Stone Wall

The blonde-haired eight-year-old had been outside playing in his front yard when Luiz and Murielle Lopez, Lucinda’s parents, came over. Hysterically, they had asked his parents if they had seen their little girl. Winston listened as his father told Lucinda’s parents that they hadn’t. Then his father had said he would organize a neighborhood search for the little girl, while his mother said she’d call the sheriff to come out with some help.

Winston’s mother had taken Murielle inside, to call the sheriff’s office and pour her some tea, while his father and Luiz had headed next door to Mr. Augustine’s house. After Mr. Augustine had retired, he was voted head of the neighborhood committee. Winston had decided to tag along behind and listen in on what the grownups had planned to do.

When the sheriff and his deputies arrived, Winston’s father reminded him to stay out of the way of the grownups. He told him it was important they found the little girl before nighttime came, since a cold front was moving in with the setting sun. Winston guaranteed his father that he wouldn’t get in the way.

So sitting on the rock wall, Winston watched the adults looking for Lucinda. The entire neighborhood had gathered to find the missing toddler, each grownup was busy searching the meadow and the surrounding woods for the girl. Winston looked back and forth with his blue eyes, watching the shouting people, and was entirely engrossed in the unfolding scene.

For hours, neighborhood adults and teenagers had been walking the meadow and trees in what the Sheriff called a grid. Everyone stood at least five feet apart where the meadow started by the houses, and began walking towards the woodline. They would only pause long enough to search for any structure or crevice in their way.

Shaking his golden locks, he was surprised when he saw Mr. Jones looking for the toddler inside the tiny watershed near the community garden. Winston rolled his blue eyes as he watched the Delmino twins checking out the old treehouse in the nook of the oak tree. When he saw Mrs. Goldman moving stacked rocks used to repair the wall he was sitting on, he wondered if she’d be happy with what she’d found.

When Mrs. Goldman screamed, everyone ran over, wondering if she had found Lucinda. Instead, they came upon a macabre scene straight from a horror movie. Buried deep inside the rock pile were two of the neighborhood’s missing pets. A pair of cats were mutilated beyond recognition, and hidden among the stones.

Everyone was getting over their shock about the animal carcasses, and their relief that they weren’t the little child. They knew they needed to hurry and find the girl before nightfall. Winston sat on the wall, smiling as his father walked into Mr. Jones’ yard, and noticed the fresh soil. Curious, his father retrieved a shovel and started digging. Mr. Jones would never yell at Winston again, he made sure of it.