Did she just say "What about it?"? Does no one know anything or am I losing my mind? How was that last month? It was last week.
"If this is a joke, please stop it. I'm starting to get worried. Why are you messing with me?" I said, annoyed.
Mom looked at me in surprise.
"What joke?" she asked.
"As if you don't know that Dad left last week, not last month. We didn't even throw away the tickets! Dylan took them because he was gonna show them to his classmates. Dylan, go get the tickets so we can see when Dad left." I said to my brother.
Dylan paused and stared at me. His mouth was full from eating. After chewing and swallowing, he got up from the table and headed to his room. A minute later, he returned with a piece of paper—Dad's return ticket. He handed it to me.
I took the ticket and looked at it. My eyes froze when I saw the date.
How is this possible? Was Mom telling the truth?
Dad was supposed to return on April 4th, but the ticket showed March 11th, exactly 1 month ago.
I didn't even know what to say. I just put the ticket on the table and left my food half-eaten.
"I'm going to lie down," I said, standing up.
"Aren't you going to PlayStation Club?" Mom asked.
"No, I'm tired," I replied.
"Alright, you stayed up late last night anyway. Go rest."
I slowly walked to my room. First, I grabbed my phone and sent Jack a voice message:
"Jack, I'm a bit tired. I'm going to sleep. We'll play tomorrow."
I saw a message from Layla asking when we'd meet tomorrow. I wrote that I'd go to her neighborhood by 1 PM. Then I put my phone on the table and lay on my bed. I stared at the ceiling, thinking about the day's events.
Weird things have happened in my life before, but today felt like five years' worth of strangeness crammed into one day. What bothered me more than the events was the hand I felt on my shoulder this morning. Whose hand was it? Why did it touch me? Why did it pull me?
I fell asleep thinking about this. When I woke up, it was dark. Night-time. Did I really sleep that much? Why didn't anyone wake me?
I stood up, left my room and looked around. The lights were off. The only sounds were the fridge and the clock.
I was naturally a bit hungry. Approaching the kitchen, I saw a note on the table in Mom's handwriting:
"Sadly, your dad's uncle passed away. Dad and I are going to their place. We'll probably be back tomorrow. Don't wake your sister or brother up. There's food in the fridge. Heat it up and eat it if you are hungry."
The note was oddly specific. It felt like she knew when I'd wake up. Sleeping this long wasn't normal for me, but I was still drowsy. I decided to eat quickly and go back to bed. Opening the fridge, I saw the food on the second shelf. I put it in a small pot, turned on the stove, and waited.
Meanwhile, I poured myself a glass of water, drank it, then poured another glass and left it on the table. I grabbed a fork and set it down.
The food wasn't fully heated yet, so I went to my room to get my phone. No notifications. Though surprised, I didn't overthink it.
I went on my social media apps and didn't see any updates there either. Didn't think about it too much since I was half-asleep.
I put the phone in my pocket and slowly returned to the kitchen. The food looked hot enough now, at least it should be because the pot was so hot, I could barely touch it.
I moved the pot, grabbed a deep plate and a spoon, scooped the food onto the plate, and ate at the table.
Because I was hungry, I finished in five minutes and drank the water I'd poured. Then I washed the dishes and put them in the rack. Mom never leaves dirty dishes, so I washed them too—at least as best as I could.
Afterward, I went to the bathroom (no need to explain what I did there), washed my hands, and went back to my room. I didn't even change clothes. I just lay down. Admittedly, I wasn't sleepy anymore, but I fell asleep within minutes. Or so it felt.
I woke up on my own in the morning. Unsurprisingly, no one woke me up. On weekends, Mom doesn't wake us, so sometimes I sleep until 10 or 11 am. After waking up, I went to the table like any phone-addicted person to grab my phone. Then I remembered I'd put it in my pocket last night. Checking my bed, I saw it had slipped out of my pocket.
I picked it up and there were still no notifications.
But what caught my attention was the time: 12 PM. 12? I slept until noon? And no one woke me?
I rushed out of my room to see why. I was supposed to meet Layla at 1.
Leaving my room, I went to the kitchen to see that no one was there. Not Mom, my sister, or my brother. Were they still not back? Where were my sister and brother?
I hurried to their rooms. First, I knocked on my sister's door. No answer. I slowly opened it and peeked inside—no one. Her bed and room were neatly arranged.
"Diana!" I called, but no reply. Then I remembered she was supposed to go to the movies today. Maybe she'd left.
I went to my brother's room and knocked. No answer again. I opened the door—same situation. The room was tidy and empty.
"Dylan, are you home?" I called hopefully.
But there was no reply.
Did they just leave me asleep and disappear without a word?
I checked the kitchen table again but nothing there. Unlike last night, there was no note. I went to the guest room. We rarely use it since our kitchen is big, and we're usually in our rooms or the kitchen. With the internet, no one watches TV, so the guest room is just for guests.
The guest room was empty too. No one. I pulled out my phone and called Mom first. It rang but no answer. I called Dad and my sister, but it was all the same. No answer.
When I called my brother, I heard a sound from the house, a familiar ringtone. My brother's phone.
I went to his room. No need to search for the phone. It was on the table.
I called Mom again. No answer. Again, and again and again. No one picked it up.
"Where is everyone?"