When The Willow Tree Broke

The Beauty Of Family

   Sometimes the worst news, or the most agonizing pain is caused by the fact that they are your family. They are a part of you whether you accept it or not. It is a humane thing to feel a tug of emotion when something happens to a family member. I didn't know what that meant until she disappeared. Until I realized that the possibility of Willow being dead was so much so that I wondered why I even bothered.

Dear Diary,
   Sometimes people tell me cruel things. It does not matter. I tell myself it doesn't. Although the pain sticks to me like a tick. I try my best though, it seems, to no avail. Oh Aspen, I hope he will never experience this kind of pain. People can be good. I know they can. I've been thinking, should I die, Aspen will probably find you, diary, and he'll read my thoughts. How mortified he'll be. I promise Aspen, I'm still me. It's just so hard to be me when people tell me that I don't belong. If I could just leave and start fresh, oh how nice that would be. I've always wanted to see the Colombia Gorge. Maybe if I leave one day I will. I should stop writing this. I won't run. I can't.
                                                    Sincerely,
                                                 Willow Delfine
  
   Oh Willow, you have no idea. If you'd just said something maybe things could've been handled. I scanned over the page again. It was as if something was sticking out but I couldn't pin point what. I read through it again and again tirelessly. It hurt to read it consistently. It was like pouring salt into a wound over and over again. Then it struck me. Where was the Colombia Gorge? I turned to my laptop. Of course it was dead. I scooted over and searched endlessly for my charger before realizing I had a phone in my pocket. I let out a small huff before opening my phone and wincing at another family photo which was my home screen background. I tapped on Safari quickly and typed in the name. I read through the page and blinked. It was located in Washington State.
   Washington was right next to Oregon. The woman who had called saw Willow in Bend, Oregon. I looked up how far away the Colombia Gorge was from Bend. The Gorge bordered Washington and Oregon. It was only a couple of hours away from Bend. My heart began to race. Could she have managed to get there all by herself? There's no way. If she was said to be in an accident and her body was missing then she had to either be dead and not found, or alive and moving somewhere. I exited out of Safari. The possibilities were endless. I noticed a new notification by my phone app. I opened it hesitantly. There was a new voice mail. I listened to it, and tears were brought to my eyes.
It was Alma Higgins again. "The police still haven't found her body. I'm so sorry I just felt the need to give you an update. Your poor family. I can't even imagine. I'm praying for you and your family. I'm sorry that I couldn't bring you the news you wanted to hear." Another hopeless and useless apology. Apologies weren't going to get me any closer to the Pacific Northwest. I felt so alone. My sister could be alive out there in the middle of nowhere and here I am at home reading her diary trying to play detective. Well, play time was over.
  I knew deep down Mom and Dad needed to know. I couldn't hide the possible whereabouts of Willow from them any longer. How to muster up the courage to explain to them was an entirely different story. I didn't know what I was going to say. I paced my room in anticipation for them to come home.
  "Hey Mom and Dad, I've been reading Willow's diary that she always kept hidden and I found out she was bullied and ran away from home and was spotted all the way across the country. I got a call from some old lady named Alma who basically told me she got into a car accident and could be dead, but they don't know for sure. I really hope you're not mad and we need to get to Oregon ASAP." That didn't sound very good at all. Tears flowed down my cheeks yet again and I began to get hiccups. Far too much crying for me. I sat there in despair, wondering how on Earth I was going to be able to do this.
  I was 13 for crying out loud this wasn't my job to do at all. Why couldn't the police figure out? Then again they didn't even know she had a diary to begin with. I continued to hiccup and cry, and time seemed to just stop as I sat there wallowing in the despair that I found myself in. Then came a small knock on the door. I knew that knock. It was Mom who could obviously hear me crying. I sniffled, not able to speak. She peaked the door open just a bit and then opened it all the way. Her eyes teared up. It was as if she could see right through me and could tell exactly why I was crying. Then again, I suppose it wasn't that hard to begin with.
  "I miss her too." My Mom said this so quietly, and I could tell she was trying so hard to ignore the tears that began to form. "The police are doing all they can. All we can do is hope Aspen." I couldn't stand it.
  "Mom... I have something I need to tell you." She sat down on my bed and looked at me with intent. I explained everything, from Willow's diary entries, to Ms. Alma's information given to me over the phone. My Mom sat there in shock, only motioning for me to continue speaking. After awhile we just sat in silence. This was perfectly fine with me. It meant Mom was processing. Which was good. I needed her to so she could give me advice.
  "Aspen, how much are plain tickets to Oregon?" I simply blinked a couple of times. My mother wasn't the type to ask these kinds of questions. She knew I didn't know the answer. This was how she gave us hints when we were younger. She was implying she had an idea of where Willow could be, and she intended to see her as soon as possible. Mom didn't wait for anything. If she wanted something done I considered it done because she would do it in the blink of an eye and you wouldn't even notice until three days later. 

  "Pack your bags Aspen. I'll talk to your father and we'll go to Oregon." I couldn't believe it. Just like that we'd up and leave. Not that I was complaining. I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I was no longer carrying that weight by myself, it was steadied by my Mom's strength and will. To think I hadn't told her before. I wish I had. That was the thing about family, you hated it sometimes but you loved it all the same. You could get through anything together as a family, and that was the beauty of it.