Rennie walked
through the house again.
Every room
was bare.
No furniture.
No rugs.
Nothing on the walls.
He opened
the bedroom closet.
There he found his
clothes
and a sleeping bag.
And Kara had left
his toothbrush
in the bathroom.
How nice of her,
he thought.
He called Kara’s name.
off the walls.
He heard
his own echo.
He called Kara’s cell.
Still no answer.
He called Kara’s mother.
“Where’s Kara?”
he asked.
“Where are Max and Jill?
I just got home
and no one is here.
Nothing is here!”
“I can’t talk about it,”
Kara’s mother said.
“Sorry, Rennie.”
Rennie called
Kara’s friends.
Their voices
sounded cold.
“Sorry, Rennie,”
they all told him.
“We’ll let you know
if we hear anything.”
I just know
she’s with that Rick,
Rennie thought.
If I could get
my hands on him!
And if Kara
is with Rick,
where are the kids?
Rennie couldn’t think
of anyone else to call.
He didn’t know
where to look
for Kara and Max and Jill.
He was beside himself.
But he also was very tired.
He brushed his teeth.
Then he rolled out
He was too sad
to do anything but sleep.
Maybe this was
just a bad dream.
He would work it all out
in the morning.