A Paradox Reality

Chapter 14: The Missing Girl

Recently with Elyssa:

She didn't hear the girl say, "I understand. Nobody likes me, anyway."

And she certainly didn't know that those hurtful words would be the last Elyssa said to her--or anybody else said to her--before the girl took her last, dying breath.

***

THE NEXT DAY was no better than the last. It started with the uneven pounding on Elyssa's door, and it didn't end much better.

"Open up!" a voice called.

Elyssa staggered to the door and exclaimed, "It's 4:30 in the morning! Can I get some rest?"

She opened the door and Garrison stepped in. He ignored her. "Get changed. We need to leave. Now."

After she got dressed, he hurried her to a vast room with many authoritative figures inside. 

"I assume you've met Mother Earth?"

She nodded. "I have."

"Very well, then. Have a seat."

She sat in silence for a while, and then the room filled with Mother Earth's rich voice. "I assume most of you know why you're here today. But for those who don't, I will explain." She exhaled. "Henrietta Gates has gone missing. She disappeared yesterday, and we are still searching. We have one witness — or at least someone close to one."

The crowd buzzed with excitement. 

"Elyssa Birkland, would you please step forward?" Elyssa stepped forward in hesitation. "What was the last thing you heard from Henrietta?"    

Elyssa bit her lip. "I don't know a Henrietta! How can I be a witness to her disappearance?"

Mother Earth looked at her pointedly. "Henrietta Gates is a girl of eleven years. She's a spy like you.  We have evidence that you were the last person she spoke to before she went missing — yesterday on your run. Do you remember?"

Elyssa paled, thinking of the girl she had been so rude to the other day. She was the little girl who got scratched by the snow leopard, or at least Elyssa thought.

Mother Earth didn't miss her change of expression. "So you do know her!" she exclaimed.

Elyssa stiffly nodded.

"What did she say?" Elyssa gulped. "Well? These could very well have been her last words. Speak up, girl."

Her last words. Whoa. A sudden weight pushed down on Elyssa's shoulders. "I don't remember," she muttered. 

"Mmmm. I'd ask that you'd try a lot harder, but I'm afraid we don't have the time. Where did you see her last?"

Elyssa looked at her shoes. "I think we were at a bend in the trail. We were maybe fifteen minutes on our way." 

"That doesn't really help, Hon."

Elyssa's head snapped up sharply. "Don't ask me!" she cried. "Ask someone else! Ms. Rodriquez - anyone!"

Mother Earth's smile didn't drop, but her eyes sparked with annoyance. "I asked you, no one else." She got up stiffly and walked past Elyssa. "Elyssa, Garrison, come with me. The rest of you, stay."

Garrison and Elyssa followed Mother Earth to the  yellow, metal shaft the spies used to take for their morning runs. They stepped inside, and the ride to the outside world was silent. 

When they arrived at the top, Mother Earth was the first to step out. Plants blossomed in her footsteps, yet she paid no attention. She walked straight forward, never looking back.