The sun rose upon the valleys and the birds were singing wonderfully by the trees. It was indeed a great day for the kharah family. Elaine's mother woke up, bathed and went to wake Elaine up who was deep in sleep. Elaine woke up and went to open the curtains with great ecstasy. She went to the bathroom and took a bath. She enjoyed singing with the birds. She felt exhilarated today because her father was starting on this new job. She then went downstairs and found her mother preparing breakfast. She cooked everything that was in the cardboards just to prepare her husband a wonderful send off. Everyone had this list of everything they wished to have. After breakfast they all accompanied Elaine's father to the bus station. They had spent their last cents on him so he could go to this dream job. They all cried out when he first set his foot on the train. They just couldn't believe that he had found a job after searching for so many years and that they could now live better. They all waved goodbye to one and only son, husband and father of the house. That day for the first time Elaine had to ride a taxi to school. She arrived at school in no time and that was when her happiness faded. She went straight to her class and sat by her corner just like she always did everyday, feeling long in the tooth. She sadly looked at Matilda's desk who she thought was gone to meet one's maker. The thought of her filled her with sadness. She kept thinking she would enter by the door. But time passed and the school bell rang and Matilda still hadn't arrived yet. She flared up when she looked up at the door thinking it was her entering but only to find that it was Mrs Smith. Mrs Smith greeted her learners and took no notice that Matilda was not in school. She asked whether everyone was ready to present their speech and from then we saw a little hand rising up. Mrs Smith pointed to Elaine. A soft voice was heard "I don't have a group mam for the assignment", she said shyly. Mrs Smith answered disappointedly "And why didn't you say yesterday?". She then told her to join Alice's group. She stood up and went to them so excited and greeted them. They all replied except for Alexis, she was busy with her cellphone. "Earth to Alexis", shouted Alice. It was then Alexis answered but rudely so. Mrs Heinz then gave each group topics and called each group to come forward and to perform because there was no more time anymore. Each group came forward and from the third group it was when she noticed that Matilda was not at school. She then asked the whole class where she was and the whole class grew quiet. Then we only heard Alexis murmuring to Elaine "Weren't you with her yesterday, your new friend, you do deserve each other, you're the same", she said busy typing on her cellphone. Elaine just turned a blind on Alexis and continued to discuss her ideas with the others. Suzette, Alice and Alexa felt amenembled to her idea. Alexis was only busy with her cellphone, she seemed to have been gloating about it being new and it was the latest iphone 14. She knew no one had it in class, she was the only one who owned it. For she always referred to herself as not being every tom, dick and harry. Then it was time for Elaine's group to come forward and to present their speeches. Their speeches were scintillating and were done amicably. The whole class including Mrs Smith were impressed. Elaine was busy looking at her classmates clapping their hands when happened to see Matilda clapping at her desk with the rest of the class. Her smile faded a bit and she felt dizzy for a moment. Suzette noticed her and asked "Is there something amiss", she asked. "Everything just fine, yeah just fine, nothings wrong", answered Elaine in a lowered voice. They then went back to their seats and Elaine almost fell while walking to it. Whereas Suzette couldn't stop looking at her. There were a few minutes left for the period to end after they had sat down and the school bell just rang, and the students went for lunch break. Elaine decided not to go for lunch break today, she decided to stay in class. She just sat alone thinking about what happened earlier, did she really see Matilda. She even went to her desk and double checked for her. Suzette on the other hand just couldn't hold herself, she kept looking at her as she looked lost in Matilda's desk. She then called for Alice but Alice was just caught up with the conversations they were having with the others, she asked her what was Elaine doing in Matilda's desk butas I've said Alice answered the opposite saying she missed her friend. She just told she was overreacting but Suzette could see the worry in Elaine's face. Alice just turned away from Suzette and continued to chat with the rest of the crew. So Suzette couldn't help herself but decided to go to Elaine and ask her herself. Before Suzette could have said anything to Elaine the school bell rang and soon the class was overcrowded and with so much noise. She could no longer talk to her. She just dawdled back to her seat. The fifth period was for music class and nothing much happened. They then went to the next period. So today the science teacher was present in school. Mr van der Vlugt entered the class and obviously he didn't greet them like he always did. He just told them they were going to perform an experiment but as individuals. The experiment was about ice melting. He simply gave them the apparatus and read them instructions. He then told them to start performing the experiment. Elaine simply started to do the experiment