THE ROSE BARRETTE
As the sun set, Marcus Goodloe sat in a plane excited to arrive back to D.C. He came from war in Afghanistan and hadn’t seen his family in six months. He fathered a daughter of 7 years, Andrea Goodloe, with his wife Christine.
Upon arrival to D.C, his family awaited him and filled him with hugs and kisses, especially his daughter Andrea. When they all arrived home, Marcus’ wife had set a plan in motion for the next day. She discussed how much she missed him and how she wanted to make up for the time missed. She discussed with him that she wanted to travel with him to Paris with their daughter, Andrea, but before wanted to pay a visit to Boyd’s Park. Marcus agreed, in fact, he agreed to anything she wanted.
The very next day, Marcus, Christine, and Andrea went to Boyd’s Park. They dressed in their Sunday’s best outfits. Both Christine and Andrea wore purple dresses and Andrea had a rose barrett in her hair. They all spent a few hours mingling and reconnecting. As Christine and Marcus talked away through the afternoon, they left Andrea out of sight. Then a hoarse yell echoed all over the park.
AHHHHHH!!!!!! DADDY!! DADDY!! DADDY!! MY LEG!!!!!!!!!
Christine and Marcus rushed over to the monkey bars where Andrea had fallen and broken her leg. They immediately rushed her to the nearest hospital, John Hopkins. Marcus registered his daughter, Andrea Goodloe. The doctors took her away immediately on a wheelchair and before his wife Christine followed their daughter away into the emergency room, she gave Marcus Andrea’s rose barrette that had fallen off her hair at the park.
A few hours pass, and Marcus had not heard anything from Andrea. He gets impatient and goes to the receptionist.
“Hi, I’m sorry I just wanted to know if my daughter, Andrea Goodloe, is okay I haven’t heard anything from her.”
“Okay, give me a minute to look her up.”
{Marcus waits patiently}
“Sir, I don’t have an Andrea Goodloe registered in our hospital.”
“What do you mean, we just came an hour ago. She broke her leg. She’s seven years old and is wearing a purple flowery dress. You can’t miss her.”
“Uuuuummm, okay let me recheck give me a second.”
{Marcus turns impatient}
“Sir, I’ve checked about three times, and she is not registered under our hospital.”
Marcus raises his voice: “Okay, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I want security down here right now.”
“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down, I’ll call security down here right now.”
{Security arrives}
“Sir, my name is Santana, what seems to be the issue?”
“THE ISSUE IS THAT MY DAUGHTER HAS NOT BEEN FOUND ON THE REGISTRY!!”
“Okay, Sir, I will check security cameras, come with me.”
{Santana and Marcus check security cameras from the past 3 hours}
“Sir, as you see here, there is no sign of your daughter or your wife.”
{Marcus starts to tear out of desperation}
“Okay, so explain to me why I still have her Rose Barrett, she was wearing it at the park.”
“Sir, I don’t know what park you are talking about, all I know is that none of you are shown here registering your daughter, Andrea.”
“OKAY ENOUGH!!! I want the police here now!”
{Police arrives}
“Sir, my name is Detective Houghton with the Hollenback Police Department, what’s the problem?”
“My daughter, Andrea, and my wife, Christine, are missing. I came to the hospital because Andrea broke her leg at Boyd’s Park. She was wearing a purple flowery dress just like my wife.”
“Okay, calm down, its technically not a missing person’s case until after 48 hours. However, we will conduct the investigation as of right now.”
“Thankyou.”
“Okay, so this is what I will do. I’m going back to headquarters to put it out on local radio police stations, and I will investigate what I’m dealing with.”
“Okay, thankyou officer.”
{Detective Houghton comes back from the station, and finds Marcus fidgeting on his seat}
“Sir, were you a Lt. in the United States army?”
“Yes, why?”
“Did you move your family at a base overseas?”
“No! where are all these questions coming from?”
“I was following up on a report and it says that you moved your family at a base overseas, and the entire base was bombed. Your family’s bodies were completely dismembered.”
“NO! NO! NO! NO! that’s impossible {Marcus cries out of desperation and frustration} I never moved my family from D.C. They were just here, my God, you have to believe me!”
“Mr. Goodloe, I understand this is very traumatic, but you need to seek help. The security cameras show you coming in by yourself.”
{Marcus’ face flushes and cries}
DADDY!!!! DADDDDY!!!! DADDDYY!!!! A hoarse yell cries from afar. Marcus stops crying and stares across the hallway and Andrea appears on a wheelchair. He runs gracefully and hugs his little girl’s body that disappears in the mist and the only thing that remains is her rose barrett.
