Short Story: "Missing" (Part Two)

Missing

Chapter Five

After a quick squawk of surprise out of Dewey, the socks soundlessly slipped off of the bookshelf and onto the floor. They snaked their way across the room towards his bed until they disappeared beneath it.

Joey couldn't believe his luck! Not only had he found the missing socks and keys, he also could follow Charlie and Dewey back to their hideout. What news he would have to report to Sergeant M.O.M.!

He quickly peeked over the edge of the bed and saw the socks rolling themselves into a tight ball against the wall. Dewey was having some trouble getting into a tight ball and he had to bite back tears because he was so scared about what was going to happen. Charlie kept whispering, "Just stay in as tight of a ball as you can and hold on. Everything will be fine, kid, just calm down."

All of a sudden, the wall seemed to shimmer and disappear, and the socks were swept into the shining hole. Joey blinked in surprise and when he opened his eyes again, the wall was just like normal.

Wasting no time, Joey scrambled under the bed. True to his name, he rolled and pulled himself into the tightest ball he could. Nothing happened. He squished himself together tighter and accidentally bumped his head against the wall. He started to feel tingly and was about to cry out for back-up from Sergeant M.O.M. when all of a sudden, he didn't feel like he was under a bed anymore.

Chapter Six

Joey stayed still for quite a time, still feeling a bit dizzy and funny all over. He was not sure what had happened to him or if he was ready to find out where he was. Slowly, he opened his eyes, not sure what to expect.

As his eyes focused, he first noticed that the space he was in was much larger than he had expected. There seemed to be things all over the place: puzzle pieces seemed to be dancing across the floor, along with a lawn mower and weed whacker who seemed to be dancing as well, if you could call it that. Instead, they just seemed to be spinning in a circle. Every once in a while, the weed whacker would rev up her blades as the lawn mower spun her around and then ended in a dip. It was a sight to see.

But there was more. An oven mitt and Lucky's old chew toy were busy catching up on the old times. Joey heard the oven mitt remark, "So, how is cousin pillow doing? I haven't seen him since the mom got new oven mitts."

"Well, he lost his wife to the dog, the same way I lost my best friend, Herb the penguin toy. Lucky ripped them both to shreds; stuffing was everywhere. It was horrible. I'm glad to be alive; I survived the attack of that dog with only a few scratches and one big hole," he pointed to his left ear, which was missing and stuffing was coming out of the hole. "I came straight to the hangout after that, where I've been hiding ever since."

Joey suddenly thought Lucky's current favorite toy, a stuffed monkey, and vowed to rescue it from this kind of fate. He decided that he would only give Lucky bones to chew from now on. Feeling bad, he scanned the room some more to see what other things had come to this hideout and find out why they were all here. He hoped it wasn't because they were all afraid of his family.

On the other side of the room, he noticed his dad's favorite hat, laughing like a hyena in the corner along with his mom's missing sweater and a scarf his grandma had given him last Christmas. They seemed to be reminiscing about a day that Joey's family had gone sledding.

"Ben, do you remember when the kid kept choking himself on you because his mom had wound you too tight around his neck? That was so funny!" dad's hat giggled to the scarf.

"Yeah, but Danny, you remember how awful that day was for me. That was the day I was permanently scarred and burned from the hot chocolate the mom spilled all over me!" Clarice, the sweater whined, using the sleeve to cover the brown stain that still proudly stood out on the front of her. "I know YOU had a good day, on top of the dad's head, totally protected from burning liquids and able to see all of the funny kids sledding, falling all over the hill," she said sarcastically to the hat, "but you could be a bit more kind about it."

Joey couldn't believe it! All of these things had been "lost" by his family a long time ago. But they weren't lost--they clearly were right here! But where was here?

Chapter Seven

He kept scanning the room, looking for clues. He didn't recognize the room as anything he had ever seen in the house before. The walls in here kind of sparkled, like the hole did under his bed.

He was so focused on the walls that he didn't notice he had crept out of the dark corner to get a better view. The noise in the room stopped as quick as Joey did when his mom found him sneaking a cookie before dinner. But as quick as the sounds had stopped, they started up again.

"Ahhhhh! A person!" one of the puzzle pieces squealed.

"How did HE get in here? What do we do? Abort, abort!" a troll doll screamed as he ran straight towards the wall. Just as he reached it, he curled himself into a ball and went straight through the shimmering wall. Others began to do the same.

"Wait!" Charlie, the green sock suddenly stood up and spoke. "We must find out how he got in here. Kid, explain yourself before everyone goes crazy."

Joey didn't know what to do or think. A green sock with a hole in the toe was asking him what he was doing, when HE should have been asking the questions. "I-I don't know. I just watched what you and Dewey did and poof, now I'm here. But, I think you need to answer some questions, like, where are we? Or, how did we go through a solid wall? Or, why do you guys run away to this hideout?"

"Okay, okay, calm down, kid. I can answer all of your questions, but you must promise never to reveal what you have learned today. If you do, we will never be able to be happy again in our private hangout, and in order to make you happy, we must have a chance to do some things for ourselves," Charlie stated calmly as he gently grabbed Joey's hand with his elastic part and led him to a seat.

