Absence - Part 1

Absence - Part 1
“Flann… Nook… where the hell could you two be right now?”
On a cloudy December day a young girl stood by the bustling streets of Los Angeles putting up posters upon the many others that had already claimed their spots on the cold brick walls. Putting up her sheets, they revealed themselves to be missing persons sheets of two blond individuals, with the man from one of them having a redder tint compared to the young girl; Flann and Nook Snyder.
The girl sighed. “It’s weird how many people keep disappearing nowadays, but… I didn’t think you guys would be one of them. Ugh, I’d find you both quicker if the police were actually helping… those damn pigs never help. ” Having already walked all over town to put up her posters, the girl leaned herself against the wall and brushed her mint green hair with her fingers, looking into the clouds that blanketed the once clear blue skies. Mumbling to herself, she let out a sigh once more. “I hope you guys are alright…”
“Excuse me?”
“Huh?” The girl turned her head to see a scrawny man with a complexion of freckles covering his cheeks, holding a stack of papers. He picked out one of them and turned it to the girl, showing itself to be another poster for a missing person. It showcased a gruff man donning blue clothing with white flora-like patterns. The words below him read: Masiu Latu.
“H-have you seen this man anywhere? He’s a f-friend of mine.”
“Hmmm… no.”
“O-oh… well, that’s unfortunate.” The man somberly looked down on himself, further stretching the frown that had already been on his face. He sat down on the cold sidewalk and began to zone out, blankly staring at the bright yellow lines that vertically stretched onto the road in front of him.
The girl pointed to the pictures of Nook and Flann. “Hey, um, I know I couldn’t help out with your friend, but mind telling me if you’ve seen these two anywhere? They’ve been missing since the start of summer.”
The scrawny man squinted his once wide eyes. “O-oh, so you must be the one putting these up. S-sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen them anywhere.” Continuing to look at the poster, the last names of Flann and Nook caused one of the man’s brows to raise. “Hmm, Snyder.” He repeated the name once more. “Snyder. Like Maria and J-Julius Snyder. Kind of cool to have the last name as them, d-don’t you think? Oh, what do you know? That was too long ago for you to know who they are.”
“Oh, I know about them, alright. They’re family.”
“...I’m sorry?”
“Julius and Maria? They’re my uncle and aunt.”
“N-no. That can’t b-be.”
“Those two up there? They’re my cousins, and they’re my uncle and aunt’s kids. Look at their faces, you can see for yourself.”
The now sweaty man picked out one of the papers, inspecting their faces further. “B-but… that would mean-”
The young girl prepared to introduce herself. “The name’s Sorrel. Sorrel Snyder. I’m part of the Snyd-” But before Sorrel could finish her sentence, the man began to quake and scream.
“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH- I- I AM SUCH A B-BIG FAN OF Y-YOUR UNCLE AND AUNT, I’VE W-WATCHED EVERY S-SINGLE EPISODE O-OF THEIR S-SHOW ‘M-MYTH SEEK-KERS’!” The man let out in a high pitched squeal, leaving passerbyers to look back at him with both confusion and annoyance.
Sorrel thought to herself. "Ugh, another fanboy. At least this one’s tamer than the last one…" She attempted to get the man’s attention. “Hey, you didn’t tell me what your name was, fanboy; Unless you don’t wanna be called that, you should tell me who you are.”
The man stopped himself, and followed soon after was a pink glow on his formerly pale face. “O-oh my gosh, I’m so s-sorry about that, that was so rude of m-me! I’m M-Mick Nolan!”
“Do you always talk like that?”
“T-talk like what?”
“Stuttering between words like that.”
“Y-yes, this happens every s-so often. It g-gets worse the more w-when I'm o-overwhelmed. B-but let’s not talk ab–bout mys-self n-now, what happened t-to Maria and J-Julius and their s-show?”
A slightly annoyed expression grew on Sorrel’s face. “I dunno, and honestly? I don’t really care.”
“W-what? But w-why? It’s one of the g-greatest shows to ever exist! So much m-mystery! Exc-citement! H-h-h-how could you n-not care?” 
“I just don’t. Look, I’m out here to look for my cousins, not talk about some stupid show.” Pushing herself off the paper-covered wall, Sorrel picked up her stack of missing persons sheets. “Now if you excuse me, I’m gonna go now.” 
Walking past Mick, he spouted out loud. “W-wait!” Mick raised one of his hands up, almost reaching towards Sorrel. “Where are you going?”
“Where do you think?” Sorrel stopped and looked back. “And don’t you have a friend to look for?”
“What if-”
“‘What if’ what?”
“I think I might know what happened to my f-friend and your cousins. D-do you know about the B-backrooms by any c-c-chance?”
Sorrel scoffed. “Oh, dude- don’t tell me you think it’s real. You’re kidding, right? Right?”
“C-c’mon now, d-don’t laugh, I’m trying to t-t-t-tell my theory-”
“You know you’re weird, right?”
Mick stayed silent.
“Why are you so on trying to get me to stay with you?”
“W-well, I-I… uhhhhh… Okay, um, look.”
Sorrel sighed with slight annoyance being heard in her voice. “Make it quick, nerd. I’m not tryna waste time here.”
