Meet Dilemma

Puzzle Pieces

I didn't ever expect to have to go to the police station, but for Hope, I walked bravely through the door. I expected a long hall full of cells with inmates screaming and swinging on the bars...

"Fay, where's the cells?"

"Journey... you watch too much television. The cells are further back."

Fay's mother's office was the second door on the right, so we didn't have to pass any inmates, which was good because no matter how brave I acted, I was scared to even walk through the parking lot.

Fay's mother loved the color blue. Imagine walking into an office and everything you see is BLUE! Blue chairs, blue desk, BLUE WALLS, blue curtains, all the pens even wrote blue. I wanted to admire all of the blue (since that was my favorite color also), but I had to stay focused.

Fay arrived with a hand full of keys.

"What are the keys for Fay?"

"The file cabinets... I didn't know which keys fit which cabinets."

"Well we have nothing but time."

"Not really... mom comes into work at 5."

"5??? We only have three hours?"

"Well, by my watch, you only have about 2 hours and... 56 minutes."

With no hesitation, I started surveying the writing on the file cabinets.

Homicide ...

We didn't need that one.

Robbery ...

We didn't need that one either.

Attempted Suicide ...

We're looking for Hope Blaire.

I looked through the files, two or three times. I couldn't find a "Blaire" anywhere. Furthermore, I was surprised at all the attempted suicides in our city. There were at least 350 cases since Hope left 3 years ago.

"Maybe Hope's case isn't in the Attempted Suicide file cabinet."

"Then where would it be Pierce?"

"Look over there at that pile ..."

We walked over to a never ending tower of files that were marked "Unsolved". I began looking through the files and read one that was classified as "The Spring File".

"Spring? That's your last name!"

"I know..."

I opened the file and across the top read "Ronald Spring".

"Who is this, Journey?"

"... that's my dad..."

I've heard about my father, but I've never seen him. Before I was born, my father was arrested. Noone ever told me what he did. Now was my chance... I was about to turn the page ...

"Hey Journey, here's Hope's file."

"I'm sort of busy right now..."

"We've only got 30 minutes Journey. It has to wait."

I sighed... maybe another time.
I walked up to Pierce and read the file.

Hope Blaire
Last seen : May 6, 2018
Deterrace Bridge
(Attempted Suicide)

Action Taken: 14 Months Fitzgerald Mental Institution

"Well... we know where our next stop is."

We were making progress. It would take a while, but we were going to find Hope.

"Pierce! Journey! My mom just left home. It's time to go," Fay said to me as she looked into the hallway.

"Journey, write down the address to Fitzgerald Mental Institution."

I did ... and I glanced back at my father's file. It was important to me to find Hope, but I haven't even met my father. I wanted to find him, too...

I grabbed the file, put it in my backpack, and skipped outside.