Gambling With The Heart

• Lucy Steele, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2021

Going through the memories of her life with her family, Alana Willows, a mother of 14 year old twins and a widow of her recently late husband, looked through the family photo album. She remembered each photo that she took and remembered every photo that her kids, McKenna and Jacob, would get annoyed with the many photos that she made them do.
“Suck it up” she would tell them. “These are our memories and you’ll thank me one day for capturing them.”
All she wanted now was for them to be with her. Knowing they were safe at home with her. For her husband's birthday.
True, she’s been paranoid since her husband died. But to be fair, everyone would be paranoid if their partner’s murder case was a cold case.
Every thought of possible danger rushed through her head when her kids were out later than they were supposed to be. When McKenna and Jacob didn’t come home from school one day and weren’t answering their phones, she stressed and worried and stressed some more until her better judgement made her call the school.
When the school said they left an hour ago with all the other students, this led to more worrying. Maybe they were at a friend's house. Maybe they took the long way home. Maybe - just maybe - they are safe and not in trouble. Nothing bad would happen to her kids. The chances of that happening are like a million to one. Right?
After ten missed calls going straight to voicemail, the worrying became useless because no matter how much she worried and no matter how much her thundering heart beat in her ears, it wouldn’t be helpful for her at all, not in getting her kids home.
Debating whether or not to call the police or just tell all her friends and neighbours at every house and continuously call them, to help look for them all over their usual places to hang out together. Maybe the second option was a better one for now.
Going door to door in her street, asking her friends and neighbours for their assistance, she was surprised when at the first door, they said to go home and have a cup of tea to calm herself and it was probably nothing. Maybe they thought she was overreacting and that she was jumping to conclusions. When she heard the nearly the exact same thing from the next door down, she was hearing her own heartbeat in her ears and feeling her anger rise, overpowering the stress. As she was on her way home, she noticed people down the street rushing inside with their arms full of things she couldn’t make out in the distance. She watched them trip over themselves going up the stairs. Part of her wanted to help but the other parts just wanted to have her tea to see if she could even calm her nerves, to see if it was possible at all. She went with the latter.
Forgetting the strangeness of all her friends, she went inside and had her tea, trying to calm her nerves.
After half an hour, the stress returned and she stepped outside and locked the door. She found herself met with a street party with all her friends and - her kids.
Under all the stress and slight anger, she had forgotten that the reason that she wanted them home so badly was because of her husband’s birthday that she had forgotten.
The twins threw themselves at Alina and squeezed her. They explained that they were worried about how down she had been and thought it was only right to celebrate their father’s birthday with all their friends.
So overwhelmed by all the surprise and commotion and wonder, she knew why everyone was acting strangely earlier on. The neighbours helped plan the party and the people were rushing party supplies into their homes - so she wouldn’t see them.
She was welcomed into the party and McKenna and Jacob didn’t leave her side for the rest of the night.