Ribbon Road

Uproot

    I was a week away from starting school when everything started. It was hot, for a September day, but not so hot that my dad would advise against going outside.

My dad had been protective like that for as long as I could remember. Always reminding me to put on sunscreen before I went out on sunny days, bring a hat and gloves along with a coat on cold ones, and making sure I didn’t go anywhere if he deemed the weather too extreme one way or another. To my dad, even something as little as rain harder than a drizzle could be extreme. It got annoying at times, but he means well. 

Today was, thankfully, not one of the days where he deemed the weather too extreme for me to leave the house. I didn’t want to go out, necessarily, but I did want to sit on my old play structure and read. Once I’d grown too big to play on it, it became the perfect place to read; looking like a castle tower and providing shade from the sunshine. Unfortunately, the shade only did so much to cool me down.

I put my book down and stretch. I always seem to lose myself in books, and it’s not until something else distracts me that I realize I’ve been reading long enough for my muscles to grow stiff. Once my arms were loose again, I hopped down from the platform of my play structure and approached my house. At nearly three thirty in the afternoon, the sun really was beating down; I needed a drink. 

“Doing okay, sweet pea?” My dad called from the living room as I stepped through the sliding glass door. I decided not to shut it behind me, so I wouldn’t have to try and open it with one hand. The house wasn’t particularly old, but the door was super stubborn and usually requires two hands- or people- to open. 

“Yeah, just grabbing a soda,” I called back as I opened the refrigerator door. My dad had just bought some store-brand cola earlier that day, so the cans in front were still warm. I reached my arm back as far as I could until I located a cold one and pulled it out with a smile. 

I could hear the frown on my dad’s face as he said, “Maybe it’s getting too hot out there. Wanna read inside for a bit?” 

“I’m okay, dad. No worries.” I held the can at the top, trying to avoid touching the bitter cold metal at all costs, and stepped back towards the back door. Before I could slither out and away from my dad’s protective nature, though, I heard a knock on the front door. Weird, we weren’t expecting any visitors. 

“One moment, please!” My dad called. Curious, I set my can down on the counter and walked over the doorway. I stuck my head out and watched the door as my dad walked over to and opened it. 

Over my dad’s shoulder, I could see a police officer standing on the porch; maybe two. A shiver ran down my spine and I pulled my head back through the doorway. Chest tight, I grabbed my soda off the counter and made my way towards the back door again. 

What’s my problem? I asked myself as I slipped through the gap I’d left in the door. I haven’t broken any laws, what reason do I have to be afraid? I shook the thoughts out of my head. Police were nerve wracking people, everyone’s nervous around them. 

As I was climbing the short ladder to get back into my play structure, I saw a police officer, a different one from the one I’d seen on the porch, stick her head out the back door. 

“Ava?” She asked. I nodded. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her, and walked over to the play structure. “Hi, I’m Officer Andreas. I need to ask you a couple questions, if that’s okay?” 

“Out here?”

“Well, we’d prefer you and your dad aren’t in the same place when we question you,” Officer Andreas explained. “Would you mind coming out of there?”