Five Minutes

Kitchen table left as if immediate departure was necessary.

Nothing disturbed and no sign of distress.

But why?

It appears they took nothing with them. Maybe nothing was needed.

Where were they going?

More importantly, when will they return?

Action figures comfortably positioned on the kitchen table. As if they had expected this all along.

Expected what?

If only they could speak.

Nearby a half-eaten pop tart. Still warm and waiting to be finished.

On the kitchen counter laid a tablet whose screen suddenly locked.Another sign the room was only recently vacated.

The sound of classical music could be heard coming from a blinking clock radio that was used to keep time and never meant to play a Mozart concerto. But it was. Quite well.

And then. As if it wanted to be seen. Needed to be seen.

The cell phone dangling on the edge of the counter.

A clue that may lead to another and …

Someone was clearly in the middle of a text when they were forced to stop.

Something out of the ordinary had taken place.

Five words.

Five words that meant nothing at the time.

We are not ready yet

The words sat idly on the screen. Waiting to be sent.

Was the thought complete? Absent the punctuation that many texts lack, it was difficult to interpret its exact meaning.

Ready for what?

And then it rang. No it vibrated!

Maybe this will explain everything.

The sudden departure. The cryptic text.

Hello

Silence.

Why were you not ready?

And this is where our story begins.