Waiting

• Georgia Rooney Rooney, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2013

My little brother Max was only 9 years old when he went missing on the 3rd of April, 2012. My parents adopted him when he was a baby, in desperate need of two devoted parents who would willingly love him and treat him the way people deserve to be treated, away from poverty and away from harm.
Usually siblings fight, but not us, he was my best friend. Every Monday afternoon we walked to the milk bar and bought ice-creams. Max always got a Bubble-O-Bill and would guess what flavour bubble gum would be inside. On the weekends he would beg me to play Lego, admittedly, I always had fun.
He walked to school one gusty Monday morning and he never returned that afternoon. I started to worry at 4.00 because it never took him long to walk home. I was stubborn; I passively put the thought off, but after another 25 minutes of paranoia, I reminded mum and dad about the time. They were also concerned. They couldn't think of anything better to do than call the school, followed by the police, and before I knew it, there was a whole search party for him.
Cameras and flashes were booming towards me as I stepped out of the front door. News reporters and neat looking journalists were eagerly asking me intimidating and insignificant questions. It was like the whole world had enlarged to an extreme extent and forgot to bring me with it; leaving me, a small powerless speck among the rest of existence.
That was almost a year ago, a long, long year, and today something miraculous happened. Today; on 17th of March 2013, we received a phone call from the police, I was listening on the stairs while mum and dad were on loudspeaker in the kitchen. “We understand that your son Max went missing on the 3rd of April last year. We are also aware that his whereabouts has been a mystery for almost a year” I heard mum release a gentle sob. The police officer was gentle and placid “We have found Max on the corner of Leighton Road and Daisy Street. We are yet to find out where he has been, and what has happened to him. We are taking him home very soon.” The words left the three of us speechless. Soon, there would once again be the four of us; the whole family home together.
So here I am today, eagerly waiting for Max to be driven home, wondering if he will look the same, or if I will even recognize him at all. Those words were the best words I have heard since his disappearance. Whoever had taken Max away was an extremely horrible, weak person, and I am afraid to know the truth. But to me, truth is not the most important thing; it is that Max is coming home.