The Last Laugh novel Chapter 6

***

The day went on smoothly. After aunt Christina had gone outside looking for a certain Rob, she returned minutes after, looking less panicked. I wondered why.

-

We watched TV for a very long time while aunt Christina cooked. I was okay with watching only TV because the cartoons were interesting and plus, I could stay with Heather. We were secretly holding each others' hand throughout, without Sawyer or Aunt Christina seeing.

At around four PM, after we'd eaten and returned to our TV, uncle Ken to our surprise came into the house. He was with three other men who were his friends. He looked at me.

"Hey Sheridan, where's your dad?" he asked.

The question surprised me.

"M– my dad?"

"Yes."

At that moment, aunt Christina came in from the kitchen.

"Honey, you're back so soon?" she asked. He turned to her.

"Christina, where's Paul? We waited for him and when I tried to call, his phone was off."

I got confused. Everyone was.

"But daddy, he left since morning." Sawyer said.

"Yes." Heather added.

Uncle Ken frowned, confused.

"Left for where?" he asked.

"Well, to join y'all for the hunt." Aunt Christina answered.

Uncle ken looked at the other three men in confusion.

"I haven't seen Paul since after I left him this morning."

I began to feel uneasy.

"What? Are you sure?" aunt Christina asked.

"What sort of question is that? I'm telling you I haven't seen Paul."

"We didn't even see him on our way back from the woods either." one of the three men said.

My heart began to race.

"But he– he was supposed to join y'all." I stammered in a trembly voice.

Uncle Ken looked at me.

"Don't worry, Sheridan. He's not lost. You're dad's a strong man, okay? Maybe he had other plans. Let's wait till this evening."

"Okay."

I prayed silently for my dad.

***

It was 8 o'clock in the night and my dad hadn't returned yet. Uncle ken tried to call again and again. His phone was off. It soon began to rain. Heavily. I was panicked. Uncle ken still tried to console me. Telling me my dad would be forced to return because of the rain and that his phone was probably off because of a low battery. That calmed me down.