December

Challenge: Puzzle Pieces

December 29, 2019

I sat on my bed while holding my Dad's key necklace in my hands when my Mom slightly opens my door. I give my Mom a quick glance before looking back down at the key in my hands. Tears start to slowly fall out of my eyes for the tenth time since I found out about my Dad's disappearance. My Mom quickly rushed over to me and pulled me into a comforting hug.

"Its okay sweetheart, cry it all out." I finally let the necklace fall out of my hands and I wrap my hands around my Mom and hug back.

"He isn't coming back, is he?" My voice was muffled through my sobs but thankfully my Mom was able to understand me.

"No sweetheart, I am so sorry but he loved you with all of his heart. You know that right?"

"If he loved me then he would have stayed. He wouldn't have left us." My Mom pulled away from the hug and looked into my eyes.

"Rebecca Marie Anderson, you look at me right now! Your father was and is a great man. He might have left us but we have no idea why so do not make it his fault, do you hear me?" My eyes widen at my Mom's sudden mood change. I gave a quick nod and my Mom stood up and walked towards the door. "We are going to get through this okay? I love you." She then walked out of my room and shut the door behind her.

Once she was out of my room I picked up the necklace that was once in my hands and put it around my neck, I tucked it into my shirt to make sure that it wasn't visible before grabbing my bag and walking out of my room. When I got to the living room I saw my Mom straighten her blazer and picking up a briefcase. Once she saw me she gave me a warm smile before picking up her keys and walking towards the door.

"I got called into work so I am going to be gone for a few hours. Will you be okay?" She gave me a worried look while waiting for my answer.

"Yeah, I will be fine. I will probably just spend my time in the shed or something." She smiled at me once more before walking out the front door. I quickly ran after her and locked the front door before turning around to walking to the back door. I slowly opened the back door and walked outside.

Once I was fully out the door a small gust of wind hit me making me breathe in the cool winter air. I looked around at the slightly snow-covered grass before finally stepping off of the back porch. I walked into the jungle that is our backyard until I found Dad's secret path. I made my way through the path until I found my Dad's old shed. I looked up at the vine-covered shed that now had rotting wood all over it. I sighed and pushed off the now rusted lock before stepping inside.

As I walked into the shed dust particles blinded me and a musky smell invaded my nose. Even though my Dad hasn't been to this shed in years, it was still in good condition. I made me think that my Dad was secretly visiting this place when my Mom was gone or when we were all asleep. I walked around the old shed a little longer before tripping over a loose piece of wood. I kneeled over the piece of wood that I tripped over, something told me to pull at the piece of wood so I did.

It took some effort but the wood finally gave in and revealed a wooden box with a gold lock on it. I stared at the book for a while until I noticed how weird the lock looked. It shared a very similar style to the key my Dad carried around with him. The key! That's it! I take the key off of my neck and look at its weird spiral shape before putting it into the lock. Thankfully it fit perfectly. I then turned it until the lock made a click and fell off of the box. I let out the breath of air that I was holding once I realize that it worked. I quickly opened the box and found a lot of letters that were written for my Dad. I pulled all of them out before going through them one by one.

'Dear William,

We know that you have left the society with no intention of coming back but we need you. We have finally come up with the perfect plan to bring peace to our world like we originally wanted. You have to come down with us to make our plan work, so please think about it. You can bring your family and they can help too. We understand that you now have a beautiful daughter, you know what this means for us. Please think about it.