𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 : 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫

-Before-

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Friday night in the suburbs of New York. Mom and Dad were getting ready to leave for their monthly date night. They went over the rules with Anna like they did every single time while I sat on the couch not bothering to listen. Looking back, I wish I had. I wish I paid a little bit more attention when they said goodbye. Put a little more love into my hug, a little more meaning into my I love you. But how was I supposed to know it would be the last time I'd ever see them?

It had been a few hours. Anna and I were playing a board game - well, I was a playing a board game. My sister was nose deep into her phone, tapping away at a million miles per minute. My turn had ended and I was waiting on her.

"Ann...it's your turn," I reminded her casually, but either she hadn't heard me, or she was ignoring me. My guess was the second option. I leaned over the board and nudged her shoulder gently, but my voice expressed annoyance, "Anna, it's your turn."

She slapped my hand away, her gaze never veering from the screen.

"Knock it off, Ruth."

I rolled my eyes with a quiet sigh, "Well, are you gonna play or not?"

"No," she snapped, pushing herself up off the floor and onto her feet with her face still glued to her cellphone. I huffed angrily at her uncalled-for attitude and started to put the pieces of the game back into its box. No point in playing if I was going to be doing it alone.

She shuffled around the living room, searching in between couch cushions and throwing around our mom's decorative pillows.

"Where's the damn remote?"

I shrugged because I honestly didn't care and continued to put away the board game. That's when I received and an uncalled for smack to the back of my head. My hand shot up to the stinging area of my scalp. "Ow!" I rubbed it gently. "What'd you do that for?"

"Help me look for it!" She demanded loudly, saying it like I should have already known.

I shook my head and matched the tone in her voice, "You coulda just asked me!"

My sister groaned, having zero tolerance for an argument. "Whatever, just help me look!"

I made a face at the back of her head once she turned around before obliging. I questioned if my older sister was blind or stupid, because the remote was in plain sight, sticking out from underneath the couch. I picked it up and raised it into the air for her to see from the kitchen. Of all places to look for a tv remote.

"I found it."

She practically sprinted back into the living room, snatching it from my hand along the way. I fell back onto the couch figuring once the tv turned on, I'd understand what had her all worked up.

She flipped it to the news channel and the woman in front of the camera stumbled over her words, speaking shakily as people ran frantically behind her.

"Anna...?" I turned to my sister, who covered her mouth with her hand and watched the screen in horror. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, Ruth."

I brought my attention back to the tv, feeling knots form in the pit of my stomach and my heart pound in my chest.

"Listen to me!" the anchor said, she sounded on the verge of tears. "Lock your doors and stay inside! Do not leave your homes! I repeat, do not lea—" A breath gets caught in my throat when a man tackles her to the ground. All you could hear was her violent screams before the channel went dead.

"Oh my god," Anna breathed out, walking backwards until her legs hit the couch and she sank back into it. I couldn't move, fear kept me frozen in place as the images from the tv replayed in my mind. This wasn't happening. Stuff like this only happened in movies. I was dreaming. It was all one big bad dream, and I was going to wake up any second. Right?

"Ruth?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna try and call mom. Just—just stay here." I nodded my head as she got up from the couch and returned to the kitchen. I listened to her call once. Then she called again. And again. And again. She got sent to voicemail each time.

"Hey, Mom. I'm sure you heard what's going on, um, Ruth and I are pretty freaked out. I'm not really sure what to do...Can you please call me back?"

"What about Dad?" I suggested nervously after she hung up the phone. Her fingers combed tightly through her dark hair, pausing at the back of her neck as she raised the device to her ear one last time.

"Dad?" A laugh of relief left my sister's lips. Her reaction was enough to pull me out from the shocked state I was in, and I scrambled until my stomach was pressed against the back cushions of the couch. "Oh my god, where are you?" Her face slowly sunk. "What're you talking about, I—I—"

I rushed into the kitchen desperate to hear my dad's voice as well. I stopped directly in front of my sister, staring up at her with wide eyes. I reached up to the phone at her ear eagerly. "Can I talk to him?" She shooed my hand away with the shake of her head and I stomped my foot into the ground. "Anna! I wanna talk to him!"

"Dad, no! Just come home." Tears started to form in my sister's eyes as the conversation continued. A few moments of silence passed, then she hummed in response to whatever dad was saying. She veered her saddened gaze to me.

"Yeah, she's okay. She wants to talk to you..." There was a pause, then she nodded. "Okay." She took the phone from her ear and passed it down to me. "Take your time. I'll be upstairs, alright?"

"Mmhm." I took the phone eagerly and pressed it to the side of my head. "Daddy?"

"Hey, pumpkin..." I knitted my brows together when I heard his voice. It sounded strange, like he was hurt. "Are you okay, dad?"

"Oh yeah...I'm fine."

I didn't believe him.

"Where's mommy?"

"Uh, she, uh..." I felt my heart beat a little faster each second he didn't answer and my breathing got heavier. "She's fine too." Why was he lying to me?

I felt tears of my own starting to form and I sobbed into the phone. "Hey, hey, Ruth? Listen to me, pumpkin, okay?"

"Uh huh," I said while wiping my nose with my arm.

"Anna is going to pack you each a bag then you're going to get into her car and drive into the city. I'm going to meet you there, okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright...Ruth, I need you to listen to everything your sister says. Do you understand?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "I understand."

"Good. You be a big brave girl for me. Your sister...she's gonna take good care of you." I could tell he was crying now which made me cry harder. "You two got to look out for each, okay?"

"Okay."

"I love you, pumpkin."

Please don't hang up.

"I love you, Daddy."