Encounter

Chapter 5

A ring originated from the store's door, making Adera turn her head to see the early bird customer. Her feet were on the counter next to the cash register, her face once glued to a magazine.

She looked at the fairly familiar customer and noticed his short black hair combed back slightly. He went to the back of the store where the fridges were situated and grabbed a gallon of milk.

Making his way to the cashier, he placed the gallon of milk on the till along with some sleeping pills and headache pills. "Good morning," greeted Martin, pushing the products closer to her.

Adera removed her legs from their comfortable position on the cash till next to the cash register and looked at what Martin was buying. "That'll be R12," she stated.

Martin reached into his pocket and grabbed his wallet. He opened the zip and took out a R20 note. Adera took the note and opened the till to grab his change.

"Here's your change!" she notified, handing him the money. "Do you need a plastic bag?"

"Uh, no thanks," replied Martin, knowing it would cost him an extra R2. He took the gallon of milk by the handle and grabbed the other products, putting them in his pocket. He made his way out of the store and headed back home for a 09:00 breakfast on Saturday.

Mrs. Smith slowly made her way upstairs to check on Lorna. She wondered what was taking so long to wake up Telonin and the others. For once in a blue moon, they were going to have bacon and eggs for breakfast.

She turned a corner and appeared in the corridor where Telonin and the others could have been sleeping. It was particularly quiet, more than usual. She felt a sense of déjà vu trickle down her spine as thoughts of them being kidnapped or something consumed her.

"Telonin, Dorothy..." she called out as she slowly opened the door. Red hair swaying with the nice morning air coming in from the open window startled her.

"Lorna!" she exclaimed, her eyes and brain trying to work in unison to keep her from reaching conclusions.

Lorna snapped out of her trance, and the life returned to her eyes. She too couldn't make sense of all this. "What happened?" asked Mrs. Smith.

"Ma, I don't know what happened," she managed to say. She knew she was in a lot of trouble, especially since she wasn't home last night. "I don't... I just don't know."

Mrs. Smith entered the room and headed to the open window. She peeked outside to the quiet morning streets and looked down to the ground to see if there was a way they could have escaped. "That's not my children; they wouldn't run away from home," she explained, tears filling her eyes as she returned to the room, sitting by the mattress.

Anna rushed out of nowhere from the corridor and was overwhelmed with sadness seeing Mrs. Smith crying. "Ma, what's going on," she said, kneeling next to her, expecting somewhat tragic news.

"....I.." said Lorna, feeling an overwhelmingly high amount of guilt surge through her. Her words were cut off by an angry Anna.

"Lorna...!" she warned. Anna knew she was going to say another sorry again, but she wouldn't be able to take it. Dorothy, Jamaica, and the others were nowhere to be seen.

"Ma, have you checked all the other rooms?" she gave hope. "They might be playing a prank or something."

"Not Denzel nor Telonin, they wouldn't," she assured.

Saturday morning cartoons were the best to watch. Stanley, Excel, April, and the other five children sat close by the big-bellied TV that played Takalani Sesame. "Why haven't Dorothy and the others woken up yet?"