The answer to my question

originally on my tumblr, this is a creepyish story I wrote a while ago

I wake up as I do every day, every week, every month, every year: to silence. I sigh and sit up. I see my mother downstairs and greet her with the usual “good morning mom.” My eyes start to fill with tears as I realize she still isn’t moving. Just standing there pouring her seemingly frozen coffee. One day I decided to touch it to see if it was actually frozen. I burnt my finger. Apparently time freezing doesn’t change anything else. My brother is stuck mid-yawn in his batman pajamas. After you get past the horror of the situation, it actually becomes quite humorous. My father is at work (probably filing papers). I wish I knew exactly where he worked. I should’ve listened to his constant rambling about work. Now, I’m stuck not seeing him until who knows when. 

Since the tv is forever off and the computer was constantly buffering, I’d developed a fondness for reading. I’d probably read more in the first month than in my entire pre-freeze life. It became practically the only entertainment I had those days  I’d read all the Harry Potter books at least 5 times, and LOTR 3 times. There was another interesting book I read. I don’t remember the title, but it was about a man whose daughter goes missing without a trace. He goes on this huge life changing journey afterwards about closure and acceptance. It was really good, but I don’t think it’s realistic for someone to disappear without a trace. There’s always got to be something, right? You can’t just disappear into the air, but then again I thought the same about time freezing.

 .I had to eat foods that require no microwave or stove nor need to cool down. I usually went to the restaurants downtown for my meals. Everything’s still warm. At first , I left money, but there was no point later on.

I got quite used to the loneliness after a while. There was no more crying. I learned to not look at my family.  I learned to forget those I loved. I learned how to make do with my resources. Everything was okay. Then I thought I saw something moving. “No way,” I couldn’t help but say aloud. My voice startled me. I giggled at how weird it sounded as I looked around. Then I saw movement again and the giggling stopped. I swallowed as I saw what seemed like a man made of black smoke. I ran. I felt as if I was running on air. And then I felt it, a hard smack to my entire front side. I felt the cold wood panels on the floor against my face.

"No. Nononono. S**t. I’ve just lost this for myself," I think to myself. I looked up to see him standing over me His jaw was wide open, and he looks almost human. He reaches out his hand, and asks, " Are you okay?" His voice sounded like a child’s, but with something off about it, like it’d been recorded and played back to me. Terrified, I let out a high pitched "Yeah." "That’s good. Can we play?"  The more he talked the more he seemed resemble a child more and a cloud of smoke less. "Okay." He holds out his hand, and I take it.

The moment we touched, a sharp pain ran through me. I couldn’t see anything for a second, but when I was able to, I was nowhere near relieved. I saw my hand beginning to turn to smoke. I heard screaming that I recognize to be my own, but I didn’t feel anything but the pain. Unlike the the child, I became a cloud of white smoke. Another flash of light and the child was gone. I heard rustling and music turning on. I then heard a sound I never thought I’d hear again, my mother calling my name.

I ran, or floated I guess, to her. “Hi mom.”  She called my name again. “Mom, I’m right here.” She sighed and started walking to my room. “Mom! What are you doing?” She saw my empty bed. “Very funny, now stop hiding.” “I’m not hiding” That was when it really hit me. I could finally hear her and see her moving, but she couldn’t see or hear me. She ran around the house looking for me, and I followed. She drove through the neighborhood looking for me, and I sat in the passenger seat. She called all of my friends looking for me, and I listened to every word. No doubt, if I had tear ducts, I’d be crying. She called my father, and he came home right away. The first time I’d seen my father in years, and he was sobbing because I was nowhere to be found. They called the police and told them everything they knew. They told my parents that there was no clues to how I left. “But how does someone disappear without a trace?” I believe I finally have an answer

Author's Note

this was my first time trying to write this kind of story, any suggestions?

Reviews

[Woody]

gripping tale. this is quite a good story and idea. just one little thing, though.
"I see my mother and I greet her with the usual good morning, Mum"
and you say: .... I realised I hadn't spoken in a month. (!)
apart from that, I really enjoyed the read.