Where's Sally?

"Where's Sally?"

Sally was missing. Where was Sally? I had been looking for her everywhere. But I couldn't find Sally.

But I was worried, or "anxious", as Papa calls it. It was very dark. Sally thinks there are monsters in the dark. She's very scared of monsters. I know there are no monsters, because Papa scares them all away. But Sally doesn't know that. She needs me to protect her.

I walked to the stairs. "Sally!" I shouted. Then I covered my mouth. Papa doesn't like it when I yell out loud. "Sorry Papa," I said really quietly. He always says "Ethan....", which is my name, in a very scary voice when I yell. But I didn't hear him say my name. Maybe he didn't hear me.

I should find Papa, I thought, or Mommy. Maybe they would know where Sally went. Today they left for a very very long time, and came back wearing a lot of black stuff. They didn't talk to me. Did I do something to make them mad? Maybe it was because I lost Sally. Mommy says that regret and guilt means feeling bad because you wish you did something differently. I know this because I asked her what it meant after hearing her and Papa say those words a lot.

Making sure Sally was okay was more important than getting yelled at by Papa. So I went downstairs.

"Sally?" I said. "Where are you?" I looked up and down, in the kitchen and near the tv. But I couldn't find Sally anywhere.

I walked by the sign I made a couple of days ago. It said, "Missing: Sally. A yung, blue bear went mising on Wensday, Febury 5, 2014. She is vary scard and frihtind . If yu find her, plese tell Ethan Miller. Reward is 25 cints and a Crunch bar." It had a drawing of Sally below it, with teardrops falling down from her eyes, to show that she was really sad. No one had called me though.

I was walking towards the table we eat dinner at when I saw papa in front of the tv. "Papa!" I said. He didn't say anything back. His eyes were closed. He must've be asleep. Next to him were some brown bottles. He had one in his hand. One of them said "Beer" on it. I wonder what it was.

"Sally!" I saw Sally the bear on the dining table, next to some boxes. I ran over to hug her. "Oh, Sally, where you scared? I missed you a lot. Did you miss me? I'm sorry. You know that there are no monsters. But that's okay. I'll protect you."

I tried to hug Sally. But when I reached over to touch her, I couldn't pick her up. My hand just...went through her. I tried again with my other hand, but the same thing happened. "Sally, are you feeling okay?" I asked. Maybe she got sick while I was searching for her.

I heard a yawn. Papa must've woken up. He turned around and looked at me. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was looking for Sally," I said. "I didn't want her to be scared." I didn't want Papa to punish me, but Papa always says that if I lie, my nose will grow, like Pinocchio.

I heard someone hiccuping behind me. "Sally, do you need a glass of water?" I said. But then I saw my Mommy step forward and stand beside me.

"I could ask you the same thing," she said, looking at Papa. She looked very sad, like that time she came to visit me in the hospital. Why was she still wearing all that black stuff? Mommy liked wearing yellow and pink. She looked really...weird in black. She looked different.

Papa sighed. "Come here," he said, and reached out for a hug. Papa also looked sad. Why was everyone so sad? I ran as fast as I could and hugged him.

"OW!!" I cried. I wasn't hugging papa, I was on the floor. I wanted to cry, but Papa always says I shouldn't cry, that I was a big boy. So I tried to "suck it in", like Papa says, and stood up.

My knee hurt. It hurt a lot. But I saw Mommy hugging Papa. And Mommy was crying.

"Mommy? Is everything okay?" I asked. I didn't like seeing mommy cry. I cried whenever something hurt a lot. So mommy must be hurt a lot.

"Sometimes I can't bear to look to look at his toys," Mommy sobbed.
"But other days, they're the only things that bring me comfort," Mommy cried. "I wanted to see his toys one more time. Before we donate them."

Papa petted her hair. He does that whenever I'm upset. Papa stood up, and Mommy did as well. They walked over to the table, where Sally was.

"Please, I don't want to donate Sally," Mommy said quietly. She turned away. "I can't stand to look at it, but I can't even fathom giving her up..."

I wondered what fathom meant. Were they going to give away Sally? "Don't give away Sally!" I yelled. "She'll be scared on her own."

My Papa looked at Sally for a very, very, very, very long time. "Maybe we should leave the past behind as soon as possible," he said quietly.

"NO," my Mommy said loudly. "It's too soon." She started sobbing again.

Papa nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Just...let's put her somewhere else. Somewhere we can't see her." Mommy said. Papa nodded, and picked up Sally.

"No!" I cried. "Sally needs me! She'll be all alone!"

Papa left the room with Sally. I ran after him, but I tripped, and he was out of sight. "Mommy, please," I said, about to cry, "Don't let Sally be taken away."

Mommy stood there, staring at the floor for a very long time, until finally, she walked away.

I started crying. I could hear papa's voice, telling me to stop crying. I started crying even more.

I was alone, with no papa, no mommy, and no Sally.