Tend Towards

Elle Murkwood's Amazing Disappearing Act

Nolan first saw Elle sitting in a booth at Tom's Diner, he'd later tell police. She was wearing a white sundress, with pink petals down the sides which matched her soft, pastel scarf. Her hair seemed to flow almost down her sides, cascading from beneath the brown hat she was wearing. 

The first time Nolan saw her, she was sipping at a cup of tea - he could clearly see the steam rise from it. Elle was looking out the window, where a woman was walking by with an umbrella in the soft drizzle.

"You're wearing a scarf and drinking tea," Nolan had told her, leaning over his own booth couch and resting his head on his arms. "But you're also wearing a flowery dress and sandals. How does that work?"

Elle looked at him with green eyes. "Have you ever kissed a stranger in the streets?"

Nolan's brow furrowed. He'd asked her a question and she had asked him a different one back. "No."

"Do you want to?" Elle asked. "It's on my bucket list, and today's weather seems amiable."

Nolan frowned even deeper. "The weather is always like this. Are you a runaway?"

Elle beamed a smile at him, and carefully set her tea back onto the table. Nolan watched as she shuffled around the couch and came to sit in front of him, on her knees, peering at him over the back of the seat. "I'm a magician," she whispered to him. "Want to see?"

Nolan nodded, and observed as she held out her hand for him. Her palm was empty, hovering expectantly in the small space between them. He looked back up at her face. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Take my hand," Elle said. Nolan raised an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes. "I promise not to stab you." Nolan wasn't worried about getting stabbed, but it was a nice sort of thing to know that he was safe from it regardless. He reached his hand over and held hers.

Elle leaned in very close and whispered conspiratorially. "Now, on the count of three, I want you to name a card and pull your hand away, understand?"

Nolan nodded solemnly, as if they were making a somber pact. "One," Elle breathed, almost reverentially. "Two, three!"

"Jack of Diamonds!" Nolan yelled and tugged his hand out of her grip. Lying on her open palm was a face down card. He scoffed. "If that is the Jack of Diamonds I'm going to think you're a witch."

Elle lifted a corner of the card so that he couldn't see what it was, and peeked. She frowned, sighed, flattened the card and looked up at him sadly. "Would you kiss a witch in the streets?"

"No way," Nolan gasped, and grabbed the card from her. It was the Queen of Spades. "This isn't..."

When Nolan looked back up from the card, the booth next to him was empty, save for a steaming cup of tea on the table. He got up from his seat and checked under the table, under the chairs, but the girl was gone. A quick survey of the diner revealed no trace of the Missing Girl.