The Disappearance of Samantha Mourey

TWO

Let me go back.

October, 1994, Bedford, NH

"Dani, are you up? Dani!" My mom's voice broke into my dream and I squint to see light coming in through the window.

Shit, I'm late.

"I'm good mom!" I yell back down the stairs, as I jump up and head toward the door.

"Whoa.' My mom's face appears in the door. "Slow it down lady. And then, speed it up, because you need to make that bus. I'm heading to work and your dad has clients all morning."

"I will. I will." I tell her, still half asleep.

She looks at me, skeptical. "Okay. I love you. Don't go back to bed! See you tonight."

"I won't. Love you too." I hug her goodbye and she's off. Her strong perfume stays in my room minutes after she's left.

Two seconds later my head is back on the pillow, staring at my closet thinking about what to wear, and also thinking I'd like to stay here all day. The clothes in my closet blur and my bed begs me to lay back down when suddenly loud static interrupts, followed by a series of beeps jolting me back awake. I look to my windowsill and smile. The walkie talkie that sits here always, usually silent, keeps beeping at me. I shake my head, smiling, as I head over and grab it, staring out the window to the house adjacent to mine. I hold the alert button to go off on the receiving end and wait and watch. Jason is downstairs and I watch as he hears and then runs, within seconds arriving in the window across from mine, 100 feet away, and I release the button.

"Hey! What's the emergency??" Says an out of breath voice on the other end.

"That's what I was gonna ask. Someone was hitting the receiver. Glad to see they still work."

I can see him looking around his room and then smiling, before grabbing his oversized cat to hold up to the window and show me.

"Ahh... blame it on Barney. Good one." I joked. "He made me get up." I complained.

"Shouldn't you have been up awhile ago?" he shot back.

He had me there. "Shaddup. Shouldn't you be leaving?"

"Yea. I gotta run. Dana is waiting. Actually," he whispered, "I think today is the day she actually kills me," he says with a chuckle.

I know he's not completely joking. "Don't push that too far," I answer back.

"You know I will." He says. "You gonna be around later today or are you too cool?" he asks as I see him moving around his room finishing getting ready.

"Yup, I'll be there. I'll see you later." I waved through the glass.

He waves back and races out of the room. Minutes later, his older brother Chris and mom are in the car. I wait and smile for what I know will come next. Right on cue, Dana beeps her horn loudly three times, waits, and then a longer one. I can hear her yelling through the closed car windows when Jason finally heads out the front door and down the steps toward the blue and brown van to join them.

I'm up now. So, this school thing might as well happen. 7:14. I hop into the shower long enough to get conditioner into my hair and brush it out while in there, and then into sweats and a hoodie. Pass the kitchen counter. Note from mom. Don't forget. Bottle of pills on top. I grab one and toss it outside as I run out my front door just in time to hear brakes from the bus stopping just a few houses down. I thought about running back in but stayed put and waited with a knot in my stomach as the bus approached and stopped in front of me.