Nebulous
Captivated
The night that Lila Kinney went missing was the same night that strange lights dotted the sky all over the world. Anyone anywhere was able to see them, no matter if the sun or moon was out. They were there, blinking like beacons, and then they were gone.
Lila was gone too. No one realized until the morning, and it wasn’t until a few days later that her parents actually got concerned. After all, it wasn’t all that strange for their 25-year-old daughter to disappear for a few days, off with some new boyfriend.
But then they remembered those lights, and those… those were strange.
Soon, Lila had been gone for a week. A week turned into a month, and a month turned into six months and still no sign of Lila. Most people forgot she was missing, just like most people forgot about the strange lights from above.
Eventually, the police gave up on Lila, just like the people gave up on the sky.
No one seemed to piece together the fact that many people had gone missing that same day. People disappeared every day, after all.
Six months to the day, though, the lights returned, brighter than everyone remembered.
People left their homes, schools, church to stand out on lawns, fields, roads, staring up, up, up at those lights. It didn’t matter the time of day. And just as quickly as they had come and gone the first time, they came and left in the same fashion. Gone in the blink of an eye.
And as people returned to where they had been just moments before the lights appeared, those people who had gone missing were back. Sitting in living rooms, lying in bed, at the dinner table. Back as if they had never left… but they had…they just didn’t realize they had ever been gone.
Families were too happy to care or notice. All that mattered to them was that the people they cared about were back, not where they’d been or how they got back.
Lila was back.
Lila was gone too. No one realized until the morning, and it wasn’t until a few days later that her parents actually got concerned. After all, it wasn’t all that strange for their 25-year-old daughter to disappear for a few days, off with some new boyfriend.
But then they remembered those lights, and those… those were strange.
Soon, Lila had been gone for a week. A week turned into a month, and a month turned into six months and still no sign of Lila. Most people forgot she was missing, just like most people forgot about the strange lights from above.
Eventually, the police gave up on Lila, just like the people gave up on the sky.
No one seemed to piece together the fact that many people had gone missing that same day. People disappeared every day, after all.
Six months to the day, though, the lights returned, brighter than everyone remembered.
People left their homes, schools, church to stand out on lawns, fields, roads, staring up, up, up at those lights. It didn’t matter the time of day. And just as quickly as they had come and gone the first time, they came and left in the same fashion. Gone in the blink of an eye.
And as people returned to where they had been just moments before the lights appeared, those people who had gone missing were back. Sitting in living rooms, lying in bed, at the dinner table. Back as if they had never left… but they had…they just didn’t realize they had ever been gone.
Families were too happy to care or notice. All that mattered to them was that the people they cared about were back, not where they’d been or how they got back.
Lila was back.
♠ ♠ ♠
Well, since it's November, I thought I'd post the first, very short chapter of my NaNo story! It may be a little while before I post the first chapter, though I do have it written. We'll see.Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
~Sally