George ran as fast as he could. His underwear was still slightly damp underneath his shorts, which felt kind of gross. He stopped for a second to catch his breath. He wasn’t in the best of shape. George didn’t want to be late getting home. He glanced at his watch.
Six minutes was cutting it way too close!
He stood for a second, wondering if he would pass out from running too hard. His fingers felt the outline of the metal object in his pocket. George let out a sigh of relief. Not that it would have gone anywhere, but he still worried that it may have fallen out somehow while he was running. George noticed he’d also picked up a splinter in his finger from the old wooden dock.
He walked at a quick pace, as he continued home so he could catch his breath. He crossed over the corner where the local park was when he saw a family with two small children. Being older, he and Eddie normally didn’t hang out at the park. But George thought about what his mother had asked him to do before leaving the house.
He decided to take a couple of minutes so he could honestly tell his mother he asked people along the way about Eddie. He just had to be quick so he could make it home as close to on-time as possible.
George crossed over to the park, and approached the young couple. He noticed how happy they seemed, both of them smiling, each pushing a different child on a swing. The children, a boy and a girl, had to be close in age, maybe even twins. They were both under the age of five.
“Excuse me, sir, ma’am?” George approached without hesitation. The couple looked up, their smiles still imprinted on their faces.
“Yes?” They seemed to answer in unison. George hated them for being so happy. They continued pushing the children.
“Umm, I wanted to ask you if . . . umm.” George seemed to forget for a second what he was doing. The couple looked at each other confused, and for the first time, their smiles faded. George tried to regain his focus as he remembered he had to get home on time.
“My brother. His name is Eddie Morgan. He’s fifteen and he’s missing. He didn’t come home last night. Have you seen him?”
“We haven’t seen any teenagers hanging around here. Do you have a picture of your brother? That would help. Maybe we would recognize him from somewhere else?” the husband spoke for both of them.
George felt bad for hating them. They seemed like very nice people, trying to help. “No, sorry, I don’t have a picture with me. I should get home. I’ll bring a picture next time I come out.” He started to turn to leave, but the woman interrupted.
“If you do bring a picture, we’re at the park a few times a week. Bring it by. If you have a flyer, Rick has his own dental practice. He can put up a flyer at work.” She smiled, but her giant, beaming grin from earlier was gone. Now, her smile looked like a small half-moon.
“Thanks, I’ll do that.” George glanced at his watch and waved his goodbyes as he took off for the house. As he ran home, George thought how polite they were, but how pointless it was to get them all worked up and worried over nothing. At least he could look at his mother now and honestly tell her he’d asked people he ran into, if they had seen Eddie. Maybe that would help him get back out next time he wanted to go outside, since he now would be getting home a few minutes late.