It can't be. My invention was right here before I left for the party. I frantically search my room for it, upturning everything in sight but still not able to find it. Maybe Travis knows where it is. I shake him awake and hold his shoulders.
"Travis! Travis, get up!"
With sleepy eyes he scowls at me and attempts to fall asleep but I continue shaking him. He groans and turns his back to me.
"Please get up," I plead, while shaking him harder. "We have a huge problem."
He pops one eye open and asks, "What problem?"
"I can't find my invention!"
"What?!"
"I can't find my invention!"
He throws the sheets off himself and jumps out of bed. "What do you mean you can't find your invention?"
"I can't find it anywhere in this room! Do you perhaps know where it is?"
"Of course, it's right there," Travis says and points to the place where it was meant to be and is surprised to see the microwave there.
"That's a good looking microwave. Whose is it?" He asks.
"I have no idea, but that is not the main issue here."
Travis searches the entire room and is also not able to find the invention. He stands in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, a confused expression on his face.
"What is going on here? Who could have replaced your invention with this microwave?"
"That is what I also want to know."
"Is this some kind of dream? Maybe if we go back to sleep, everything would go back to normal."
"This is not a dream, Travis, we just got back from Chris' party and none of us has fallen asleep yet."
"Have you asked Austin?" Travis asks.
"I haven't. I will do that now," I say as I walk briskly to her room, forgetting to knock but thankfully, she still has her clothes on and is just wiping off her makeup.
"Don't you know how to knock?" She inquires and I apologize for barging into her room unannounced.
"State your business here and leave," she orders.
"I can't find my invention. Do you perhaps know where it is?"
Austin laughs so hard that I have to look around to see if there is something in the room making her laugh. There is nothing. I look back at her confused.
What is so funny?
"You can't find your invention and you seriously think I would know where it is?"
"I was just wondering if you've seen it or would by chance know where it is."
"I don't. Why don't you check your room or something?"
"Do you think I haven't searched my room? I literally turned it upside down looking for the invention," I say, running my hands through my hair.
Austin looks somewhat genuinely concerned. "That sounds serious. Maybe you should search the entire house, you probably left it somewhere and forgot."
"That's very unlikely cause I never take it out of my room but that's a good idea," I say and run out of the room.
* * * * *
Travis and I are sitting at the foot of the stairs, tired and confused after searching the entire house and unable to find the invention anywhere.
"We should tell your parents about this, then search their room. It's the only place we haven't looked yet," Travis suggests and I nod. I didn't want to bother them at first but the situation at hand is very urgent.
"Avan, is something wrong?" Mom asks worriedly after noticing my downcast expression.
"I can't find my invention anywhere. Travis and I have searched everywhere in this house so I was wondering if we can search your room, that is, if you don't mind."
"I don't think it's in here but go ahead," she says and leads us inside.
"What's wrong, boys?" Dad asks as Travis and I begin searching the room.
"Avan's looking for his invention. He said he's searched the entire house and wants to search our room," mom tells him.
"Are you really looking for your invention or is this some kind of joke?"
"Do you really think I can joke about something like this?" I ask back, feeling distressed.
"Where did you keep it?"
"In my room."
"Then how come it's not there? I'm sure no one in this house can just go into your room and pick up your invention. Not even Austin."
"I don't even know," I drawl tiredly. "I covered it with a sheet in my room before we left for the party and when we got back, I found a microwave in place of my invention."
"You found a microwave?" Mom and dad ask in unison.
"Yes, a freaking microwave."
"This means you didn't lose your invention, your invention got stolen," dad reasons and Travis and I stop short in our search.
"That is very likely," mom agrees with him.
"In fact, it is not likely. It is exactly what happened," I say.
"Who could've come in here to steal your invention and replace it with a microwave without your parents knowing?" Travis asks.
"I don't know how they did it, but they are good. We didn't even hear any unusual noises tonight," mom says.
"The person who stole my invention must be a fellow competitor who somehow found out about my invention and wants to use it to win the contest!" I run my hands through my hair, thoughts running in a circle like a toy train trying to think of who the possible culprit could be.
"But no one knows about your invention except us. You were very careful about not disclosing it to anyone outside your family," Travis says.
"Looks like someone got to find out about it anyway and planned to steal it. They must've been spying on me to know where the invention is kept and to know when I am not home so they can make their move."
"Who on earth could this person be?"
"That's what I'm going to find out and make them pay for it."
"Alright boys, I think we should all go back to bed now, it's late and there's not much we can do at this time. We'll report this theft to the cops first thing in the morning, okay," mom says and Travis and I reluctantly return to my room.
