𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬━𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡

Ⅰ

REAGAN SAT ON THE COUCH IN THE LIVING ROOM, staring out the window. Her mother ran around in the kitchen, trying to make sure everything was in order before she left. "Are you sure you're going to be alright here? By yourself?" Her mother asked as she grabbed what she needed off the table. 

"Yes, mama. I'll be fine. I've been here by myself before, it's not any different." Reagan told her mother, glancing up and then looking back out the window. Her mother sighed and kissed her daughter on the head and rushed out the door. Reagan waved to her mother out the window. She continued twiddling her thumbs as she sat there. 

It was a quiet morning. Reagan's mother had left to go work at the school she taught at, the small high school down the road from where they lived. Reagan normally went there, but she had work she had to around the house. 

Reagan sighed and got up to do what she promised her mother she would do. Reagan did the dishes, cleaned up her small room, her mother's room, the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, and everything in between. Reagan scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of the house, trying to make it look nice for her mother. 

As she cleaned, she hummed some of the songs that her mother would play in the car when she was younger, or when she was cleaning. The songs that Reagan loved. She knew all the words to every song and it didn't bother her. 

The phone rang as she was cleaning. Reagan dropped the wash cloth she was using and ran over to answer the phone. "Hello?" Reagan asked, wiping her hands off on her pants. "Yeah, um, is this Claire Montgomery?" The man on the other line asked. Reagan sighed as she switched the phone to her other hand. 

"No, this is Reagan, her daughter. Is everything alright?"

"Reagan, can I ask you a question?" The man asked again. Reagan sighed and waited for the man's question. "Did your father go missing when you were younger?" 

Reagan's breath stopped. She felt her heart drop but kept the phone to her ear. "Yes, he did. Why?" Reagan told him, through scattered breaths. She felt remorse in the mans next statement, sorry for her and her mother.

"Someone called about human remains in the woods. The skull had a bullet through it's head. We...we had someone take a look at it and...well, the remains match around the same timeline that he went missing." The man on the other side cleared his throat. Reagan froze and put the phone back on the receiver.  

She limply walked over to the couch and fell into the soft cushions. Reagan stared out the window. She just watched as the trees swayed back and forth. Everything in that moment stood still, and for a minute, Reagan knew how her mother felt when her father had gone missing.