wrestler. Jason Fong – the Kung-fu guru. Kimberly
Madison – the fine-ass Emo waif. Marianna White-Horse – the
fine-ass new chick. Derek Benson – the underclassman.
As with Anthony, they had
all attended their school – Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High - all
eight of them, and that had not been all. There had been more of
them. Anthony’s two sisters as well as a tenth grader from Franklin
High and a fifth grader from Annandale Elementary. On the day
before Thanksgiving, kids had been getting snatched up all over
their part of town. Though, he would never admit it out loud, it
had scared the crap out of him. It was frightening to think someone
had been so thorough with the scoping-out of their neighborhood. It
was only way they could have abducted so many with such impunity.
It was fucken bold and it was terrible. Every time he thought about
it, it sent shivers up and down his spine.
How was he going to tell
Melanie that? How was he going to tell her how worried he was over
becoming a victim himself? She would think was a dweeb or
something. He could not tell her. He could not tell
anyone.
He peered over at Daniel,
who was as still as a statue, his orbs locked on something across
the wide expanse of Colorado Blvd. “I’m sorry, man,” he said
again.
“ Don’t sweat it.” Daniel
spoke, his voice wooden.
“ It’s all just so fucked
up.”
The large teen swiveled
his head around. “How many shrinks do you think there’ll be on
campus come Monday?”
Richard snickered. “A
freakin’ shit-ton!”
“ Yeah, you got that
right.” He blew air through his lips. His eyes were far away again.
“Not like it’s gonna help one damn bit. Tony will still be
gone…”
Richard swallowed hard.
“You don’t think they’ll hurt him and all the others, do
you?”
“ We live in a sick fucken’
world…”
Richard’s mind kept
sliding toward those unspeakable things he heard without exception
on the TV or read on the ‘net. People did nasty things to kids
nowadays. He could not help but think about the girls. All four of
them had been pretty. Fuckers in this day and age kept girls like
that locked up for decades. They did not have a days’ worth fun
with them and then whack them anymore. Naw, they kept them. They
raped them daily and got them pregnant, and raised their
kids…
Yeah, Daniel was right. We
live in a sick fucken’ world.
“ I sure hope they’re found
soon,” he said aloud instead. His thoughts were far too
grim.
“ Me too,” replied the
large teen. He stood up of a sudden, which got Richard’s attention
immediately.
A few blocks down the
street they could see the bus lumbering down the road.
Daniel's face lit up,
beaming as he gazed down at his phone. He looked back at his
companion. “Mariah says she can see us.”
Not sure why, Richard
smiled. Despite what had happened, they were going to make the best
of a bad situation. Armed with a couple months of allowance and
saved-up work money, he and Daniel were going to show the girls a
good time. They needed it.
They all needed
it.
Anthony was missing. So
many others were missing and there was not a god damned thing he or
Daniel could do about it.
...A sick fucken
world.
~~~~~~~<<< ᴥ >>>~~~~~~~
~ 4 ~
The Missing
Panther
Friday, November
26 th ,
the Day after Thanksgiving, 2:55 pm…
Lynn Loren twirled a
strand of her waist-long, dirty-blonde hair between her thumb and
forefinger. Listening into her handset, her bright pink lips
puckered in thought. The eyelids about her green/blue orbs squinted
as she considered what her friend was saying through the phone. She
was tall for a girl of sixteen years, five-foot nine, full-figured.
Though she often struggled with her complexion, there was still no
doubt, one day, she would grow into a beautiful woman.
“… calling his house, but his grandmother answered. She only
speaks Spanish. I'm only part-fluent, though I understand a lot
more when I hear it. I just never
Philipp Frank
Nancy Krulik
Linda Green
Christopher Jory
Monica Alexander
Carolyn Williford
Eve Langlais
William Horwood
Sharon Butala
Suz deMello