Waiting

It could have been the perfect summer day. The hot July sun warmed the water in the backyard pool just enough to be comfortable and refreshing. The laughter of the five little girls echoed against the splashing water as they chased each other in a classic game of Marco Polo. The game distracted them enough that they failed to notice the dipping sun nearing the horizon. Their fingers and toes had long ago turned wrinkly like raisins, but none wondered why they had been left to play so long today.

They could not see the worried pacing occurring inside the house.

The mother of three of the girls looked out the kitchen window and verified all five girls were still there and still safe. Then she looked up at the clock on the wall. The position of the hands made her stomach clench uncomfortably and she crossed the house to the front window to check the driveway across the street. But just as it had been five minutes ago when she had last checked, it was empty.

No sign of the blue sedan that should have returned hours ago.

Sighing, she turned back and crossed to the kitchen window. Five little girls, still there, still splashing and laughing, completely unaware that something must be terribly wrong.

How much longer should I wait? Before I do what? What am I going to do?

She looked at the phone hanging on the kitchen wall. She wanted to call someone, but who?

With no better solution, she turned and walked back to the front window and again sighed in frustration at the sight of the empty driveway across the street. She wished she had gotten more information when Helen had asked her to watch the girls.

"Thanks for this, Carla. Just a quick doctor's appointment. I should be back around noon."

It was nearly four. Carla had no idea what doctor Helen had gone to, no way of checking on her. She looked at the mustard yellow phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. She wished she could call Roger, but she didn't have his work number and could not remember the name of the place he worked.

Maybe I should call Melody next door. She might know. Or maybe I should just wait for Roger to come home.

Carla crossed the floor again and this time slid open the glass door to the deck. She stepped out and leaned against the wooden railing, ignoring the roughness of the weathered and worn beam against her arms. She looked down on the pool below where the water spilled over the tall, blue plastic sides, onto the waiting sun-browned grass surrounding it.

The girls had lined up on the lawn at the base of the little metal ladder and took turns leaping from the top, curling into a tight ball, and plunging into the water. The bigger the splash, the more the girls squealed in delight. Seeing the joy in Ava and Angie's eyes made Carla's water with pity.

She raised her gaze beyond the backyard fence and the overgrown trees in the abandoned lot on the other side to scan the cars streaming down the road toward their little street, just hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of a familiar blue sedan.

The sharp sound of the phone’s ring cut through the warm summer air and sent Carla's heart into her throat where it throbbed uncomfortably. Instantly, she knew whoever was on the other line would change the lives of Ava and Angie forever. The phone rang a second time, summoning her to return to the kitchen. Swallowing hard in a futile attempt to return her pounding heart to its place in her chest, Carla lifted the handset.

"Hello?"

.......