Father, Where are you? (Completed)

Chapter 2

My mother's face said it all. I could tell that they didn't find father.

Mom: "Dear I'm not sure how to tell you this but....."

Me: "They didn't find father yet, did they?"

Mom: "No they didn't find him yet. They searched everywhere, even the lake near the site. All they could find was this."

She showed me his watch. The one my mother gave to him for his birthday last year.

Me: "This....this is the watch-"

Mom: "Yes dear. It's the watch I gave him."

Me: "Mom, is he alright?? I'm so worried. What if he-"

I stopped talking. I couldn't go on. Tears filled my eyes. My mom wrapped me into a big hug and patted me on my back, reassuring me that everything would be ok soon.

Mom: "Calm down dear. We can only hope for the best. I know he's alive."

Me: "I know mom, I feel he is still alive somewhere out there."

Mom: "I feel it too, Bella. Now, do you want me to let you sleep some more or should I make you breakfast?"

Me: "No, it's alright. I'm going to sleep more."

Mom: "Ok dear. And don't worry, father will return home safely."

I woke up a couple of times in the night cause of some nightmares I had and the thought of father never coming back. I was crying myself to sleep most of the night.

I didn't want mother to know because she herself is stressed out about the whole situation. I wanted to be strong. For all of us. Sometime later, I dozed off. I think I slept a lot better than before. Gladly, I didn't have any nightmares this time.

After I was fully rested, I stretched my arms and went out of bed, headed to the washroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. As I made my bed, I wondered, It had been several hours since Dad went missing. He never had any enemies.

He was such a loveable and caring man, always helping others.
So, what could've actually happened? It didn't seem to make any sense. As I had these thoughts, I went downstairs to ask mother to make me breakfast.

When I went down, my cousins were already at the table having breakfast. Aunt Brittany told me Isla was still asleep and that mom had left to get some groceries with uncle Kevin. She asked me if I wanted breakfast. I nodded. She cooked them till they were golden-brown on both sides. She then drizzled sweet maple syrup over them.

Me: "Lovely as always"

She smiled.

Aunt Brittany: "Thank you dear."

Afterwards, the phone rang and I picked it up. It was my best friend Susan. I was so glad she had called.

Susan: "Hey Bella! How are you doing?"

Me: "Hey Susan! I'm good. How about you?"

Susan: "I'm good too. Did your dad come home safely last night?"

Me: "Actually no.......you see...its a long story."

Susan: "Tell me everything."

So I told her all about last night and she was really surprised to hear about it.

Susan: "Oh no...... I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Me: "It's ok. It's not your fault."

Susan: "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come home soon."

Me: "We all hope so."

Susan: "Hey Bella, I'm sorry but my mom's calling me."

Me: "Okay then, talk to you later."

Susan: "Buh-bye."

Me: "See ya."

I felt delighted after the call. I saw that the decorations were still up. It gave me some hope that dad would come home soon. Maybe my cousins noticed how down I looked, because they came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play with them.

And when I declined, they said things to encourage me. I thanked them and said that I appreciated it. It made me smile a little bit. After a while, I started missing dad so much that my heart started to ache.

I sighed and went to my room to shower. I wore my favourite hoodie with a pair of sweatpants. While I was brushing my hair, I heard the doorbell ring. By the time I went down, Aunt Brittany had already opened the door. It was mom, uncle Kevin and to my surprise, Susan and Stacy.

I rushed to hug them. It hadn't been forever since I met them, but I desperately wanted to meet them after what had happened last night.

Stacy brought her beaded bracelet kit and we made friendship bracelets together. We then played pretend with some toys. We were having so much fun we didn't notice the time fly. Before I knew it, they left. We said our goodbyes, hugged and they were gone.
After a while, my mom and Isla were going to go to the park nearby and asked if I wanted to tag along. Knowing that Isla would want me to come along, I said ok.

The weather was kind of chilly, so mom told us to wear something warm and packed some hot chocolate in a flask. Isla wanted to play something together so we played hide and seek. After playing, mom called us to come and eat some sandwiches she made and brought along with her. We layed out a picnic blanket.

As we were eating, a cold breeze brushed my face and I inhaled deeply and it made me feel more alive. After we finished eating, Isla and I played in the playground a little more and then headed home.

An hour later, Aunt Brittany called me to help her make dinner. I assisted her in making the salad and set up the table with my cousins. All of us sat down at the table and no one said a soul about dad. Everyone tried lifting up the mood. And as soon as we were about to dig in our dessert, someone knocked on the door.

Uncle Kevin opened it and I peeked to see who it was. They were 2 tall policewoman. One of them had long blonde hair that was neatly tied into a ponytail. The other had a short haircut and she was a brunette. They came in and told us they had good news.
To be continued.....