Champy

Part Six

So my mother and I made our way to our house, and we checked every single room, closet, and window. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but there was still no sign of Freddy.

"You didn't leave him alone when you guys went fishing, did you?" she asked.

"No, we all pulled the boat ashore and then we walked back to the parade together," I told her. "The last time I saw him was at the picnic tables." Then I paused. "You don't think he went back to go fishing alone, do you?" The thought of this made me nervous, and my mother started talking to herself and praying that we would find him at the lake and that everything would be okay. I was praying for the same thing.

"Do you remember where you left the boat?" she asked me.

"Yes, we left it where we always do."

"Take me there," she said.

That was about the point when we got in our car and drove down to the lake. We parked and got out, then made our way over to where I had left the boat earlier. When my mother and I got there, we saw that the row-boat was missing.

"Oh God," she panicked. "That means he must've taken it out by himself. He's not a strong swimmer, Lucas."

I tried to calm her down. "Let's just look out on the lake for the row-boat, he's probably out there fishing," I said.

"Oh God, Lucas, I can't see him!" she yelled.

"Mom, it's a reallybig lake, it's possible he's just somewhere we can't see him," I mentioned.

That's about the time she called the police and mentioned that Freddy had gone missing, and that we believed him to be out on the lake. They have special teams for situations like this, so they sent out a search team to look for him. Her son, my brother.

My mother and I went back to sit in the car, since the police had informed us that it could take hours before they found anything, and they asked us some questions about the situation and about Freddy. They asked questions about his physical appearance, and also some questions about his personality and his tendencies. They also asked about the physical aspects and the appearance of the row-boat in which we believed him to be. It was difficult to listen to her answer the questions in between her sobbing, and to watch her shake in a way I had never seen her shake before. She needed someone to be strong for her, however, so I assumed that position. I have been assuming that position ever since.