The rhythmic motion of the bus was making Emma doze off. That and the warm sun shining in through the window of the clear afternoon almost had her purring in content. She was reminiscing of the recent memories made at summer camp, her first time attending camp ever. All the hikes, swimming in the lake, canoeing, making friends, and activities the councillors had planned for the children, she could safely say it was the best experience she had in her life so far. The trees that were passing by as she looked out the window had thinned from the thick wooded area that she had originated from earlier in the morning, to sparsely wooded where buildings and houses made a more frequent appearance.
"We will be arriving at the next stop within five minutes. If it's yours, make sure you have all your gear and we hope to see you next summer!" bellowed one of the camp councillors from the front of the bus jarring Emma from her stupor.
Who knew looking out the window could be so hypnotic? She gave herself a mental shake and took a glance around to see who was left on the bus. There were roughly eleven kids left but Emma did not recognize any of them from her cabin or from within her camp age group. The majority of the children that were left over were younger than her, belonging in the eight to eleven age group whereas Emma, being twelve, was in the twelve to fourteen group. The last of her friends to leave was Jackie and that was two stops back in a different town. Emma looked at the seat beside her and began to collect her things she had taken out to entertain herself before she was hypnotized by the movement outside the bus. As she picked up her copy of The Giver, an unfinished bracelet fell from between the pages and onto the seat.
Emma picked it up and looked at it sadly. It was a friendship bracelet that one of the girls from her cabin, Jackie, had started to make for her. Jackie was one of the very good friends Emma had made that summer and she would dearly miss her when she returned home and start going to school. Emma felt like Jackie was the first person she could call a friend in all her life. She and Emma had practically all the same interests, were both quiet by nature, and could talk to each other about anything and everything for hours on end, much to the displeasure of the other girls in their cabin. But the preceding days before the last day of camp, Jackie had started to become more distant and began to hang out with other girls in the neighbouring cabin. Emma did not think much of it until the last day as she and Jackie had made plans to spend the last day together making friendship bracelets for the other to wear. Emma has worked hard on hers, making an intricate pattern of blue and green with golden beads spaced out intermittently. Jackie on the other hand had been distracted the whole time and had to be constantly reminded by Emma to stay on task. By the end of the friendship bracelet making time, Jackie had barely managed to complete half the bracelet and it showed in the quality of it that she did not put any effort into making it. Emma didn't say much but still happily accepted the bracelet when they exchanged them. Despite being half-finished and of poor quality, it was one of the best gifts that Emma had received in her whole life.
As they had exited the craft building, Jackie spoke up, "I'm going to go to the dance instead of stargazing."
Emma looked up from awing over her bracelet in surprise, "But we always go stargazing and it's the last night. I thought you said we would spend the whole day together."
Jackie sighed exasperatedly, "Stargazing is stupid and boring. Only losers like it and would choose to do it. I know I said we would spend the whole day together but I didn't think you actually meant it. Gosh, clingy much?"
Emma looked down, ashamed and blushing, before she muttered an okay and looked at Jackie as she walked off. She then looked down at her bracelet and looked at it with sadness instead. You're such an idiot! Why were you so happy over a half-finished, horrible looking bracelet? She's just like everyone else. She doesn't care, she doesn't like you and she never will. Why did you think she could be any different? Emma berated herself as she walked up the hiking path that would take her to the ridge, the best place to see the stars. Only losers like it and would actually choose to do it. Jackie's voice echoed in her head. She stopped in the middle of the path with her cheeks burning in embarrassment as a wave of shame passed over her. She turned and walked back to the cabin, staying burrowed in her bunk until the rays of the morning sun of the next morning shone through the windows.
She was jolted from her memory as the bus came to an abrupt stop. She glanced out the window and saw that they had arrived at her stop. She quickly tossed the book and the bracelet into her bag, unable to part with it no matter how horrible it was. She got up and raced down the aisle until she reached the end where she said a quick thank you to the bus driver and hopped down the stairs to the pavement of the parking lot. She went to the camp councillor that was offloading the bags and waited for hers. She spotted the camouflage green duffel bag and darted between the parents and other campers that were waiting for their bags. She thanked the camp councillor and walked over to the curb of the community centre where she promptly sat down and began to wait for her foster parents to pick her up.
