PassPort

Prologue

My grandmother paced her room rapidly, waving her Bible every second or so. Her ancient beautiful face had dark circles the size of oranges and wrinkles that stretched further than the Atlantic ocean. She was praying. Not the type you would see on a typical day. This is the same way she prayed when my grandpa got sick. My grandpa was bedridden for days. It was an unimaginably difficult experience for her and everyone else. She did what she knew best; she prayed with all her heart. Days later my grandpa got better. He was stronger than ever before. This time my grandma asked God to bring Daniel home safe. He listened.

This whole situation started two hours prior to this event. The day was perfect or so it seemed. The sun was out and proud, flaunting its stuff for everyone to see. Its vibrant color was even brighter than the day before. As midday approached, the sun traveled to the middle of the bright blue sky to get ready for the day. It shone its immense light on everything below it. The trees, flowers, hills and rooftops were lucky to have such a powerful guardian protecting them from any threat of rain. Unlike me, my brother and sister were taking advantage of the good weather. I assumed this as I heard giggles and footsteps from the window connecting the outside to the living room where I was.

I unconsciously blinked as the aureate sunlight entered my eyes. The room I was in was soaked with buckets and buckets of sunlight. I settled down on one of the colorfully patterned couches that was located in the living room. I readjusted so that the couch felt like an extension of my body. I was glued to the couch.

Time passed faster than Usain Bolt. I looked up from the TV as the last of the end credits scrolled past. A second later, the theme song turned to silence and the screen went blank. A still, quiet blanket covered the entire house. I sat quietly trying my best not to breath in hopes that I wouldn't disturb the silence. It's just too rare an opportunity to miss. I savored every single second of that short silence.

"Where is Daniel?" Gabriela asked with a worried expression on her face. Her eyebrows formed an ark that I had seen too many times. She wore a hot pink ruffled skirt with a shirt that had a picture of Minnie Mouse. Her nappy black hair was in four tiny buns. Gabriela has chocolate dark skin like me with brown eyes. She has a square face and a set of sharp eyes that followed me as I slowly made my way off the couch.

I let out a sharp breath.

"Time to do something responsible," I murmur to no one in particular.

I put on my flip flops and head out. 

I walked further out of the house. The dusty patch of land in front of the house was bare. I stretched out until it joined the street that overlooked my grandma's house. On the opposite side of the street was an orange tree. The orange tree is believed to be about twenty-five years old. It's branches spread up towards the sky. Every existing shade of green was visible in its leaves. The few ripe oranges that were on the tree gave off an ambrosial smell reminding you of your every good memory. Three kids sat under the shade. Their faces were covered with a thin layer of juice from the oranges that they ate. As I approached them, they frantically wiped their faces clean.

"Have you seen Daniel?" I asked. They shook their heads from left to right in unison.

The only sign that proved that Daniel was ever there was a bicycle that had been carelessly thrown on the ground. The tires of the bike were flattened while the black handles stood straight up with the left handle buried deep in the sand. The bike proved that Daniel was outside, but not here.

I took a breath in and let all the anger out. I released my clenched hands and took a left down the dusty street. I walked to the playground where the kids normally gathered. He was not there. I walked to our neighbors' place. I asked them if they had seen him but they all replied by saying "no". After covering the four closest houses to the right of my grandma's house, I decided to go the opposite way. I walked down the dusty street again. I headed for the house to the right of my grandmother's house. No one was home so I returned to the oddly quiet house. I returned hot and tired without Daniel.

My imagination went up the roof. Crazy thoughts started to escape my mind. I brushed it off but it never completely disappeared.

Now that Daniel was officially lost, I knew what I had to do. I told my aunties and grandma the information that I had acquired. All of which had angry expressions on hearing the news. Threats started to roll in as soon as I finished my last sentence.

"When he comes home," Abigail began.

"He will be in so much trouble," Maane continued.

"He will never be allowed outside ever again," my grandma ended.

I headed out into the bright day with Abigail by my side. Abigail threw threats around like trash. Hot air blew out from her ears and fire could be seen in her eyes. She saved this for Daniel. We walked. We passed the ancient orange tree, the playground and dozens of shop vendors but we walked on because Daniel was nowhere to be seen. We asked all the people who knew Daniel and all of them were as stumped as us. We were clueless, exhausted and parched. We walked and walked, losing our sense of time as we cover more miles. The sun was blazing hot. We walked to our church and back calling for Kwame. It's no use so we walk further away from home. I walked further away from the little tranquility I had left. And with that, my imagination took hold.

"What if Daniel got kidnapped?" I debated. "What if he died?"

When a problem came knocking, I gave in.

When we got home chaos was all that you could see. My grandma was praying aggressively and (my aunt) Maane called as many people as she could asking about Daniel's whereabouts. I was just there. Thinking about all the ways things could get worse. I was making an even bigger problem in mind. To clear it I decided to go outside. As I walked down the dark hallway, I tripped. I tripped over my own feet. And I found Kwame.

Daniel sat in the cabinet with his head in his lap. His face was covered. He was asleep. Deep breaths and all. All that chaos and he was asleep. I called out to my grandma.

As soon as my grandma saw him she got on her knees and in a singsong voice exclaimed by saying, "Praise God"

Some would say we are blessed. Others would say we are lucky. Either way, this did not prepare me (or any of us for that matter) for what happened next. 

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