Reality Lies by D.F. Downey (e manga reader .TXT) 📕

Robbie went to his room. He started rifling through the piles of toys and clothes that lay scattered across the floor. Last year for Halloween he had been a dog. His dad had found a sheep dog mask that looked exceptionally real. He started fiddling with it and then put it on. He looked in the mirror and started barking. He got down on all fours and crawled into the sunroom barking as he went. He decided to sneak up on Jay.

He crouched down behind the couch and as Jay rolled past him with a pickup truck he jumped out. “Woof!!” he barked at first sounding childlike but growing to reality.

“Nice Doggy!” Jay shouted with delight as he attempted to pet the dog. The “dog” began barking wildly. Jay continued to laugh as he rolled on the floor.

Johanna and Jackie were enjoying their coffee when Jackie announced, “They’re too quiet. We’d better go check on them.”

The house was huge and the sunroom was on the other end. Jackie offered an impromptu tour of the connecting space. “This is lovely!” Johanna gushed as the sunroom came into view.

Jackie was distracted by an unexpected visitor. “Where did that dog come from?” Jackie glanced around the room, “And where is Robbie?”

“I don’t know.” was Jay’s truthful reply.

The dog continued to bark and Jackie again asked, “We don’t have a dog! How did he get in here?”

The dog had temporarily distracted her but now panic seized her. She ran around the room calling for Robbie then ran down the hall to Robbie’s room. She saw that it was in greater disarray than usual. As she ran she continued to call for him to no avail. She reentered the sunroom followed closely by the barking sheep dog. When she stopped the dog jumped up on her. “Down! Get down! Where the heck did you come from!” The dog just kept barking and jumping. Johanna heard the commotion and quickly corralled the dog on the back porch.

“Jay, be a good boy and stay here. I have to help Mrs. D’ Angelo.”

By this time Jackie was in a panic, running up and down the stairs and room to room calling for Robbie. Every time she called his name the dog cried the more.

“Where is he Johanna? I’ve looked everywhere. He’s not here.”

“Did you check outside?”

“He couldn’t have gotten outside. The doors are locked. The alarm is keyed.”

“I’ll check anyway just in case.” Johanna stopped just before opening the door. “Oh wait, could you turn off the alarm.”

Jackie keyed in her code and deactivated the alarm. Johanna ran outside as Jackie continued to search the house.

After five minutes, Johanna returned inside. “I’m going to call 9-1-1. There’s not a sign of Robbie anywhere. Do you want me to call your husband?”

“Yes, thank you.” Jackie whispered absently. “Robbie, where are you?” she pleaded.

***

The police had come quickly. Jackie’s husband, Joey, had arrived shortly afterward. In no time the house was overrun with people. Johanna gave the police her statement and asked if it was okay to leave. They nodded yes. Jackie walked over to her, clasped her two hands and thanked her. She paused then asked, “Could you do me one more favor?”

“Sure, anything, what do you need?”

“Could you tend to that dog?”

She had almost forgotten the dog. “Sure, you wouldn’t happen to have a collar around here?”

“I think we still have one from Rascal. If we do, it’s hanging on the hook on the stairs to the cellar. Let me get it.”

“Yeah, it’s still here.” she said as she handed her the leash and collar. “Thanks again.” She started to sob.

Johanna consoled her with a hug and gently reassured her. “They’ll find Robbie.”

Days had passed since Robbie’s disappearance and there had been no progress, no clues. He had literally vanished without a trace. He was playing with Jay one moment then was nowhere to be found.

Johanna had been over to the house several times. She couldn’t explain it but somehow she felt responsible. Jackie had asked her to help her go through old photographs to find one that captured Robbie as he looked now. She realized she had a picture, still in the camera of Robbie and Jay on their first day of school. She ran out to one of those one-hour photo places at the drugstore nearby. She generally, didn’t wait but this was different. “How long does this take?” she asked the clerk as she handed him the film.

“Not long.” the clerk offered.

She stood near the counter for a while then as it became apparent this would take some time she began wandering away in ever increasing arcs. She returned to the counter every few minutes and asked, “Are they ready yet?”

Each time the clerk appeared he gave her the same polite answer, “In a couple of minutes.”

“Thank you.” she replied anxiously on each occasion.

She had distracted herself with the cold remedies when the clerk called out, “Your photos are ready ma’am.”

