So You Think You Can Write Contest

Prompt Three

"Yes, of course," Mum was saying. "We'll come to meet him soon."

She paused as the person on the other line spoke and then said. "Later this evening? Okay? Goodbye."

She placed the phone back on the receiver and turned to me. "We're going to Mrs. Holland's house later. Be ready and tell Ben too."

"Alright," I nodded and headed towards the stairs before turning around. "Have you heard from . . . " I trailed off, unable to continue because of the lump that had formed in the throat.

"No," Mum answered, sadly. "I didn't receive a letter after the one that was sent last week. But maybe, we might hear something from Mr. Holland."

"I hope so," I whispered and went upstairs

My fourteen year old brother was doing his homework. "Ben?"

He looked up from his work and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"We're going out in the evening," I said. "Be ready."

"Okay," he nodded and went back to doing his work. He looked grim but that was a usual occurrence in our house. My father and brother were away, fighting in the war. Well, the war was now over and a lot of men had returned. Except for Dad and Ethan.

I went upstairs to my room and lied down on my bed, reading a book to distract myself. Thinking too much resulted in me thinking negative thoughts and panicking. So I tried to avoid it as much as possible.

Half an hour passed and I stopped reading to get ready. I dressed myself in a simple sky blue dress and braided my long brown hair.

"Julie," Ben said as I approached the stairs. I turned around to see him standing outside his room. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Mrs. Holland's house," I answered. "Her husband came home yesterday."

Ben nodded, closed the door of his room and descended down the stairs.

~

We returned home at around ten in the night. The evening has been fairly uneventful. However, on the plus side, we did hear from Mr. Holland about Dad and Ethan.

He informed us that before he left for the town, he had gone to meet Dad. He was doing well. But he seemed unprepared to leave the army quarters. Ethan had been quiet, which confused Mr. Holland, since Ethan was a normally chatty person.

There was definitely something wrong and I could sense it in Mr. Holland's narration. But I couldn't figure out what the problem was. And why Dad wasn't contacting us. And what about Ethan?

There were too many questions. But I had had a long day. I was only nineteen, after all. I needed to sleep to clear my mind. Because there were definitely too many issues that had to be handled.

But before that, I had to rest.

~

The constant rapping of my door woke me up. The sunlight was streaming inside my room, filling it with brightness. I yawned, annoyed at being woken up so early. But the knocking continued insistently.

"I'm coming," I yelled.

The knocking stopped and I dragged myself towards the door. Clicking open the lock, I opened the door to see Ben standing there, clad in his school uniform, his lips curved into a grin.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Come on," he grabbed my wrist and tugged me forward. "He's back!"

"Who's back?"

"Ethan!"

That was all I needed. I freed myself from Ben's grasp and rushed downstairs. I threw open the door of the living room and ran straight into my older brother's arm. "Ethan!"