following the instructions given. She did the first method and placed the tripod stand together with the bunsen burner. She then tried to pour the ice cubes onto the glass beaker but they kept falling. She was busy picking them up when she felt a hand touch hers, she looked up it was Matilda. She was picking up the ice cubes too. She completely freaked out and quickly snatched her hand away from Matilda, and screamed. Mr Van der Vlugt notices that and goes to her. He asked her what was wrong, what had gotten her so frightened. Elaine couldn't answer, it was like something had caught her tongue. She just hesitated and pointed to Matilda who stood there glaring at her. Mr Van der Vlugt couldn't see what she was pointing at, he only saw the walls of the class. The whole class just got into stitches except for Suzette and Alice who were both confused. In the midst Matilda just dissipated in front of her. This made Elaine to be more frightened and to run out of class. She just couldn't believe it, was it really her for she had felt the touch of her hand and really disappeared in front of her. She was completely lost. Suzette just couldn't help herself; she decided to run after her but Mr Van der Vlugt sat her down. She sadly dawdled back to her seat. "Has anyone noticed or is it me who's noticing that Suzette is starting to care more about Elaine?"asked Alexis, holding her chicks. The bell rang after school and Elaine went back to class. She took her bag and off she left before someone could have asked her anything. Suzette saw her leaving and decided to follow her while Alice was busy calling for her. Alice kept calling for her until she also decided to follow her. Elaine first went to Matilda's place and got told that there was no one there, they told her that they last saw Matilda when she took her horse and left. She also asked where Matilda's parents were but she was told she had no parents, her parents were six feets under so Matilda stayed alone. Elaine couldn't believe what she just heard so she decided to leave for the forest. Suzette and Alice were also shocked by what they had just heard so they both too followed Elaine to the forest. Alexa and Alexis were both furious at Suzette and Alice for not walking with them. On the road Elaine had this thought that perhaps she would find Matilda where she left her, that yesterday was just a coincidence. Of course she arrived at the forest but still there was no Matilda there. She then continued with her wild goose chase but she got stuck on a hole while she was still on it and fell. Slyly Suzette and Alice found themselves a perfect place to hide whereas seeing everything. Elaine was about to get up when she saw Matilda's bracelet laying from the grass. She quickly snatched it out of the grass. To her surprise, it was covered in blood. Elaine felt anguished and for that stood up and looked for more clues, thinking that maybe she would find her body. She got rooted to the same spot when she saw more blood from the ground. She slowly sat down and cried herself out. For she was crying shame. Suzette and Alice also watered when they saw Elaine holding the bracelet covered in blood. They felt downcasted, bereaved and sad nor were they friends with Matilda but still she was their classmate. And went to meet the maker. She just decided to kick the bucket. Elaine kept crying and had kneeled down onto the blood carpet. She couldn't believe it, what she feared the most was actually true. She kept digging and digging for more blood hoping she would find her friends' remains. She was completely haywired and seeing the blood on the ground just made her go into an orbit. He heart mind and soul filled with words;
I had been lonely for sometime
It's been so cold and so dark
That I have been in a tunnel
My life as dull as a dishwasher
Happiness was just scarce as a hen's teeth
It was a ghost of a chance
But then I met you Matilda, I remember
I was sitting alone in class and you came to me
For the first time in my life I had a friend
For after every tunnel there's light
for that little moment I spent with you, I felt alive
I somehow felt the earth slipping through my feet
When I was with you
But nevertheless it was never promised to be forever
I thought I had found a friend, a lifelong friend
Oh, how fickle this life we live in
Elaine living in a fool's paradise
It never occured to me that the sea
will one day betray the ocean
I always thought that glory was always in winning
But that day it was meaningless
I didn't notice that the was a devil in details
as we went to the forest
You gave me hope and after disappeared on me
But can I blame you
No one knew it would turn out that way
My heart just wanna convey this to you
for life has become meaningless again
I may be forlorn, melancholy, sad,
miserable, sorry, upset and wretched
now that you are gone
But this emotions will just express how I feel
but will never bring you back
And that's just a bitter pill I have to swallow
And so being the gospel truth
But in due course will shall meet
My grandfather always told me;
Life is a race
It either you win or lose
Tomorrow is never promised to anyone
No one knows what tomorrow holds
But you should race with it
And should expect obstacles along the way
Bad or good, they are opportunities to learn
Oh, how have I believed in this solace of change
Maybe you were just a poignant in my life
you were just there to cause sadness and pitiness
I guess life is always unpredictable
Bid adieu to you, Matilda
For every goodbye is a new scar to me.