“Okay, okay! A-aside f-f-from your uncle and a-aunt, has a-any of y-y-your family been in Myth Seekers?”
“Yeah, my mom was. Why?”
“M-m-maybe she could h-help us look for our friends a-and family. Maybe s-she was one of t-the g-g-guests that helped Julius and M-Maria in their investigations! She must have s-some experience, r-right?”
“Well three things I got to say.” Sorrel put up one of her fingers. “First off, you got the police for that kind of stuff.” She quickly mumbled to herself. “Even if they’re just laying around like the lazy donut munchers they are.” Sorrel lifted another finger, slightly bringing her hand closer to Mick’s face. “Second thing is that my mom’s completely quit with all that stuff from the show. Hell, nowadays, she pretends it doesn’t even exist anymore! Why do you think it’s not up anymore?”
“Hm, yes…” Mick slowly frowned, seeing the sensible logic in Sorrel’s reasons. “I-I guess you h-have a point.”
“Yeah, exactly. And third, even if she agreed to help us, my mom’s got no experience with what Uncle Julius and Aunt Maria did for a living.”
Almost immediately, Mick dropped his papers, and soon, himself to the ground. “L-look, I u-understand we just m-m-met, b-but-”
Mick looked into Sorrel’s sky blue, almost yellow-ish eyes and put his hands together. “P-please, help me! M-my friend, Masiu… h-h-he’s done so m-much for me! It’s j-just… the police, t-t-they won’t help me! T-they’ve b-been so busy with g-god knows what! Looking for other m-m-missing people, or e-eating donuts all day, I don’t know!” His eyes grew watery and his voice shook. With snot trickling down from his nose, his voice began to sound more nasal. “I o-o-owe him S-SO MUCH. I d-don’t know w-what I’d d-do without him!”
As Mick sobbed and sniffled after sharing his sentiments for his dear friend, Sorrel gave a slightly disgusted, but also pitiful look to the sobbing man. “Jeez, you’re a grown guy. This should be so fucking embarrassing for you.” 
“I-I know, I’m s-s-sorry about this.”
Sorrel sighed and began thinking to herself, looking up into the gray sky. "I dunno man," she thought. "I don’t think I can leave him alone like this. If this Mick guy’s telling the truth… I think I get him. I remember that feeling of being alone. That feeling that… that there was no one to rely on. Literally no one fucking cared." Sorrel looked back at Mick, who had barely finished his waterfall of tears. "That feeling sucked. Nobody deserves it. Not even a pathetic nerd like him." Somberly, Sorrel picked up a paper from her pile of posters and looked at the pictures of Nook and Flann once more. "And my cousins, wherever the hell you are… god I miss you guys."
She sighed. “Okay, listen up.”
Mick pulled one of his sleeves, attempting to dry his wet eyes. He slowly looked up to Sorrel as he sniffled. “H-huh?”
“Look. How about this?” Sorrel put her hand out. “I’ll help you find your precious friend or whatever… But in exchange, you gotta help me find my cousins too, okay? Is that a deal?”
“W-wait- A-are you-” Mick let out a wet and mucky sniffle. “You’re g-going to help m-me? Are you r-really?”
"God, what have I done…?" Sorrel rolled her eyes at the sight of Mick’s glowing up with hope. “I uh- UGH. Just look at you! I just can’t stand seeing you being such a crybaby! I just want you to shut the hell up already!”
“Haha! Oh my g-god! T-thank you!” Mick picked up Sorrel and swung her around, soon bringing her in for a hug of gratitude. “Thank you so m-much!” Surely, with the help of a relative of his idols, perhaps Mick may have a fighting chance at finding his friend Masiu.
Sorrel, rightfully being angry at the invasion of her space, flailed her arms and legs, making an effort to have Mick drop her immediately. “H-HEY! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! DON’T MAKE ME REGRET IT!”
“O-oh! I’m sorry!” Mick dropped the steaming Sorrel immediately, followed by her briefly dusting off her jacket, “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorr-”
Sorrel immediately cut him off. “Ugh, okay, okay, stop talking, Jesus! Forget about it.”
“S-so… um… what now?”
“Well… after putting up these posters, I was just gonna head back home.” Sorrel pulled out her phone and turned it on. It was 4:40 PM on December 15, 2022. “My moms are probably wondering where I’m at right now.”
Mick looked down and put his arms behind his back, rocking himself back and forth in the manner of a child. “I can h-help you put up your p-p-posters, so you can g-get home faster! It’s the least I-I can do since y-you’re helping me.”
Sorrel sighed, sliding her fingers through her grassy-like strands of hair. “...Sure, why not.”
Mick pumped his fists. “Yes!” he whispered to himself.
“You better keep your distance, nerd. No hugging me like you did seconds ago.”
“O-okay! Sorry!”
“You don’t have to keep saying sorry.”
“Sorry!”
“I just said— Forget it. Just grab the rest of the papers on the floor.”
And as the panicked Mick did as the stern Sorrel commanded, the two made their way down the gray pavement. Looking up at the sky, Mick noticed that though it still appeared to be grayish, yellow light now barely pierced through, illuminating him and Sorrel.
Mick chuckled as he thought to himself. "Maybe the sky isn’t the only thing lightening up today."
Category:Submit To Insanity
Category:Liminality
Category:Tales