I ponder over who could hate me so much as to do such a thing to me. No one comes to mind and I am left with no other option but to fall asleep. Mom was right, there's not much we can do at this time of the night, we would just have to wait till the morning.
* * * * *
"We should do an investigation," I say at the table during breakfast.
"By we, I hope you're referring to you and your dork friends," Austin quips.
"I don't have any dork friends."
"Whatever, just count me out of whatever craziness you want to embark on."
"This is supposed to be a family thing," Travis tells her.
"He's right," mom agrees. "We should do this as a family, for Avan."
"He's the one who lost the invention so he should find it himself. Why do we have to do the work for him?"
"He did all the work, now all we're doing is helping him."
"I don't care."
"He's your twin brother."
"Still don't care."
Mom heaves a deep sigh and shakes her head.
"Austin, stop being insensitive," dad intervenes. "You know how much this meant to your brother and how much work he put into this invention."
"Then he shouldn't have been careless with it."
"He wasn't careless. That thing weighs a ton so how careless could he get with it? Someone broke into this house and stole your brother's invention."
"Then that means it's your fault, you should've known when someone sneaked into this house to steal your son's invention."
"That's enough, Austin!" Mom warns, interrupting the conversation between dad and Austin.
"Come on, Avan, we need to go to the station to report this," dad says and I stand, even though I'm not done with my food. Mom stands up as well.
"I'm coming too. You coming, Austin?" Travis asks as he stands up.
"I have better things to do." Austin wipes her mouth with a napkin and picks up her phone.
"Suit yourself," mom deadpans as we leave the house. "And don't forget to do the dishes since you're not coming along."
Austin's groan is the last thing I hear before mom shuts the door.
* * * * *
We return from the station after the cops assure us that they would find the thief. They follow us home to do some investigation and discover that the thief actually broke into my room through the window and somehow managed to haul it out of the room without anyone hearing a sound. He obviously had a cohort because the invention is extremely heavy.
I pace around my room uncomfortably and Travis just watches me as he chews on some licorice. How long will it take the cops to find this thief? Will they find him before the contest? Can I wait for that long? Hell no.
I draw out my whiteboard and grab a marker from my desk, erasing the calculations on the board and drafting an investigation plan with the names of everyone I know, including my sister. Travis chuckles.
"Avan, you need to calm down. The police already said they would get the thief arrested so why are you getting yourself worked up? Just relax and let them do their job."
"I can't relax and I don't know when their job would be done. What if it takes months?"
"To find a common thief? That's not likely."
"Did you see how blithe they were towards the whole situation? It was almost as if they didn't care and would probably spend an hour searching for the thief and just let it go."
"They can't do that, it's all in your head."
"I don't care if it's in my head or not, I'm not just going to sit around and wait for the cops, I'm going to do whatever I can to find the thief as well."
"Since you are so bent on doing the investigating yourself, I guess I can't talk you out of it. And guess what, I am going to support you."
"Thanks, that means a lot." I beam at him.
"Now, according to my hypothesis," I start. "The person or people who stole my invention knew about it. And now, we need to find out who knows about it outside this family. Asides Wyndy, that is."
"Remember, when a crime has been committed, everyone is a suspect, including your crush," Travis tells me.
"Yeah..." I drawl, not wanting to believe that Wyndy could have anything to do with this.
"It's possible that Wyndy in her excitement told someone else about your invention," Travis reasons.
"Does she have any siblings? Boyfriend? Or any best friend other than your sister?" He asks and I shake my head.
"She's an only child, she's single and Austin's her only best friend," I tell him.
"Still, we need to find out if there's someone close to her she must've told."
"We also need to find out if there's someone else Austin must have told about my invention. I mean, she nearly told Chris about it the other day but good thing I was there to stop her."
"Yes, Austin too. But what about your parents?" Travis asks.
"Come on, there's no way my parents would disclose information about my invention to anyone, especially when they are aware of what's at stake."
"It could've slipped and one of their friends who has a child also competing in the contest must have devised a plan to steal your invention."
"I didn't think of it that way."
"That's why I'm here to assist you."
"Okay, we begin the investigation with my family and Wyndy to find out if perhaps they unknowingly told someone about my invention then we can move from there."
"Operation Find Avan's Awesome Invention aka the Inter-Universal Teleportation Machine 1.0 is a go."
* * * * *
Before the "investigation" starts, let's test your detective skills, shall we 😏
Who do you think stole Avan's invention?