Chapter 4
Chapter 4
30 minutes later Eliza rushes into the house with her grandmother freaking out. "Eliza, Donnie has gone missing!" she says searching room to room franticly. "Grandma this is Donnie we are talking about he always runs out most likely after Darwin and myself and normally follows back home pretty quick he just got distracted today," she says as they start backing out of the driveway to find him. "But what if he gets lost or hurt, hypothermia?" Sophie says getting more panicky by the moment. "Grandma Sophie this is Donnie we are talking about, he can survive anything," Debbie repeats Eliza from the back of the car. "Yes he is probably running around, he does that so much and he loves snow after all," Eliza finishes for Debbie just wishing she were with Ashton Thompson.
Sometime later on the outskirts of town they are walking around looking for him. As Eliza stands near a tree she sees something that gets her attention big time, "Debbie come look at this!" she yells over her shoulder to her sister as she examines what she found. It looks like part of a shoe. "What if its Donnie's?" Eliza gasps now that reality is setting in, "But he doesn't wear shoes," Debbie says as she stands up to look elsewhere. "Lets go home girls maybe he is there," Frank says as the early sun starts to set.
After breaking the news to their parents Nigel could only imagine the worst for his son. "Nigel what if something awful happened to him?" Marianne says as evening starts settling. She is finding it incredibly difficult not to panic as she just bursts into tears. "He…he is out there all alone," she says through sobs. "What if something happens and we aren't there for him?" she says through more sobs. Nigel can only hold her close just knowing she is right, they are thousands of miles from their children and the worst is about to happen they can only pray for his safety. Later Eliza tries going to bed early hoping this is all just a horrible nightmare and might just wake from it. She finally dozes off a few hours later around 1 a.m. going into a deep sleep. Eliza quickly gets up getting dressed as she runs out into the African plains she saw every animal alive frolicking around on the plains. Just then huge clouds sweep down swooping around her just as she sees her brother Donnie in the distance being swept away. He is struggling his hardest to reach her but the gravity is keeping him from her and throws him back to the earth at lightning speeds. She wants to help him as she yells out for her family but none of them hear her as the vortex swings around her.
She then wakes up in a sweat with tears rolling down her cheeks. She looks at her phone and it is now 3 a.m. she wants to find him so badly but now it would be below 0 and just how can anyone survive that? Trying to get Darwin up she decides to go to Donnie's room hoping he may be back. She opens his door only to find an empty bed and she lets another tear fall. She is now forced to find him on her own. She finally gets out of the house and into the moonlit woods looking the best she can in the limited light. As cold as it is it's a wonder she has been able to stay out so long. I can't go any further she sobs to herself collapsing into the snow on her knees. He never runs off like this! She says trying to control her emotions. She makes it to the overlook and calls out his name but no response. She holds onto his shoe as tightly as she can listening to the icy wind blow into the trees. Trying to regain her strength she stands and suddenly hears a low growling from behind the brush. She turns around fast careful not to make a noise. "Donnie?" she whimpers hoping he is just playing a stupid game; she slowly makes her way to the sounds and she finally mustered up enough strength to look through the brush. What she sees isn't Donnie at all but 2 deer wrestling over some bush.
"What's going on?" she asks them confused. They look up at her and run as fast as they can in opposite directions, "Wait! I don't what to hurt you!" she tries calling after them but its no use as she starts to cry assuming the worst for him. What if he is dead? She says crying softly as memories flood in.
It was December 1992 and she was 6 yrs. old. It is Christmas Eve and she decided to sneak out of the house to mess around. Her parents will kill her for this but she could care less. She takes her friend Amy out down to the beach after bedtime and she pulls out her father's pocketknife from her sweats another big no-no. She has decided to carve their names in the cliff but her hand slips from the ice and hits her friend who is sitting immediately next to her. Amy died immediately from a penetration to an artery. Eliza is not about to lose her brother the same way. I have to fix this before anything bad happens to him, she says to herself trying to control her tears. "Hi Eliza no luck huh?" Ashton said as he saw her coming back home 4 hours later. "No," she says just above a whisper. "I think he is dead," she says as that memory comes back to haunt her.
He grabs a hold of her by the shoulders as she bursts into some more tears wondering when or if they will find him alive. "He isn't dead Eliza, from what you tell me he could be cozy with some animals," he says cheering her up. "I guess so," she says as she gives him a small smile of agreement. She looks into his eyes as it begins to snow around them. He leans into kiss her and for a brief second she gets lost in her own thoughts knowing everything will be ok. Just the sight of Ashton brings tears to her eyes as she remembers her brother's danger. "Ashton," she begins as they break apart " I found this," she says as she holds up part of Donnie's shoe she found the day before. "Maybe he kicked his shoe off," Ashton suggested. "But he wouldn't do that its to cold," she manages to say before going silent. He goes off to look some more as she slowly makes her way back to the house. She phones home once more to let her folks know what she has discovered.
Her father answers as she wishes that this nightmare would be over. "Hi dad," Eliza started "I found his shoe yesterday and I know he wouldn't kick it off in this cold weather," she finishes as she lies down in her bed. "Eliza sweetie he is a really tough boy and I bet he just ran into something he likes and just won't leave, he says. After they hang up he goes onto his show it is the only thing he can do to keep sane. Two days later no one has seen any sign of Donnie and hope is fading fast for his survival. Early each morning Eliza and Ashton go look over, under, high, and low for Donnie coming home with no luck. "Ashton! We are never going to find him!" she falls to the ground for the 3rd time today crying hysterically trying harder to find him but is on the losing end. Even the search and rescue teams are starting to give up.
He holds her in his sweet arms as her vision blurs even more as she can't see much in front of her. She is just so scared but feels so comforted by his presence, she hasn't known him for long but he cares so much for her and finding her little brother. "We will find him," he says in his softest tone. Eliza tilts her head to the east just slightly and sees something lying on the ground. "Donnie!" Eliza screams as she runs as fast as she can to him. He is not moving at all, once she reaches him she sees that he has been badly urt. Scrapes all over his tiny body, deep cuts and bruises on his arms and legs. He has a gash across his forehead, a head wound and is still bleeding.
It looks as if he has been mauled. Eliza screams again but this time out of fear of losing him. Ashton grabs his lifeless body and runs back as quickly as he can towards their house a mile and a half away. "Donnie!" she keeps whispering into his ear hoping he is still alive. She knows exactly what happened to him but she can't think of that now she has to get help fast.
To be continued… Sorry if this is fast paced but I kindof think it is better that way.
