~✽~
I heard voices echoing up the stairs and figured everyone woke up. I dragged myself to the washroom and slumped over the pale, blue sink. Peering into the mirror, I discovered a pair of rather prominent dark circles that looked as if they were etched into the skin around my eyes. I then proceeded to take some time to glare at the reflection as a way of scolding myself for my recent lack of sleep. The wall clock read "6:30 AM"in bright, glowering, red font.
I took a quick rinse in the shower, brushed my teeth, and made my downstairs, where I was greeted by the usual bowl of cold cereal. No surprise there. Guess what I've been having for breakfast since the time we started living here? That's right. Cereal. Stupid cereal. I decided to glare at it too. Dad was getting ready to leave for work, running around the house, fumbling around for his now missing suitcase.
I wondered how he could sleep at night after promising a weak frail woman to come back for her after running off with her kids. Of course I'm grateful that he raised us, but it makes my blood boil to think that all this time, we could've done something instead of just sitting in our perfectly cosy home, gulping down this stupid cereal. If only dad had told us sooner. "AHA! You can't hide from me you rascal!" he squealed at his keys after he found them nestling in the crook between the pillows on the couch. He turned and headed for the door, although he never made it out, thanks to him bumping his bad leg straight into a stand that was perched in the corner.
I cannot believe this guy used to be a soldier.
"Hey." I called out to him. He did a quick 180-degree swerve and landed his eyes on me. "Yeah, son?" he questioned. "I want to go find her. I want to find mom." I told him. I heard the sound of a plate crashing to the ground. I turned to see my sister who had just dropped her bowl, shattering it into a million pieces. Everyone spent the next two minutes silently staring at was once a pretty, mint coloured, ceramic bowl, its remains now mingled with soggy cereal and leftover milk. I thought we were going to stare at it forever, until dad spoke, "I'm sorry Nico, but I can't let you do that..." I opened my mouth to protest but he hadn't completed his sentence, "...alone, that is. I'm coming with you son. I did promise your mother that, after all."
For a while I simply sat there, not knowing whether to believe my own ears anymore. Di had been standing in that exact same pose since she dropped the bowl, with her jaw hanging on the floor and her arms still holding an invisible bowl. The only way you could tell she was even alive was through her rapidly blinking eyes, that were threatening to overflow with tears.
"We don't know how long it would take. Weeks, or maybe months, if we're lucky. Poland is a big place, to search for one woman." he added in. "W-when do we go?" stuttered my sister, as her frozen body seemed to come back to life. "Um, well, I was actually saving up some money in case we'd ever need it so, I'll take off from work right as you wrap up your school term." he replied, with an unsure smile.
Is this it? What I've been waiting for? Are we really going to see mom? Do I really want this?
"What about Diana's school?" I asked. "I-it doesn't matter! I can be home-schooled! Or I could even study in Poland! I mean, it's not like I actually enjoy going to school here anyway!" she cried.
"Okay then lil' missy, let's talk mirr when I get back from work today." dad said with a chuckle. It tgen hit him that he was technically running late, and so shuffled his shoes on and ran out the door in a flurry.
And so, it was decided.
We were going to begin, the search.
.
.
.
