Morning came.
I sat at the kitchen table and just daydreamed. Or maybe I contemplated? I can't quite be sure at this point with myself. I often find myself just lost in thought. And i think that's probably my worst enemy...
He sat across from me at the table fumbling with an action figure.
"Who are you?" He mumbled without looking up.
Your other Uncle.
"Oh."
Are you hungry?
"Yes."
What do you want to eat?
"Grandpa said today was turkey day?"
I looked down at the table scrunching my eyebrows.
Shit. Thanksgiving.
"Bad word"
Sorry.
I scanned the kitchen to see if there was anything to work with. I got up and walked around the kitchen before I found myself wandering around the house. I walked back down the hallway and up to the door on the left. I opened it and almost fell down the stairs before me.
What the fuck.
I placed my foot on the first step then the next. I peered into the opening of the stairs that revealed what was to come at the bottom. It was a basement.
"This is my room."
I jumped and turned around to see him standing at the top of the stairs.
Your grandpa made you sleep in the basement?
"No. Daddy made mommy and me sleep down there."
Why?
"I don't know, he said it was better down here."
We both walked down the stairs onto the basement floor. I scanned the room, it was dull. Looked like somewhere you would keep your dog if it was misbehaving.
Where did you sleep?
He pointed to a mattress in the corner of the room with some stuffed animals on it.
I looked down at him and walked over to the mattress. I knelt beside the mattress and picked up one of the stuffed animals.
"Mommy gave me that one before she went away."
What happened when mommy went away? I turned my attention back to him.
"She went upstairs and never came back. Then daddy came and told me she had to go to heaven."
I scanned the room again. I saw a bucket in the corner adjacent me, the window boarded up. I looked back down at the mattress beside me.
I put the stuffed animal down and grabbed him towards me.
I held my hands firmly on his shoulders and looked deep into his brown eyes.
You said your daddy was on a long business trip in Arizona?
"Yes. He said him and other uncle were going to pick up my sister."
My heart began to race.
What does daddy do? Like...what's daddy's job?
"Daddy finds bad guys. He tracks them down and takes them to jail."
YOU ARE READING
Fill the void...
Mystery / ThrillerWhen his daughter doesn't come back home one night from going to the store everything falls apart. He loses her then loses his wife all too fast.. A man that's lost so much can only wonder what he can do to replace it. Who can replace it... how can...
