Short Story

“Myia we are leaving now,” Mum yells up the stairs.

“I really wish I could come with you guys,” I say as I walk down the stairs, “stupid work always schedules me when something is on.”

My parents and little sister Jenny are going to Vancouver for the day to visit friends and shop.

“Have a good day at work sweetie,” Dad says as he kisses my head and heads out the door, “Love you.”

“Bye Myia, wish you could come,” my little sister squeals as she runs out the door hitting me on the butt, like she’s done for as long as I can remember.

“Text me when you get to work, okay?” Mom asks. She’s always unnecessarily worried about me.

“We’ll be back late tonight so don’t bother waiting up. Have a good day at work. I love you.”

“I will, don’t worry” I say rolling my eyes, “I love you too. Drive safe!”

I don’t have to be at work for a couple more hours so I go watch some TV. Not that I should have bothered… Day time television is ridiculous! It’s the first week of summer holidays and it’s already hot at 8 am. The smell of bacon, eggs, and toast still lingers in the kitchen from breakfast. The dishes are still in the sink and the frying pans on the stove. Obviously they were in a rush to leave this morning, running late. The usual.

As I wash the dishes I think about my summer ahead. I start college in the fall so this is going to be a summer of fun, with as little work as possible.

As I get ready for work I realise how beautiful it is outside. The sun is shining so brightly, and the wonderful smell of summer is so strong and not one single cloud in the sky. Something about the sky today mesmerizes me. I could spend the entire day just looking up.

Work is boring as always. The same thing every day, no one shops at 11:00 AM on a sunny Thursday at the beginning of summer.

“Hi welcome to Roots,” I repeat like a broken record until finally I can go on break.

I go outside to get some fresh air and notice right away the clouds are getting darker. It’s going to rain any time now, typical Seattle the weather can never stay sunny for long. As I get back to work the mall is a lot busier. It is definitely raining now.

I finish work at 7:30 PM and head straight home with a sigh.

I text Mum and Dad when I get home, with no reply. Weird.

I start watching some movie on TV, something with Kate Hudson where he sister dies and she inherits the kids. It doesn’t take long to fall asleep, I have a habit of this. The rain is pounding the ground outside, the window is open so I fall asleep to the smell of rain in the warm air with a cool breeze.

‘KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK ding dong ding dong’

I am awoken to sound of someone at the door. My eyebrows arch down, squinting against the brightness of my cell phone. It’s 12:22 AM and I have 3 missed calls and 5 text messages. Must be Mum and Dad. Nevermind, I need pants. I stumble down the stairs half asleep and open the door.

“Myia King?” a voice I don’t recognize asks.

There is a man and a woman at the door, both in police uniforms.

“Umm, y-ya-yeah yes that’s me” I manager to stammer. “What’s going on?”

A million things go through my mind. Is everyone okay? I locked the car when I got home, right? Who framed me? Who is hurt? Where is Mum and Dad? I feel the sudden urge to hug my family. But they aren’t around.

“There is something we have to tell you”, the male officer says, “May we come in?”

“Umm yeah su-sure,” I say as I open the door more leading them into the kitchen, “Would you like something to eat or drink?” My mind is still racing.

“Myia I think you should sit down,” the female officer tells me, barely audible.

I sit in the chair across from her and her eyes tell me something is wrong. Really wrong.

“I’m so sorry to tell you but your family was killed tonight in a car accident.” The woman says, “A driver slid into oncoming traffic from the rain and hit your family’s car head on.”

She doesn’t need to say anything else, after she said ‘killed’ I couldn’t hear anything else. Tear start pouring from my eyes. I can’t think, I can’t speak, I can’t hear. I can see their mouths moving but I don’t know what they are saying.

‘Killed... your family was killed... car accident...alone’ just keeps running through my mind. I’m paralyzed by my thoughts. All I can feel is the warm tears falling down my face. I see the woman moving closer to me. What is she doing? She keeps getting closer to me. Is she trying to hug me? I push away and run upstairs to my phone. Three missed calls, two from Mom and one from Jenny. I read my messages, tears still streaming down my stained cheeks.

“Myla I bought u the cutest scarf ever!!! ur going to luv it :),” Mila wrote to me at 8:07 PM.

“Hi Minka, I lost service so I just got your message. Be home soon, Love Mom,” my mom wrote at 8:12 PM.

A picture of my parents and sister in front of the Olympic flame saying “Wish you were here,” from Dad at 10:39 PM.

“Minka we just got back in Washington, see you soon,” Mom wrote again at 10:48 PM.

“Minka we will be home a bit late, the weather is bad so Dad is driving slower,” the last message my mom sent, “I love you.”

That’s the last thing I will ever hear from them. I hit reply all, “I love you too. I always will.”

Press send. Wipe my eyes. Take a deep breath. Now time to face my new terrifying reality.