Emma watched the campers and their families with envy and curiosity, as mothers and fathers embraced children, smothering them with kisses and asking how their summer was with such interest. She watched the campers explain to their families what they did during the summer excitedly as they lugged their luggage back to their vehicles. The reunions were all filled with such happiness and laughter and had Emma longing to experience an interaction with that level of familiarity and genuine happiness of their return. Emma believed she could experience that with the current family she was with, the Jones, as she had been with them for a little over a year and things were going great. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were kind, fair and loving individuals and with them, Emma felt loved for the first time in a long time. Emma thought they were perfect, with an exception of their son, Killian. Killian and Emma were the same age and she didn't have a problem with him most of the time. However, there were some occasions in which Emma found him to be incorrigible and they had their rifts. Regardless of the minor disagreements they had from time to time, Emma started to consider Killian as a brother and the two grew closer together, becoming very good friends.
As the amount of campers and families diminished, Emma glanced at her watch. It showed that half an hour had passed. The bus had left for the next stop fifteen minutes ago and there were only one or two campers still waiting for their parents to pick them up. She sighed and turned her attention to the big blue clear sky, drowning in the beauty of its simplicity. The next time she checked the time an hour had passed and she was the only one left. Emma wasn't too worried and figured that they were just running a bit late and would be there soon. She resumed looking back up at the big blue sky and began to doze off in the warm sun and gentle breeze.
Three hours had pasted and there was no sight of the Jones. Emma perked up every time she heard a car approach the parking lot but was always tricked as the car wouldn't turn into the parking lot. I think I'll just walk home them. It's not too far. They probably forgot what day I was coming back. She stood up and slung her duffel bag over her shoulder, walking towards her home. Normally, the drive from the community centre only took 15 minutes but since Emma was walking, it would take much longer. Emma wasn't too bothered by this as she enjoyed taking walks in her free time and really appreciated the beautiful weather of the day.
An hour had elapsed by the time Emma turned onto the street that the Jones' house was on. As she walked down the street, getting closer to the house, Emma began to have an ominous feeling when she noticed that neither of the Jones' cars were in the driveway. When Emma reached the bottom of the driveway she did a double take to make sure it was the same house she had been living in for over a year. In the late evening sun, the modest two story home was picturesque with the two car garage, big tree in the yard and a white picket fence. However, no matter how beautiful the home was, there was no disputing the fact that the house was devoid of inhabitants. It was empty.
Emma stood at the bottom of the driveway in disbelief. She walked slowly up the driveway, dropping her duffel bag once she reached the steps to the porch. She walked into the flowerbed that Mrs. Jones tended to religiously. When she peered into the window, her suspicions were correct. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were empty from her vantage point outside the window. Emma stumbled back out of the flowerbed and made her way to the porch in a dazed state. She dropped down onto the porch in shock. She stared at her hands, confused and shocked at the recent turn of events. This is not what she was expecting to return to when she came back from camp.
What's going on? Why is no one home? Did they go on vacation or something and forgot about me? Yeah, maybe they went on vacation and just forgot what day I was coming back from camp. Emma nodded her head, believing and hoping that to be the reason why no one was home. Don't kid yourself Emma! The house is empty, it can only mean one thing. They're gone! They left you behind. They didn't want you anymore. Emma shook her head frantically and grabbed her hair with both hands on either side of her head. No! NO! NO! I don't believe that! The Jones were nice and they told me that if I was well behaved, I would get to stay AND they would send me to camp. They wouldn't leave me here! They wouldn't leave me behind. They said I was family before I left for camp. They wouldn't abandon me. Not after all I've told them. Not again. Please not again. Emma's eyes began to water. She had no idea what to think or do. She had confided in Mrs. Jones of her past experiences in the foster care system after almost being in their home for a year. She couldn't believe that they would do something as cruel as this when they were aware of her past and her fears. But the shadow of doubt lingered and Emma didn't want to believe that they would abandon her like so many others had done already.
She squeezed her eyes hard together, not allowing her tears to fall. The gentle breeze caressing Emma's skin did nothing to calm her down like it usually would. Emma opened her eyes and looked up to the sky, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down and figure out what to do next. She saw a flutter of white out of her periphery and turned her attention towards it. Something was caught underneath a large stone not far from her on the porch. She scooted over to it and upon closer inspection she discovered it was a piece of folded paper. She moved the stone and retrieved the piece of paper. She opened it, immediately recognized Mrs. Jones' writing in what appeared to be a letter. It wasn't addressed to anyone but Emma had a strong feeling that it was meant for her. As she read the first lines of the letter, she let the tears she tried so hard to hold back fall.
They were gone.