“Thank you!” she said as she exchanged money for the photos. She tore open the envelope and was halfway through the photos before the clerk had finished running up the sale. ‘That’s a nice one.’ she thought. It was a picture of Jay and the other boys looking eager and anxious. “I know there was one of just Robbie and Jay.” she muttered, “There it is!” she exclaimed. “This is it! Could you blow this up to an 8 by 10?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer, “Could you crop it so only the dark haired boy is in the picture?” then added, “Quickly?”

“The machine’s right in front of you, it’s a do-it-yourself deal.”

“Oh, could you help me?” she asked with a trace of the helpless female. “This is a special picture. I really want to get this right.”

Begrudgingly, he came out from behind the counter and went right at it. He made short work of it. “Is this what you want?”

“Exactly! Thank you very much! Could I make a few copies?”

“Of course.” he replied but he meant photos.

Johanna could tell, “No, I mean on a copier... do you have a copy machine?”

“Courtesy desk, it’s up front.” he offered.

“Thank you.” she said over her shoulder as she ran up front.

***

Mission accomplished she drove straight to Jackie’s and entered without knocking. “I had a picture of Robbie in my camera and well, I think it’s perfect. I had it blown up.”

Jackie took the pictures. Her eyes lingered for a moment. “This is perfect. Thank you. The police are here, Joe’s with them in the living room. I’ll get it to them for the flyers.” She rushed down the hall. Johanna followed.

“Yeah, this will do nicely. I’m going to head back and get some run off. Could you give me the negative?” Detective Plant, the town’s sole investigator, said after a quick glance.

“My friend Johanna took the picture, Johanna could you give Detective…” she drew a blank.

“Plant.” He completed.

“Detective Plant the negative?”

“Of course.” Johanna answered.

In exchange he handed her his card. They momentarily made eye contact. “I’ll be sure to get this back to you.” Then he abruptly took to leave. “Thank you ma’am, Mr. and Mrs. D’Angelo, I’ll be in touch”

“Thank you Detective, be sure to give me some of the flyers when they’re completed.” Jackie requested.

“I’ll be sure to do that”

“Thank you.”

Johanna had begun to focus on the collection of photos on the table, Robbie at Christmas, Robbie’s birthday, picnics, vacations, all the events in a child’s life, the candid alone moments, always surrounded by lots of people, family and friends, so happy, always smiling. It struck her that Jay didn’t have moments like that. There were few pictures and those there were, were of Jay alone. ‘Poor kid!’ her thoughts went to Jay. ‘Nothing could be done. No, that’s not right. I made a choice, a choice for Jay. It was for his own good. . . no, it was for my own good.’ She absently fingered the photographs. She glanced down on a picture of… the dog? The one running around when Robbie disappeared. But wait, this is a Halloween picture … of Robbie? The dull dread hit her as Jackie reentered the room.

“What are you looking at?” Jackie asked

“Oh, a… pictures from Halloween.”

Jackie took it in her hand. “This was last year. Isn’t he cute? He practically slept in that mask.” She held tight to the photo, lost in the memory. “He crawled around the house walking on all fours. Just the other day I had to tell him to stop. He had on his school pants and you know how quickly they go through the knees.” She paused lost in the moment, then suddenly added, “I just had a strange feeling. It just occurred to me that I didn’t see the mask when I went through his things.”

“The police searched his room right?”

“Yes, they went through it. But I don’t see any reason why they would remove the mask. It must still be there.”

She went to Robbie’s room. “Do you need a hand?” Johanna asked from the doorway.

“No, that’s all right. I know where it should be.” The search started slowly but accelerated to an obsessive pace. Jackie began tossing things around, slamming the cover on the toy chest. Eventually, she broke down again. “I can’t take this! It makes no sense. We were here. The house was locked. The alarm was on. There’s no way he could have just disappeared...” Her voice trailed off. “No way!”

As she pulled out of Jackie’s driveway Johanna had a notion, a notion born of countless no ways. She knew what she had to do. As soon as she entered the house she located the blown-up picture of Robbie. She called from the stairway, “Jay, come here honey.”

“Okay mom.” He scooted down the hall with the dog in tow. For some reason she had decided to keep the dog. In short order, he and Jay had become quite attached.

“Where’s Mrs. Mulligan?” Johanna had asked her elderly neighbor to watch Jay.

“She fell asleep.”

Johanna found her asleep on the couch in the living room with the TV blasting. Her head was back and her mouth wide-open. “Mrs. Mulligan.” She gently tapped her hand and she stirred to life. “I’m back, thank you very much.”

Mrs. Mulligan startled then recovered, “Uh, you’re welcome. Jay was no problem.”

Johanna helped her