For The Love Of Oatmeal

Chapter 21~Oh. My. Oatmeal.

Crashing into the kitchen, Tobias let out a cry. Emily was on fire. As fast as he could, Toby grabbed the fire extinguisher while the doctor tried to quench the flames with his jacket. Toby hacked as the smoke began to flow into his lungs and sting his eyes. Luckily, the fire didn't spread far. By the time they put the fire out, Emily literally looked like a burnt piece of toast. Just then, they heard the sound of sirens in the driveway.
"Wow. Just in time. Come on!" the doctor shouted over his shoulder, nervously rushing to the door with Emily in his arms

"But...but..I never got my oatmeal..." Tobias muttered to himself in a pouty voice.

Once they were both outside, Toby was surprised to see the town sherif in the driveway as well. He was talking to Jane, asking her if she'd seen anyone suspicious in the kitchen.

"Oh no no, not at all! Ya see, it's not like that. Emily's just a sloppy person..so I wouldn't be surprised if she accidentally set herself to flames."

"Ya. sure." the sherif stated in a sarcastic voice as he scribbled on his note pad.

Out of the corner of his eye, Toby saw a flash in the trees, nearly five yards away. Everything around him became silent... time stood still. He slipped away from the chaos and began to sneak towards the side of the house. Stepping through the ferns and cracking twigs, he found a trampled down area of grass. Then, he found it. There, on the ground, lay an empty bowl. Once Toby picked it up, he realized it was still warm...and had the remains of oatmeal still stuck to the edges! Something wasn't right.

Meanwhile, Tania had never left her room. She never heard the sirens..or maybe she did, but shut them out. Her mind was elsewhere..the letters. There was something peculiar about them that she couldn't figure out. She read them all twelve times..but felt like there was more. She sat on the ground for a very long time wondering if she should just give up. Then, she found one stuffed in the bottom of the bag that she'd forgotten to read.

Dear Elisa,
If anything should ever happen to me, please remember that these letters will unfold the way. My heart, much like an envelope, is filled with your love....then sealed-and saved for you. Remember all the memories we had together..organize these thoughts, and never forget.

"What does that even mean?" She muttered, tossing up her hands.

"...Wait a minute! I wonder..." Tania reached for one of the ivory-colored envelopes. Carefully, she began to peel it apart. Unfolding the paper, she found it. It was there all along! There, on the inside of the envelope, was the letter "S" scrawled in gold ink. She wasn't quite sure what it meant, but suspected there was more to it. She began to unfold every single envelope, each one having a different letter. Soon there were random letters all over the ground .

"Dude, what the llamas is this??" She slumped down on the ground, stumped on what to do next. She sat there for another hour, wishing she knew what to do. She repeated the letter in her mind..
Remember the memories..remember the memories...organize them. Organize...
"Oh. my. oatmeal. Of course! How could I be so stupid?!"

For the next few hours, Toby wandered further into the woods in search of..anything else. This couldn't have been an accident. Ever since the beginning of this year, nothing seemed like it was. The sun soon began to set as he came to a small clearing with trees on all sides. Then suddenly his phone began to ring.

"Agh!!" He screamed as he tripped over a log. Somehow blood began to stream from his fragile armpits!

"Ugh, not again!" By this time, he was also pretty much bruised on every part of his body. Moaning in pain, he grabbed his phone.

"Ow...Ugh, hello?" He croaked.

"Toby, where are you?!" Tania yelled through the phone.

"Umm..."

"Never mind. Listen to me. You'll never guess what happened. There was something hidden in the letters."

"Wait. What? Tell me!! What was it!? Tania! Tania! Hello?! Are you there?? Tell me!!"

"Oh my gosh Toby, calm down! Okay, I'm not quite sure what it means..but there was a message hidden in the envelopes!"

"Wait, what?? How? How'd you figure it out??"

"Well it's a long story..but I'll tell ya later."

"Wow.... So what's it say?!"

"...Are you sure you want to know?"

"Well duh! Just..tell me."

"...You sure?"

"TANIA!! YOU'RE KILLING ME!"

"Haha, okay! You win..I'll tell you what it said, hold on."

"THANK YOU."

"Here it is..
J
O
S
I
A
H
S

O
L
D

S
H
E
D

I wish I knew what it meant..."

"Huh..I wonder who this Josiah is." Toby mumbled. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the flash again. Someone was in the woods.

"Uhh..listen Tania, I gotta go. Something's up." He hung up and continued walking..this time at a faster pace. He shivered as the wind blew his perfectly styled hair, ruining it's splendor. Then, almost by chance, he found a moss-covered shed.

Woah.. if this is that Josiah dude's shed, I'd be pretty impressed with my awesome searching skills. I mean, what else could it be?

Being hopeful that he'd found the shed and forgetting all his worries, he wandered closer to the shed. He jumped back..the door had creaked wide open, as if he was being beckoned in. He gulped, but hesitantly continued towards the door. He stooped under the low door frame into the pitch black shed, then grabbed his phone to shine it around the room. Suddenly, his jaw dropped!

"Oh. My. Oatmeal."

Toby couldn't believe what he had found.