Until Tomorrow

Eight months later.

Kelly stared at the pay phone, her stomach churning with nervousness. She’d hitched her way back to Sydney, but didn’t have the will to just walk on through the doors of her house. What would her family say? She’d seen the posters. She was officially on the missing person’s list. It had been just over a year since she’d left. Her family had probably given up on her. She might as well have been dead to them.

She gripped the phone receiver tighter and slipped the coins in, before dialing the familiar number and biting on her bottom lip as it started to ring. She always bit down on her bottom lip when she was nervous. As the phone continued to ring, Kelly started to believe that no one would ever pick up. No one would ever care. She’d been forgotten - left behind for someone else to pick up the pieces.

But then.

“Hello?”

Kelly’s breath caught in her throat as she gasped, suddenly overcome with a paralyzing feeling that started in her gut and traveled to every other part of her body.

“Hello? Is anybody there?”

“Becca,” Kelly said slowly, “It’s me.”

“Kelly?”

“You still remember your lil’ sis?” Kelly wiped the tears away from the corners of her eyes and swallowed, tightening her grip on the phone.

“Where are you? How are you? Are you okay? Where did you go? Why did you go? Do you even know what you did to us? How could you just - ”

“Becca,” Kelly cut her off.

“Yeah?”

“I’m comin’ home.”