She then screamed "No" so loud that she could have woken the dead. She then stood up ready to leave but before she left, she wiped her tears and took the bracelet, placed it in her pockets and after she left. It was her still walking when she heard voices of people crying. She followed them and while on the way she saw Suzette's school bag. She went straight to It but when she got there, she found two of them. This alarmed her, she was not alone all along. She took the two bags and continued to follow those voices. And from there behind a bush Suzette and Alice sat crying. They both looked at her as they saw her shadow looming over. She tried to explain but shushed her. Telling her they had seen everything but they needed to know what really happened to Matilda. Elaine was about to explain when suddenly the moon broke again through the cloud cover and shone again with lightning striking onto the ground and the dust rising with great force and abundance. It again became misty. Again within the moon a glare appeared, this time shining over the Boomslang tree, with it causing the three girls not to see anything but brightness. This time it was very massive and strong. In the midst the storm formed again, causing the lake's water to rise into the sky. Causing strong wind circles. Massively onto the sky there was a revolution of water, wind and the glare appeared at the center. The sound of the wind sounded a bit too scary and the look of the tides of the water were pretty too much, causing the ground to shake. While this was happening, a spaceship appeared from the sky and it directly positioned itself onto the Boomslang tree. And from that spaceship something came falling from it. That something was about to reach the ground and once again the water made a big bubble in the sky and wind creating a tornado and the moon getting smaller and smaller with the glare shunning less lightly so three girls could see everything. Whereas the glare remained positioned onto the Boomslang tree from the center of everything. Then something finally landed into the ground, landing with a huge sound and making the ground shake. And from then everything just vanished from the sky. Everything went back to normal like nothing ever happened. Suzette, Elaine and Alicebwere quaking in their boots after this such occurrence. They got rooted to the same spot for almost a minute or more as they watched something that fell from the spaceship at bay not knowing what to do. One after the other, they shoved another to go and look at something. They then decided to walk altogether to the tree. When they got there, they found a puppet. They stood there glaring at it and nervously Alice tried to pick it up when it opened its eyes. They all ran away scared leaving their shadows and school bags behind. They were now near Mrs Barker house when Alice stopped running and told them to go back to the forest. Elaine and Suzette weren't so sure whether to go back or not and were very concerned about why the puppet would be sent to them. Alice was very meticulous about this, so she kept insisting that they went back. "I hadn't realized the enormity of Matilda's death", said Ealine, taking a deep breath. Suzette then asked what she was talking about. Elaine just sat them down and decided to tell them the whole story of what happened at the forest that day. After the sob story was told, Alice couldn't believe how a person can disappear to nowhere then later her bracelet gets covered with blood and her horse also disappears from the middle of nowhere. She said "This is a coincidence and it's just convoluted". Suzette just couldn't connect her thought to the fact that Matilda disappeared and later appears a puppet and what was happening onto the sky, and where would such a spaceship like that come from. She also thought Matilda was taken by that spaceship, somehow by aliens. They then decided to text their parents telling them they were having afternoon classes and shall come back late from school. They then went back to the forest where they left the puppet. When they got there they found the puppet now sitting on top of a tree, just taking a nap whilst enjoying the shade and the breeze which was kind of strange. They now took good observation of it. Elaine somehow saw that it resembled Matilda. It was thin with a round face, black long, tapered ears and big blue eyes. They then decided to take it with them. But before they could take it, a letter came falling from it. Elaine picked it up and read as follows;
Dear Elaine, Suzette and Alice
I know I've caused deception and bewilderment. Pitched a curve onto your lives. Somehow you ended up at seas, at sixes and sevens. Feeling the need for an explanation of what is happening. My disappearance caused you to believe things ain't true. At this juncture believing that I am somewhat dead which has left you with great sorrow, bereft and tumultuous. You have cried yourselves out for almost nothing. For you to feel bereaved is such a distant dream you had to endure. Having and asking yourselves so many conundrums and so on. In some of you I had only become an apple of an eye. Maybe my disappearance was just smoke and mirrors to hide the real truth. I know I am now talking in circles but also acknowledge that you've gone through the mill for me... So that is why I decided to write this letter to enlighten you. To find answers you seek for: first you have to find my bracelet. Once you have it, take it and separate it into three with a special spell but with the help of that puppet. Yes, the puppet may come in handy and be useful too. Then the puppet shall explain everything to what happened that day and what led to that. For I am the puppet myself. Please know that I am not dead.
It's me, Matilda
"I guess we do have to take the puppet with us", said Suzette looking at them. They all looked at one another. They were so scared to touch it, they still lost how can it be Matilda. Elaine reached out her hand and slowly took it. She placed it in her school bag. She then closes it slowly looking at it but it was just a sleeping doll. They then left. Suzette somehow stopped along the way. She asked lost "So where are we going to keep it". "In my tree house at home, I guess", answered Alice. They then walked to her place and kept it there. Alice promised to look after it. It was already late, they just exchanged contacts and Suzette and Elaine left for their homes. When Eliane arrived home, she found her mother trying to call her father again and she also tried but it went straight to voicemail. They thought he was busy with work, you know how first days at work are like. Elaine quickly went bath and after settling for dinner with her mother and grandfather. After they were done eating, they went to sleep. Suzette and Alice found thirty missed calls from both Alexa and Alexis but they didn't bother to call them back. It was already 21:00 pm when both Elaine and Alice received a text that they shouldn't go to school. Elaine and Alice replied "why" to the text. Suzette then told them that they should find answers of what really happened to Matilda that day in the forest. Both Elaine and Alice agreed to do so but how were they going to do it. Suzette told them that: We simply wear uniforms, pretend to go to school but before we reach Mrs Barker house we will go to this ramshackle home to hide until all children are gone. But by that time I guess Alice's parents will long be gone for work. Then we will leave the ramshackled house and use the path from the forest to walk to Alice's home. And we shall go to the puppet and find answers. Alice then asked what would happen to the twins because they were noisy, they would probably call them so they could walk to school. Suzette told her that they will both send them texts claiming to be sick or something and also to Mrs Smith. They then agreed to do so.