Missing Piece

A young family sets in a camp before fleeing an over polluted country. The family -somehow- looses the mother. How will the father and daughter cope.

                           Missing Piece          Sachi Ruaya J

Grasping her innocent, small hands, bombs of shock exploded in my body as panic, along with anger, invades my world. After being so lost in thought, Mary shook my arm with heart-fallen eyes, “Papa, Papa!” she whines, “Mama where? She is where?” “I don’t know,” I reply forcing a calm, gentle face, “But don’t worry, she might be back!” Might. I take a few deep breathes of the unpleasant aroma that hung in the air before taking a few steps forward. But wait! Would it not be better if we stay stationary? There are thousands of people, rushing around or wandering aimlessly, in this very camp! It would be less convenient if we move now. Maria might come back only to find us gone!

          Mary starts to claw at my left leg, ready to complain, “My leggy hurtz!” Sighing, I knowingly use the last of my strength to lift her off the ground. I use my torso to scan around our surroundings for a place to wait…wait for Maria.

          I eye the grey, rugged tent not far from where we currently are. Then, shifting Mary’s bottom higher up my hip, I whisper against the stale breeze, “We’ll rest there?” I point with me lips. She eyed the tent, nodding slowly. As she consciously bit her nails, giving off a nervous aura.

          We hastily weave though the mounds of scattered wooden poles- that will hold the tents- and through the crowds of beings to settle in.

          Once we reach the spotlight, we both gaze around our new temporary home before I decide to detach Mary from her ride. Crack! I quickly turn around to find to find the source of the sound. Crunch! Before I knew it, my legs had failed me. My body flew away from my consciousness, now, floating in pitch- dark black.

 

Yes. Pure darkness…

                   

          I float away, into the memories of the past. Ahhh…that’s it! Before I met my beautiful Maria, I was in the military service in Turkey. To be honest, my memory is very vivid towards the incident when I jammed the back of my left thigh between the ground and the affliction of a rock boulder.

          For a while, my mind experienced the dreadful moments of my past. Well…until I drift back to the present. Just when my eyes flutter open, my attention was brought to the terrified Mary, “Papa?” Mary cries, embracing my chest, “Why are we here?” “T-to…to wait for Mama!’ I exclaim as my grip on her arms tighten, “Don’t you remember? Mama left us for a while.” Mary’s face filled with confusion…mixed with angst? Well that doesn’t matter! Mary starts frowning, itching closer to my face, “Mama? Who? Who. Is. Mama?” 

Reviews

[Gianna Anaya]

The basis of this short story, or portion of the story really makes me want to know more about these three unlikely characters! The dialogue of the young girl seems a little "cartoon" but it's extremely hard to convey young speech in literature. Keep up the great work!