Chapter 4: Locked Out

Ruthie walked downstairs for dinner after washing up. When she got to the dining room, the table was all set and the food was on the table, the only thing missing was her family. "Mom? Dad?" she exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. No parents. No Sam and David. No Lucy and Kevin. After searching the house, she decided to head on over to Lucy and Kevin's house to see if they were home and if they knew where their parents were.

After she got to the front door and rang the doorbell, she waited impatiently. No answer. She banged on it harder, but still there was no answer. She sighed as she headed back to her house and tried to get in. "What the hell?" she said to herself, as the door wouldn't open. "How could it be locked, when I didn't even lock it behind me?" she asked herself. She rang the doorbell a couple times, which really felt like a hundred, and waited. Then banged, but nobody seemed to be answering the door.

She sighed, as she realized, if she couldn't drive, and she didn't have a phone, she would have to walk to Martin's house. Hopefully, he wasn't home and she could borrow the extra key from his dad without even colliding with him. When she got to his house a few blocks down the road, she walked up to the front door and took a few deep breaths, before making her hand knock on it.

A few moments later, the door opened and Ruthie let out a sigh of relief. It was Martin's dad.

"Ruthie? What are you doing here?" he asked curiously, opening the door to let her in.

"Well, somehow I got locked out of my house, and no one seems to be letting me in. I was wondering if I could use that extra key my parents gave you?"

"Uhh, yeah sure. I think I put it in the kitchen." he said as he closed the door behind her and led the way into the kitchen, "Where are your parents?"

"I don't know, when I came downstairs for dinner, the table was all set, the food was done, but they weren't there. And then I went over to Lucy and Kevin's house to see if they were home, but they weren't there either." she explained, "and then when I came back to my house, the door was locked."

"That seems strangely odd." he said as he searched through a drawer, "oh shoot. I don't seem to remember where to find it. If you can just wait down in the living room while I go up to my room and search for it, that'd be great. You can turn on the TV and watch whatever you like, or make yourself something."

"Okay, thanks." she said as she headed into the living room and flopped down on the couch, making herself comfortable, before reaching for the selector and turning on the TV.

A few minutes later, she heard the door fling open and then slam closed. She prayed it wasn't Martin, but obviously God wasn't listening to her at that time. Martin came bursting into the living room, stopping in his tracks when he saw her laying down on the couch.

"Ruthie." he said, surprised, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm locked out of my house." she answered quickly, not really wanting to talk to him at this point.

"Oh well, then what are you doing here?"

"You're dad has the extra key, and he's upstairs looking for it."

"Okay, well, since you obviously don't want to talk to me, I'll leave, and come back later." he said, getting the hint that she didn't want to talk to him.

"Well I don't want to kick you out of your own house. You can stay. Just don't talk to me." Ruthie said as she sat up and made room for him on the couch beside her. He nodded and walked over to her, sitting down.

For the next few minutes, they sat on the couch, as far away from each other as they could get, watching cartoons, in silence.