A Day In The Life - {Watty Awards 2015}

Chapter 13: I Will (Melinda)

The revelation that Wesley's theory may be true made me realize that I hadn't thought of every possible option of finding Jeb. I had to find the ransom tape before I could find her, at least it would make finding her much easier. It would probably be the only way that she'd ever be found, as it was obvious that I'd never receive any help from these buffoons.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, I awoke without the slightest hint of what had happened the day before. It was like I was trapped in those first few moments waking up from a dream, when nothing seems real but that dream.

"Hey, mom," I came up the stairs into the kitchen, "what's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," she replied, with obviously fake happiness, which I would have identified immediately had I not been stunned by the fact that she never, and I mean never made pancakes, unless I was very, very sick. (By "very, very sick", I mean "on my deathbed.") "What are you planning on doing today?"

"I thought I'd go over to Jeb's to hang out. You know, see what she's doing. The usual. What are you going to do?" I looked up at her expectantly, only to see the look of startled surprise on her face. She obviously had not expected that response. "What?" I asked, yawning widely. I wondered for a moment if it was my grandma's birthday, then I remembered that we'd already celebrated it this year. I wondered if it was my parents' anniversary. Nope. That was in January. Why couldn't I go over to Jeb's? I decided I'd ask my mom. She kept averting my gaze. "Mom," I said, holding her face in place, "why can't I go over to Jeb's?"

"You mean to tell me that you don't remember anything from last night?" she asked me, finally looking me in the eyes.

I thought about it a moment. "No," I said finally. "In fact, I don't even remember going to bed," I ran my tongue across my teeth, "or brushing my teeth. Ew." Realizing that I had gone off on a tangent, I asked, "What happened last night?"

"Jeb was kidnapped," she said, not bothering to sugar-coat the earth-shattering news in the slightest. Thank you for your grace, mother.

I felt my jaw drop slightly. "By whom? Is there a ransom note?" My thoughts escalated rather quickly, and before long, I was convinced that I'd never see her again. I vaguely tried to remember what the last thing I said to her was. We'd been the best of friends since she moved here. I never thought that I wouldn't be able to see her again. A sudden realisation hit me: Anthony and Katelynn. She'd been kidnapped by the same guy. "Shizbiscuit."

"Excuse me?" My mom looked shocked at my use of language.

"Shizbiscuit. Substitute for shiz. I promise I didn't say anything bad."

"Okay. I don't want you swearing, no matter how you feel in a situation." I thought back to what Annette always said, that it's not the situation that matters, it's your reaction to the situation that determines its quality. I guess that makes sense, or it did until Jeb was kidnapped. I don't think that there was any way to make that situation good.

I snapped back to reality as the pancakes hit my plate. Thinking through my day, I absentmindedly poured syrup on my plate and dug my fork deep into the first soft, fluffy pancake and brutally cut a piece of it off, dipping it unceremoniously in the syrup and dropping it inelegantly into my mouth. I chewed it slowly, not really thinking about it. I wondered how I would find Jeb.

After a very slow breakfast, I washed my dish and went back downstairs to get ready for the day. I brushed my teeth twice and threw on whatever clothes I had lying around in my room. I was soon out of the house, getting into my Impala, ready to drive to the County Sheriff's Department to see what they were doing to help.