Paper Cranes

Three hours later, Jack pulled into the neighborhood where his sister resided. Traffic had been more hectic than he'd anticipated. The area was rougher than he'd have liked. Older homes left in various states of disrepair lined the street, surrounded by rusted chain l**k fences. Graffiti tags littered the various buildings, cars sat on bricks along the edges of the streets, and a strange silence hung in the air. Finally, he reached the two-story faded pink home of his sister. He pulled into the empty drive and turned off the car.

  After taking a moment to stay himself he lifetime the solitude of his car and made his way to the front door. A petite young woman answered the door. She pushed her glasses up onto her nose, halfway positioned behind the door. "Y-yes?" She stammered nervously. He attempted a smile to ease her nerves and introduced himself. "I'm Jack, Catherine's brother." Her face fell as she opened the door enough for him to slip inside. "I'm Tay" she announced as she closed and locked the door. She turned to face him and shoved her hands into her overall pockets. Tay's purple curls were pulled up into a pony tail on the top of her head, her purple and pink top complemented the pink overalls. 

" I can show you to her room if you'd like" she said meekly. Tay felt nervous dealing with people in general but especially so with the current situation. She led Jack up the creaky dark stained wooden stairs, and pointed to the first door on the left. The peeling white door was closed, and the handmade sign read "Cate". Tay took a step back towards the stairs " I'll be down in the kitchen if you need anything. I'm putting on a pot of coffee, if you're interested." Jack nodded "Sounds great, thanks" he cautiously turned the knob and went inside.

Catherine's room was small, and smelled of incense. There was a small door to the left of the room, which he assumed was a closet. Her day bed was positioned underneath the huge window along the wall across from him. Paper cranes were hung around the room, and stacks of magazines littered the floor. He gave a half hearted chuckle at the sight of the cranes. He'd taught her how to fold them when they were kids, and she'd been obsessed ever since. He sat down on the dye of her bed, and picked up one of the magazines.

It was one of her fashion design magazines. She'd poured over them nightly,growing up. Catherine had been so enamored with the glamour and designs, that she'd gone off to University to study fashion design herself. One day she would be one of the greats. One day, Jack thought to himself. But where had she gone? What had happened to her? All he knew for certain, is that he was not going to give up on her. They'd already lost their parents and he'd be damned if he lost her, too.