Silence Tells the Cruelest of Lies

Jimmy had made up his mind. Today was the day he would go after Calyx. He felt awful that he'd let her disappear for three years, and felt as though he'd given up on her. Jimmy knew that finding his lost love would be a daunting task, but it would all be worth it when he held Calyx in his arms again. Not to mention that Ryder needed his mother in his life very much. If Jimmy found Calyx, they could all be a family.

"Vwoom!" Ryder said, looping a plastic airplane over his head. The little boy's gray eyes sparkled when he was at play, and it reminded Jimmy of Calyx, as everything seemed to. "Daddy, watch out! The airoplane will get you!"

Jimmy smiled at his son, but took the plane from his small hands. Ryder pouted his bottom lip. "Daddy doesn't have time to play, Ryder," he said to his son in an attempt to ward off his impending tears. "Me and you are going to find Mommy." Jimmy knew that it was dangerous bringing the three-year-old along on this mission, but who could he possibly leave him with?

"Mommy?" Ryder repeated. He smacked his lips together as if he were testing the syllable on his tongue. He looked up at his father. "I don't have a Mommy."

"Yes, you do," Jimmy contradicted. "But she disappeared when you were very little, so you don't remember her."

"She disappear because she doesn't love me?" the child asked. 

Jimmy's eyes widened, and his heart fell at his son's tone of voice. He knelt down in front of Ryder and took his small hand. "Ryder, your Mommy loved you very much, I promise. She didn't want to go away, someone mean made her go. But you and Daddy are going to find her and bring her back."

Under the cloak of darkness, Jimmy and Ryder stole away. Jimmy decided it would be best if they left during the night, because doing so during the day would arose questions from the neighbors. It was imperative that they find the Realm of Monsters as soon as possible, but Jimmy did not know where to start looking. 

It was nearly dawn by the time Jimmy and Ryder stood at the forest's edge. Ryder was clutching tightly to his father's hand, and through this contact Jimmy could feel that his son was shaking. Jimmy was wary of bringing Ryder into the forest. What if something happened to him? Jimmy would never forgive himself.

"Scawy twees," Ryder breathed, holding tight to his father's leg. "Daddy, I don't wanna go in dere."

"We have to, little buddy," Jimmy said to his shaking son. He felt awful that Ryder was so scared, and that it was mostly his fault. He picked Ryder up and placed him against his hips, and immediately the child buried his small face into his father's shoulder.

"Please don't make me go in dere, Daddy," Ryder pleaded.

"You want to find your Mommy, don't you?" Jimmy asked Ryder. The child nodded timidly. "Then we have to go in there. The entrance to the place where the mean person took Mommy is probably in here."

This Jimmy was counting on.