String colour guide:
Red-Romantic and/or Sexual love
Orange-Connects parents to their children, both by blood and adoptive
Blue-Connects siblings, both by blood and adoptive
For many years Mary had known the person at the other end of her (rather appropriately coloured) red string. They'd gotten along well, married, and had ended up with three children. Sure, they both had busy jobs that limited their time together, but the string was always there, a constant reassurance that the other was okay. There were other strings of course, with different colours and meanings, such as the three orange ones that connected to her children, or the blue one that led to her sister, but the red one was special. Well, at least the media constantly highlighted how important the red string was. Mary held all the strings in importance, and made sure Shuuichi, Shuukichi, and Masumi didn't focus on it too much, or too young. Even so, it was always a horrible shock when a string disappeared.
"Mama, where's Papa's string?" Mary looked up from her book to see her youngest staring down at her tiny hand in confusion. Cold dread coiling in her stomach, the blonde looked down at her ring finger only to find that the familiar red string had disappeared, leaving a terrible feeling of emptiness where it had once been tied. There was a moment of weighted silence, broken by Masumi as she continued to look for her own missing orange thread. "Mama, is Papa okay? He said he was bringing a surprise home..." Before she could find a way to explain to the little three year old what was happening, Shuukichi popped his head into the room with a look of worry in his eyes.
"I tried calling his phone, but he's not picking up. I'll try calling his workplace, but..." It was clear that the high schooler knew how pointless the effort was, but Mary made no effort to stop him from dialling the number as she finally stood to comfort the now scared Masumi.
"I'm sorry, but he's not coming home." Her words, choked with sudden grief as she tried to explain, only served to send Masumi into tears. Meanwhile, Shuukichi, apparently having finished his call, entered the tatami room to deliver the news.
"No word. They don't know what happened, but they're going to check and call back." His words, weighted with his own grief, seemed to be the final straw as Mary hugged the now sobbing Masumi in a wordless attempt at comfort. A moment later Shuukichi joined them on the floor, equally wordless as the situation sunk in for the family. There would be confirmation of death from the workplace later, but the missing threads was really all the confirmation needed.