Chapter Eight

The seat giggled as Joey sat on him and he jumped, but everyone laughed, saying "Gerry is so ticklish--don't mind him!" Joey couldn't help but laugh as he wiggled his legs to tickle Gerry some more; he just couldn't believe he was tickling a chair or talking to a sock, but it was all really happening!

"So, where are we?" Joey began.

"You're in our hideout. Most humans don't have enough imagination to be able to make it through. You're our first person visitor since 1978, when a next door neighbor found us by accident when she was playing," Charlie explained. "We're in the land of things; this is where we come when we want to see each other or just get a break from being used all of the time. I mean, we like helping your family out, but we need vacations and family reunions and barbecues to relax, too, just like you guys do."

"You have families and barbecues?" Joey exclaimed.

"Most humans never realize that us objects have families and lives of our own," Charlie began. "For instance, Danny, your dad's hat, has been in the hangout for about a month now. See, he has been recovering from surgery. One of his seams was torn and your dad wasn't getting him fixed very quickly, so he came here to get better.

"And your mom's keys have just made the cheer leading squad at their school, so they were gone for a week to practice at cheer leading camp," continued the green, holey sock. "Dewey is here so he can see his Aunt Clarice, the sweater. They live in different drawers, so they rarely get to see each other.

"The puzzle pieces are here for a geometry convention, but they are usually here. They're afraid of the dark and with being locked up in a box all day, they need a break. They also seem to think it is funny to wait until a person has most of the puzzle done and then disappear," Charlie rolled his eyes as he said the last part.

"I know!" Joey cried. "I spent two weeks last month looking for the nose and eye of the puppy puzzle I was trying to finish, but I never could find those two tricky pieces! Is that what you meant about 'playing tricks on the people'"?

Charlie ducked his head. "Yeah, but you weren't supposed to know about that. Now all of the fun has been ruined. We aren't trying to be mean, we just need some kind of entertainment every once in awhile, just like you do, Joey. For you and the other people, it would be just like watching sports on Trey, the TV."

"I guess that makes sense," Joey replied, still trying to wrap his head around all of this crazy new information.

"You know, though, Joey, we always keep an eye out. We know when you really need us, and when that time comes, no matter what we are doing, we come back. We might turn up in the last place you ever expected to find us, but we'll be there," Clarice crooned, as she gently patted him on the arm.

"That's good to know," Joey said, starting to feel more normal about talking objects who play tricks on him and his family. He had never thought about it, but things DID deserve to have fun and lives of their own. Joey's family and friends made him feel safe and happy, so why shouldn't these clothes, toys, and machines have that, too?

Holding out his hand to Charlie and then to the rest of the room, Joey said proudly, "I'm glad to have met you all today and learned so much. I promise your secret will be safe with me as long as you promise to always be there when we really need you. I better get back, though. I don't think my mom will think it is funny if I am missing for too long!"

Chapter Nine

The objects laughed and waved goodbye (or as best as they could as some didn't have hands), and Joey curled back up into a tight ball against the glimmering wall. He started to feel a bit funny again, but he quickly opened his eyes this time to find himself back on his bed.

He couldn't wait to tell Sergeant M.O.M.. Joey had promised the objects not to tell about what he had learned, but he was just so excited he couldn't help himself. However, he made himself promise not to reveal their tricks or how to get to the hideout; at least part of their lives would remain a mystery to everyone but himself.

"Joey," his mom said, coming into his room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel, "You were missing in action, Captain Sleepy-pants! These dishes are getting out of control; I need your help!"

"But, Sergeant M.O.M., you won't believe it! I traced the missing socks back to their hideout, and I found your keys and sweater and Daddy's hat and Lucky's toy!"

"You mean you dreamed you did all of that," Mom said with a smile.

"No! I really did! There were puzzle pieces and my scarf from grandma and they were all talking about memories they had with us and about their own families and vacations and stuff!" Joey declared firmly, starting to wonder why Sergeant M.O.M. wouldn't believe what he saw. He looked around for some evidence to prove it to her, but he'd forgotten to bring those stray socks home!

"It's okay to dream or play imagination, sweetie," Joey's mom said as she got up to leave the room.

Joey thought hard and suddenly remembered the last thing Clarice said to him. He quickly scanned the room high and low.

"Wait!" Joey squealed, pointing to the ceiling fan. "Look, Sergeant M.O.M., just as I told you--there are the missing socks!"

Looking up, Sergeant M.O.M. got a look of disbelief on her face. "Good work, Captain Joey! Mission accomplished," she said as she got up on the bed to get the socks down. But, as she did, Joey heard her mutter, "Now, how in the world did these get up here?"

As she pulled Charlie and Dewey down, Joey could swear that he saw the big green sock with the hole in the toe wink at him.

Chapter Ten

Charlie and Dewey were reunited with their brothers in the sock drawer.

Mom found her sweater when she was getting the Christmas decorations out. Dad found his favorite hat when it mysteriously reappeared under the sink in the bathroom. Joey found the scarf from his grandma one day while he was cleaning out the dishwasher.

Lucky didn't get his stuffed monkey back, even though Mom swears she saw it in his underwear drawer one day, but he did get a lot of new bones to munch on rather than the stuffing from a helpless toy.

There was peace through the house, for the war with the laundry and dirty house was over, at least for this week, and everything missing in action was accounted for.

Captain Joey couldn't stop smiling.

He knew the secret. And if anything went missing again, he'd know where to find it.