A Night In The Park
Chapter 2
Though, the ground was hard, Marie and Jessica
just dealt with being uncomfortable. After all, they had chosen to leave out of
anger towards their parents. Earlier in the evening they still had wondered if
going back home and sleeping in their soft beds, cuddled under the warmth of
their blanket would have been a better choice. The nice soft pillows would have
been nicer than the light jackets they had used to cushion their heads. Marie
and Jessica discussed how it would feel to face their parents again. In the end,
Marie and Jessica decided to stay out amongst the noises in the park. They still
felt bitter and had a desire to get back at their parents for deciding to
split-up.
"Being a Hamilton daughter is just so
hard," thought Marie as she looked over at her younger sister Jessica who
had quickly fallen to sleep from exhaustion. Marie was pleased she was able to
think by herself for a few minutes and listen to the night’s calls. She was
amazed at how she could actually hear crickets chirping, an owl hooting, and
whippoorwills whistling. "Gosh the stars shine bright," Marie muttered
softly so she would not wake her sister. Her thoughts moved to, "Boy what a
mess we are in." I am not sure if I am brave enough to take the
responsibility to protect myself and my sister if something were to happen to
us." Marie turned to face Jessica and wrapped her arm around her to make
her feel safe and protected. Jessica was asleep, but she knew if Jessica was to
wake then she would want her to feel safe and protected. The big question was,
"were they safe?"
Mean while back at their home, their parents had
begun to worry. Bill and Allison had thought the girls had gone to the park to
get over the shock of them separating. Allison said to her soon-to-be
ex-husband, "I find it hard to believe that Marie and Jessica would ever
stay gone all night long!" Bill, retorted, "Honey, if we don't do
something it will just get later and later. I believe it best if I go look for
them now. They may be hurt or something."
In the Hamilton's neighborhood, the streets were
only dimly lit. The flashlight Allison was carrying was bright but not as bright
as Bill's. "Bill, we should have put new batteries in these flashlights
before we left. What if mine goes completely out?" she asked Bill. The
girl's parents combed through the park looking for their daughters and calling
out their names. From time to time, Allison leaned on Bill or Bill brushed
Allison's shoulder. It was evident that they were still comfortable together.
The two-hour search for the girls left them
exhausted. Energy was being drained from both of the parents who were sick with
worry. Bill said, "Honey, let’s go back home. If they don’t come home
by 10:00 a.m., then we will go to the police station and file a missing child
alert. I know you have to wait a certain amount of hours." Allison just
stared at Bill. Here she was in the middle of a separation with the man she had
been married to for many years and he was making a suggestion that made her
freeze with fear.
"I sure hope that they are okay and will
come back home soon," said Allison with the worry only a mother can feel.
Bill could tell Allison was not happy with the idea of waiting. He said encouragingly, "I am sure they are okay. I believe that Marie would know what to do if someone was to bother them. She's a young woman now, not a baby. So surely nothing has gone wrong, or we would have already heard." Allison, still not confident that they should wait at the house said, "How can we just walk away from here unless we have looked the whole park over?" Bill repeated. "Now, don't worry Allison, let’s just trust and have some faith and go home and get ourselves some rest and hope that they come home."
Using the cell phone, Bill decided after calling a few of the girl's new friends to give up on that mission. No one had seen Marie or Jessica. Bill and Allison rested a moment sitting on one of the park benches. "I know that we are divorcing, but would you care to sleep next to me for comfort sake? I am really too scared to be by myself," Allison timidly asked Bill. "No. I don’t mind," Bill answered but not wholeheartedly. On their way back home, Bill and Allison kept their flashlights beaming in every direction and kept their eyes peeled just in case they saw their girls.
As the sun rose the next morning, Marie
awoke first and felt the crisp cool weather. She saw Jessica peacefully asleep.
Running her fingers through Jessica’s hair, she began to know in her heart she
now regretted the decision to run away, the night spent in the park, and
involving Jessica.
Jessica awoke to Marie’s crying.
"What is wrong, sis?" asked Jessica. Marie put her hands to her face
to wipe away her tears. She answered, "Nothing sweetie. I was just watching
you wake up and thought how peaceful you look asleep."
"How did that make you cry?"
Jessica asked. Marie confided, "I wish we hadn't stayed all night in the
park. Jessica, I 'm upset with dad and mom. I knew that you were hurt too. With
the intention of trying to make things worse on them, I decided to do this. I
didn’t want us to get in trouble, or get sent away." Jessica started
crying also, as she could see her sister was saddened by their night out. Now
both girls were worried how it would end up for them when they went back home.
"We are going home aren't we Marie?" Jessica begged her sister.
Marie didn't answer her sister's
question; instead, she continued talking. She needed to get her thoughts out.
"I thought if mom and dad divorced then we might not see each other again.
I don’t want that because I want to live with you," explained Marie.
"Well, I don’t want to be apart from you either, Marie. I wouldn’t know
what to do without you. I love you!" said Jessica. Marie, drying her cheeks
said, "I love you too, Jessica."
"I want to go back home so we can
talk this over. Let's tell mom and dad how we feel," Marie added. The girls
got up, brushed themselves off and walked home, scared but ready to face their
parents because they had never run away before and didn't know what the
consequences might be.
On the way home Jessica spotted a cute
little black puppy and squealed with delight. She ran hollering, "Puppy,
puppy here puppy." Marie chased after them both and found her little sister
walking the puppy down one of the park trails. She sweet little dog had his very
own collar and Jessica and the pup looked as if they belonged to each other.
Marie heard another voice and to her it seemed as if they were calling
"Sherman, here Sherman." Looking over towards where the trees went
deeper into the thick park area Marie and Jessica spotted the two little boys
looking for their lost puppy. The transition was quick and painless. The girls
were just glad the boys and their puppy had gotten back together.
Marie asked Jessica, "Remember how we talked yesterday on the way home from school about what we would do to start our summer vacation?" Jessica staring at her sister said, "Right." Marie continued sharing with her sister who was cheering up some, "Well, we never thought we would run away and sleep in the park, did we?" Although sad, the girls managed to smile at each other.
Jessica was the first to put her hand on the handle of the back door of their home as she was in a hurry to hug her mom. Marie felt relief as she followed her sister in. "At least they had not been beaten up by some stranger," Marie thought. "Maybe mom and dad won't be so mad," she said to Jessica and then asked her, "are you ready for this?"
By Michelle
Korgis-Fitzpatrick
© 2001-02
