Crystal

Chapter 2: The Grisly News

 It's been two weeks since I had moved in to Leza’s house. Within that time, I had finished unpacking in a day since her house was already furnished so I didn't need to bring any furniture. It was mostly books and movies that I brought aside from clothes along with a few yoga supplies. I was actually very surprised to find that there was a yoga studio in town and felt a little happy when I got the job. Although I was told that it’s not crazy busy as the studio I owned back home was but it’s better than nothing.

            It was still early so I decided to go for a jog. I visited Leza here once only because she had been living here for a month and a half. I planned to see her every month when we both had a weekend off. But of course, that never happened. I stepped outside and took a deep breath. It wasn’t extremely bright out but it was bright enough where it didn’t seem as depressing as it was the first day I moved in. Then again it’s early in the day. Still, there were no people outside or around the neighborhood.

            I took off and started down the street, my iPod playing rock songs of the 80s in my ear as I jogged. Passing by the houses, many of the windows were covered in curtains. Not that I was trying to peer inside but I just happen to notice. Each house had thick curtains that were all one color and were able to block out any way to see inside or outside. Usually some houses would have the lacey kind or decorative kind, but all of them were just straight up one solid color and covered the entire window. I shrugged it off as it seemed maybe they all just are private people. It didn’t really bother me since I had considered myself a private person as well.

            As I turned a corner, I continued down the street and can see an open area in the distance that looked like a park. I had passed it once as I drove into the town to get groceries and had made a mental note to take a walk or run inside. It was a large area that had a small playground, and a lake not too far from it. It also had woods a few feet away.

            As I got closer I noticed a girl near some trees by the park with flyers in her hands. When I reached her, she appeared to be removing them from the trees. She looked to be really young, maybe about 16 or 17 years old. She had light blonde hair that was up in a messy ponytail. She dropped a few of her flyers while reaching for another one stapled to a tree. She let out a small frustrated cry and bent down to pick them. I rushed over to help her.

“Hey, let me give you a hand.” I said, she nodded her head lightly without looking at me and continued to pick up the few scattered flyers.

            "Here you go." I said as I picked them up, noticing they were Missing flyers with a smiling little boy in the photo. The boy was blonde, like the girl. When she looked up to take them from me I noticed that they had similar facial features like the freckles and the shape of their lips and nose. She gently took the photos from my hand.

"Thank you." She sniffed. She stood up and started walking over to the next tree and took down the same missing flyer that was up.

"Why are you removing them?" I know it was none of my business but I was a little curious.

"Because he's not missing anymore." As she turned her head a single tear fell down her cheek.

“But why take them down yourself? Isn’t there anyone who can help you?” I asked feeling horrible about what she meant.

“If I don’t, no one will. And my family doesn’t need to travel around town seeing his face everywhere.”

“I’m sorry.” I said, still feeling awful for her loss. She said nothing as she continued on, passing each tree taking another photo down. I was hesitant but decided to help her. It must be hard to take down pictures of a loved one especially so young. I can’t imagine having to do this for Leza. I didn’t wanna think about it any further and raced on ahead of the girl, quickly taking the rest of the flyers off before she could reach them.