I stared at the note. Then at the stump. Then back on the note. I looked around the small wood, looking for anyone that might still be around. Who's T? I sat on the stump, crossed my legs, and rested my head in my hand, never taking my eyes off the horrible handwriting. T... I drilled in my mind for the name of whoever wrote this note. A thought came to mind. I ran back to the house faster than a jack rabbit.
Once inside, I marched up the stairs to my room, and shut the door with a soft thud, realizing how much noise I made coming in. I ran to my small bookshelf, moving a few books before finding what I was searching for. A small black box that I hid in the back of the shelf. Not even Margaret knows it's there.
I opened the box over my bed and gently dumped it out. I shifted through the pile of loose papers and small trinkets until I found what I was looking for. A note, on the same kind of paper and the same handwriting as the note I found today on the stump. signed by the same person. T.
I heard hard footsteps coming down the hall towards my room, as if someone was counting on their legs to save their life. Quickly I covered the box and its contents with the thick blanket before the door could burst open.
"Kairi we're late!" she cried. Alyssa, Margaret's little girl. Mr. Little, Margaret's husband, died a few years ago when Alyssa was six. I could feel my eyes widen as I reached to pull out my my phone out of my pocket. Nothing. I turned to my clock on my dark oak dresser. 7:45 AM.
"Crap." the word flew out of my mouth before I realized an eight-year old stood at my doorway. "Alyssa," my voice warning her not to.
"..." she was silent. Then, "MOMMY!!! KAIRI SAID A BAD WORD!!!" she bolted out the room, down the stairs to the kitchen where Margaret was, most likely. I could hear her shouting from the other side of the bed.
"Shit." I muttered.
I felt my back pockets again. No phone. I searched frantically around my room for the teal blue, LifeProof iPhone case. What, not everything I own is purple. I searched and searched for it. Nothing. Panic started to bubble up inside me from the pit of my stomach. All of a sudden, my vision went dark and my head was spinning. I fell on the floor, and rolled onto my back. My head felt like someone took my brain and turned my skull into a blender. Spinning and spinning until finally it stopped after an eternity of pain.
I looked at the clock. 8:00 AM. Oh no...
"Juliana! Get down here NOW!! WE'RE LATE!!" Margaret's voice booming across the house.
I ran down the steps. Down the hallway to the front door. Alyssa and Margaret were already in the car. I turned to lock the door, then ran to the car.
"Do you have your phone?"
"Yeah." total lie.
"Pads?"
"Margaret!"
She just laughed and drove on. Poor Alyssa in the back seat had no idea what we were talking about. Sweet innocent children. Oh Alyssa... You just wait. In a couple years this will all make sense to you. We dropped off Alyssa off at Northwest Elementary, and then me at Canyon Vista Middle School.
I dragged myself out of the car. I made my way through the crowd of students, to a set of doors, walking down the red brick ocean hallway, and turned left into band hall. Walking in, the place looked deserted for the most part. I could see through the windows that some people had stayed to talk with the and directors. I walked into the white sanctuary of music.
"Good 'Mournin Miss Kairi!"
" 'Mournin Mr. Piwetz!" I replied with country accent like I always do. We talked for a while until 8:15 came around and I was shooed off to class.
