen, drawing her in with the delicious aroma of fresh strawberries, pancakes, and scrambled eggs being cooked. Her baby sister had already been up preparing Saturday morning breakfast, most likely for hours now. This lifted the middle Chipette's spirits a little bit, as it felt like there was still some semblance of normalcy left in their lives.

However, one of the Chipettes was noticeably absent from this scene. The oldest one. It had just occurred to Jeanette that she had walked right past Brittany's room on the way down there. But as far as the tallest Chipette had known, no one had seen or heard from their big sister since she ran out on them last night after the two younger sisters had confronted her about her bulimia. Still, the middle Miller sister had been holding onto hope that Brittany had somehow snuck in before she woke up and was somewhere in the house right now. She decided to ask Eleanor if she had seen Brittany.

"Good morning, Eleanor." The taller girl greeted her younger sister politely before jumping into what could possibly be a lengthy discussion about their eldest sister.

The blonde Chipette was standing in front of the stove, flipping a golden pancake with her back turned to Jeanette. But when she heard her older sister say her name, she whipped her head around, which caused her platinum French braid to swing over her right shoulder in the process. She forced a small smile, but there was a blatant look of pain and worry in her big brown eyes. This was a stark contrast to Eleanor's sunny, cheerful demeanor.

"Morning." The younger Miller sister responded to the purple-clad Chipette solemnly, instead of the usual perky and upbeat manner she would have normally greeted her in each morning.

Eleanor then went back to focusing on the task at hand, clearly distracted by thoughts about Brittany herself.

"H-have you... w-well... do you know if Brittany got in last night?" Jeanette stuttered and then said that last part very quickly, her voice a mix of anxiety and hope. "I mean, is there a chance she could be sleeping up in her room right now?"

Eleanor shook her head no, making her braid sway behind her as she did so. She continued to speak to the bespectacled teen as she turned off the oven with the spatula still in her hand.

"Nope, she's not there. I checked everywhere already. It doesn't look like she's been home at all. And she's supposed to have physical therapy this morning. Who knows if she'll even show up?"

Jeanette let out a long and heavy sigh. She then pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and gently started rubbing her temples after that. Her concern for their big sister grew even more intense.

"M-maybe we should file a missing persons report with the police?" The brunette teenager frantically suggested. "I mean, she's been gone all night! What if something horrible happened to her?"

Eleanor set the spatula down next to the stove and fully turned around this time. She shook her head, but gave her sister a sympathetic look. She then walked over to Jeanette and gingerly placed her hand on her older sister's shoulder.

"It hasn't been twenty-four hours since Brittany took off. So it's too soon. We should call Kristina first, at the very least. Find out if she's been to PT today, but we have to wait until she's scheduled to be there. Besides... I have a hunch where Brittany might've gone last night. And if I'm right, she's perfectly safe."

Jeanette's green eyes brightened as the words that had just left Eleanor's mouth quickly connected the dots in her mind. Neither sister had said where they suspected Brittany went. They didn't need to. But they both instinctively knew. It was a spot that was extremely familiar to all three of the Miller sisters and a place where they would sometimes still go when they needed to get away from everything.