You Don't See Her?

Day 3

She wasn't completely asleep when her father left the house. She could hear his shoes against the floor and him saying goodbye to her mother. At one point, his shoes approached her room. They stopped and seemed to turn back around though. He probably peaked through the door to make sure she was still alive after whatever had happened last night.

Shelley was still trying to figure it out herself. The internet had a few tips that made sense. It could have been a headache that came on suddenly after hearing whatever she heard. It could have been just the vibrations or frequency. She figured it was the latter since her mom couldn't hear it. It had to be that.

When the door creaked, it seemed to do so on its own until her mother's head popped through. Her eye brows were pushed together.

"Would you be okay not to run today?" She asked. Gaelle nodded knowing that her mother would not have allowed it regardless. If Gaelle was still younger, this would have trapped her inside bored all day while the other kids played outside. Her mother rested a hand against her forehead then nodded. "Food will be done soon."

Gaelle waited upstairs in her room for a reason to move or even get up. Food was probably the only reason right now. Her head had a slight throb to it especially when she thought back to last night. The gagging had felt so real like the vomit had escaped her mouth and jumped onto the floor. Her carpet told her a different story though.

The smell of food got her up as well as her mother calling her name. The comfort of her bed wasn't as hard to leave since she hadn't been sleeping, to begin with. The light was sneaking in through the closed blinds. She pulled one section up just to look at the house across the street. Shelley was outside playing again.

Her mother didn't seem to mind the silence as they watched TV. Usually, she would ask for something like a cup of water or something but her mother seemed to have no requests today. Her mom was just silent. Gaelle was facing the window but didn't quite look at it. Every so often a large car would drive by causing an early shadow that would make her look but other wise she kept her eyes on the TV. It was strange to think that she and her mother were seeing the exact same things with how her mom never seemed to register Shelley or whoever the girl was.

Her mother fell asleep in the middle of one of the soaps but Gaelle didn't change the channel. The sound of it and the drama was a great distraction. Some guy was getting married and the girl had amnesia and someone else was pregnant it was a bit of a giant mess. The characters yelled and talked and shared secrets like little children.

The last major shadow to be cast against the window was the mail man. He parked and walked out to deliver the letters which were most likely advertisements. Gaelle got up as he started the truck again. He'd have to deliver to them too. She pulled apart the curtain to watch as he dropped mail into their mail box. Mail. That house was getting mail. The little girl watched the mail man deliver the letters then went back to her sand. The mail man didn't react to her from what Gaelle could see but this was something.

Before she knew it, she was walking outside to get her mail. She expected who ever was home with the girl to do the same. Gaelle could try the mail man but he was too far. Maybe she could ask tomorrow? She imagined all the different answers he could tell her but realized she couldn't wait. She ran to where the mail man was parking next, stopping him before he left to deliver the next person's mail.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," he said with a smile. "Did you get a wrong letter?" Gaelle looked down at her letters than her pajamas.

"Yes, I've been getting letters for another house. Addressed for a Shelley." She cursed Facebook for its age requirements without it, she never knew people's last names. Not that her younger self would have thought to ask Shelley to add her on Facebook or that Facebook was even around back then.

"Do you have a last name?" He asked.

"I know where they lived last." She pointed to the house across the street from her.

"The Smith residence? In that case, just feel free to put them in their box and I'll be more careful when delivering." Gaelle nodded and stumbled her way back to her house. Mark must have known people lived there. Her parents too. Wouldn't they have seen their cars leaving for work or whatever at some point? Wouldn't they have known these Smiths?

Inside, she locked the door then unlocked it, remembering that killer usually got their victims while they were grasping to unlock doors they'd themselves locked. There was no murder though. There was no hint of murder, the idea was coming out of left field and she knew that but her heart still raced.

They get mail. She texted Bennie. Her mother was still dozing on the couch as she snuck upstairs. Her parent's bedroom was a thresh hold she knew never to enter without permission but depending on what the search turned up, she'd had a solid reason to do so. The only thing she needed was her old year book type thing from kindergarten. She crouched in front of the area where her father kept her old school things. There was a middle school year book, elementary year book, and finally a kindergarten year book. She tried to arrange the stacks of paper where she'd found them before sneaking into her own room.

A feeling of nostalgia hit her as she flipped through the teacher pictures which were the first ones in the book. They all looked much younger now like they weren't ancient mummies. The student pictures were all organized by last name. She couldn't let herself race ahead though. She just flipped through them, hoping she'd see Shelley's face with another last name next to it. The book was more like a long pamphlet of faces that had long since grown up. As she got close to the S, she saw her own picture. She looked sad. She wasn't smiling like the other kids, she was just staring straight at the camera. If her own picture was weird, she hoped at least Shelley's picture would be normal.

It was normal, a little girl with two pony tails on either side and a sweater. Her smile was completely normal, nothing crazy. Still seeing the last name "Smith" next to her froze Gaelle. The girl was an exact copy of the girl across the street. They had to be related somehow. Somehow. Maybe her cousin's had moved into, she thought. There was a good chance that was the case. Families did that right? No. She sighed. What did happen to Shelley? Gaelle couldn't remember a conversation about the girl. She just knew that one day they had to stop playing together and she hadn't seen her until now.

She sat on the pamphlet when her mother opened her bedroom door. She looked tired still but okay. "Just making sure you didn't go on a run." She said and Gaelle nodded. She forced the questions in her mind to stay inside. There was an explanation for the whole thing. There had to be.

When her father came downstairs, she looked at the pamphlet again, wondering if she could call the school for more information but she doubted anyone was even in the building. It's not like summer school was required for kindergartners, everyone ate the glue so everyone passed. The noises downstairs slowly died at the night went on. Bennie had texted her back a while ago but she needed her to come and see for herself. She couldn't explain something she didn't understand. Maybe Shelley had a daughter at a very young age or that was her sister? Shelley could have been anywhere. She could have been a bitch and gone to a private school now. When she peeked through her curtains hat night, she was certain she wouldn't see anything as usual. The lights were all off and the house itself seemed dead.