A Summer to Remember

“Hey guys. I’m going to go find Sarah,” I announced as I pushed my chair back, and stood up. Mikey was still eating his subs, and it was starting to get boring watching him eat. In reality though, I couldn’t stand to be away from Sarah for this long. I understand that living with us for so long could get annoying, and she needed some space. We definitely weren’t the cleanliest people, and we have no definition of personal space.

I walked over to the trash can, and threw the remnants of my sub away. I walked outside into the blazing summer heat, and looked around. There were dozens of shops that she could be in, and I had no idea where she was. Sighing, I pulled out my phone, and sent a text to her.

“Hey. I got bored. Where are you? –Zach”

I waited a few minutes for a reply before I shoved my phone into my tight pant’s pocket. I figured she must be in one of the shops, so I strolled down the sidewalk. There weren’t too many people around. On the other side of the parking lot, I could see one man. He was by himself, and bald.

A few stores down, I saw a store that had Sarah’s name all over it. The sign said, “Marcia’s Place of Random Things.” I pushed open the door, and walked in. It was her kind of store. Clothes, stuffed animals, and candles were everywhere. I strolled over to the stuffed animals, and looked around. There were tons of dogs, and bunnies, and mice. I wanted to get her something different than the typical gifts. Boys always get girls the same few things: bears, necklaces, and chocolate. I flung a few animals around, and covered up by kittens, was a medium sized duck.

“Perfect,” I whispered to myself. I picked it up, and squished it a little bit. Sarah had this odd fascination of ducks, and I couldn’t understand it. In her room, she had dozens of rubber ducks. Every time she sees a duck, she starts screaming. I suppose that if you were going to like something, it might as well be something weird.

I looked around the store, but didn’t spot anything else. I walked over to the cash register, and set the duck down. An older lady with kind eyes walked over, and scanned the duck.

“Is this all?” she asked me. I nodded, and handed her same cash. “Have a nice day!” she told me, as she handed the bag to me.

“Thanks, you too!” I replied. I pushed open the door. Once I got outside, I pulled out my phone, and checked to see if Sarah replied yet. She hadn’t. She must be in a store or something. I decided to walk to our van, and put the duck on her seat to surprise her. I walked across the parking lot, and opened the passenger door. I pulled the duck from the bag, and carefully set it down on the seat. I balled up the bag, and chucked the bag into the back.

I slammed the door shut, and started walking over to another store. A few seconds later, I could hear what sounded like a muffled scream. ‘What the fuck was that?’ I thought to myself. Immediately, I thought of Sarah. I starting sprinting towards where I thought the scream came from.

“SARAH!” I screamed. I kept running, desperately trying to find her. It seemed like cars had appeared while I was in the store, and I couldn’t figure out where the scream came from. I frantically kept searching, screaming all the while.

A few rows away from me, I saw the bald guy I saw earlier next to a humongous van. I couldn’t make out what he was doing, but when he saw me, his face changed. He looked nervous, and quickly scrambled to finish what he was doing. Inside the van, I saw a girl laying on the floor. Her hair was mangled with blood. Despite how her face was covered in blood, I immediately knew who it was. It was Sarah.