The Missing Journals

‘Do you wanna get something from the shop?’ Sian asked her mum. ‘Yeh, I do actually. What, we walking there?’ Sian’s mum replied ‘Yup’ Sian replied in a slight huff.

Sian’s mum’s, Trish, had an accident a few years before and it had really shaken her up; it’s as if she didn’t want to drive anymore although they couldn’t anyway because she’d sold the car off a year ago.

‘Ready!’ Trish called from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Ok, I’ll be down in a minute’ Sian called back. She looked around her room, it was messy as she hadn’t cleaned it for a while and kept on saying she was going to do so even though day after day she would step over and sometimes on the bits and pieces strewn around her room.

Sian was paranoid as she’s been going through some stuff; there was some complications of her biology and she was having issues with her parents and sister, not to mention the rest of the family. How could she even call them her family; she had thought about leaving the family and changing her name the year earlier as she’s just had enough of how they’d been treating her. Even a trip to the nearest local supermarket proved difficult for Sian.

Any who, as paranoid as she was, she donned her coat and made her way towards the door looking at the transparent bag she knew she’d left her journals in; something about the bag stood out to her that night, her eyes kept being drawn to it as if there was something she aught to know about it. Alas, she turned on her heels, went though her bedroom door and carefully closed it hoping that no one would be coming to the house whilst she was out.

‘Ready?’ Trish asked ‘Yep’ Sian answered ‘Got your key?’ ‘Yep’ Sian answered but this time with less enthusiasm. She hated that Trish always pushed the responsibility of locking the door onto her when she knew she could do it also. She locked the door anyway like many of the the things she just did because she didn’t want to start any arguments or cause any problems.

‘It’s a nice evening out’ Trish said whilst looking around. ‘Don’t you think’ She asked Sian ‘Yeah, I suppose so’ Sian shrugged. ‘I wonder what that guy that lives over there does for work now or if he’s retired?’ Trish speculated as they crossed the road. ‘Dunno, perhaps he doesn’t work anymore; gave up his job and is now relaxing at home’ Sian answered. She was in a difficult situation and a precarious position; on one hand she couldn’t stand Trish for what she’d put her through but on the other had, she felt sorry for her and wanted to protect her so she’d answered questions like she did her and ask her if she wanted to go on walks together from time to time.

The conversation went on like this for some time; Sian becoming more laid back as the time passed then they eventually got to the supermarket. They went around the shop and picked what they wanted, got to the till area, made their purchase and started to make their way towards the door when something strange happened; the manager of the shop started to make a speech. He said that they had to stay inside the shop and they couldn’t leave. Sian looked and Trish and Trish looked back.

‘What’s happening?’ Sian asked ‘I don’t know but he wants everyone to stay inside’ Sian’s face was puzzled as were the gentlemen next to her who were closer to the door. It was as if the manager of the store was infected with a virus that made him want to hold everyone in the store hostage. Sian had a quick flash of her room flash up in her minds eye and she knew something was wrong; she knew that her journals had gone missing and whom by.

The manager finally let everyone out; “That was weird’ said Sian. ‘Yeah I don’t know what was going on there’ Trish agreed Trish. Sian felt she was being held back by the universe so that her journals could go missing and this rang true when a second odd thing happened; as the Sian and Trish were about to cross the road, Trish stopped where as Sian kept walking. Perplexed, as Sian got to the other side of the Zebra Crossing, she turned to see a man that looked like her uncle in a van, who was peering at her as he drove along, whilst her Mum waited just behind the passing van.

‘I just saw Uncle L; he was in that white van.’ Scoffed Sian ‘Which van? Where’d you see him?’ ‘In the white van that went past you at the Zebra crossing.’ Trish paused before answering ‘Are you sure it was him?’ ‘YES.’ Sian was frustrated; she knew something was going on with regard to her uncle controlling her parents but now she’d seen it with her own eyes; she felt that her Father and Uncle had gone into her room and taken her journals but before she placed blamed, she waited.

*Crroooonch* was the sound the key made as Sian unlocked the front door of their residence. They shuffled their way in and turned on the dining room light. They unpacked their bags of shopping when Trish’s phone rang; it was was her husband and Sian’s Dad.

He asked how they were as he generally tends to do and then states that he had passed by the house but they weren’t there. Sian knew it but it weren’t until the morning of Sian tidying up her room that anything that happened that night mattered, because when she looked through her bag of stuff and checked to see if all her journals were there, five were missing.

Sian was annoyed; she was so frustrated she got Police involved and like her, they agreed that it was her Dad that stole those journals. He denied it as did her Mother and whilst she was upset, she saw an online competition involving journals that she could enter and win $20,0000. So she entered it and won. Guess the upside this that story was, that heart-wrenching, gut-wrenching situation of having some of her journals go missing; not one but five was that she won some money and with this, and for that, she was ecstatic.