‘Somewhere We Don’t Know’ by Imani K
It was raining within the small town of Pennisville. Children in brightly-coloured rubber coats gathered around and jumped in the mud while many frustrated mothers hurried their children inside. And while the rain pelted against windows and the fog blurred the big blue backdrop of the sky, the two children whose mothers hadn’t come stood on the street. The boys waited patiently on the street, shivering in their rubber coats.
“The rain’s really gone wild, don’t you think?” One of the boys said, staring at the other boy
intently with pale blue eyes.
“Yeah, I guess.” The other one replied, not meeting his gaze and instead turned his attention to the insects crawling on the pavement.
“I’m Hayden.” The boy with the pale blue eyes said.
“Frankie.” The other boy murmured.
There was a few minutes of awkward silence with both boys sheepishly biting their lips and sinking their teeth into their nails. Then a blue bus arrived, with the number seven plastered across it.
“Huh?” Hayden blurted out. “I thought there were only six routes, there’s never been a seventh one.”
It was true. In Pennisville all buses only travelled across six routes, with all numbers informing the passenger of the route they were about to take. It was quite an odd thing to see.
“Well, mum did say I should take bus six and since this is bus seven it must be close to route six right?” Hayden said.
“I dunno.” Frankie said, fiddling with his fingers.
“Where’s your mum?” Hayden asked him.
“Work. Late shift today.” Frankie replied.
“Well wanna stay at mine until your mum comes back? We do live on the same street after all.” Hayden suggested.
Frankie hesitated. He supposed their houses were close together but something inside was telling him not to get on the bus. He stared at it with big brown eyes. It did seem like a normal bus after all. People were on it, drinking coffee, flicking through newspapers and scrolling on their mobile phones.
“Fine.” He said.
They pulled out notes from their pockets, gave them to the bus driver and went to sit at the back of the bus. Frankie leaned against the window and observed the vehicles driving alongside the bus. All he could hear were the faint roars of the other vehicles outside. He couldn’t hear any people drinking coffee, the flick of newspapers and the sounds from phones.
“Wait, What?” He sputtered, looking around him. There was no one drinking coffee, no one reading the newspaper or scrolling through their phone. It was only him, the bus driver and Hayden.
“Something wrong?” Hayden said, with a concerned voice.
“Where are all the other people on the bus?” He asked.
Hayden shrugged his shoulders and continued to comb his hair with his fingers. Frankie observed his surroundings once more. Perhaps, he had been imagining things. Or maybe the other people had gotten off the bus when he wasn’t looking. He came to the conclusion that he was going crazy and tried to get a closer glimpse of the bus driver. He noticed that the bus driver didn’t stop at multiple designated stops like a standard bus route would include.
“Here kiddos.” the bus driver announced and the two boys got off the bus. They were in a barren land, covered with dead grass. The bus began to depart.
“Hey wait!” Hayden shouted, running after the bus.
The bus driver paid no attention to him and left the two boys.
“I don’t think we’re in Pennisville anymore.” Frankie stammered.
“It’s so cold.” Hayden shivered. “Why don’t we go there? Until the next bus comes.” He pointed to an old shed in the distance. The two trudged their way through the mud and arrived at the shed.
“Hello?” Hayden shouted.
No one answered.
“Don’t think anyone’s in here.” Frankie said and opened the door.
The two boys went inside. They felt a faint warmth as they entered the shed and grabbed two stools to sit on. They both sat at one end of the room. None of the boys made any effort to start a conversation and waited in silence.
“Look!” Hayden shouted with amusement.
Frankie turned to the window. An elderly woman was outside, planting flowers.
“We can ask her for help!” Hayden exclaimed with joy and began to head out.
Frankie was hesitant to go after him. He tried to persuade himself to move but his muscles just wouldn’t obey his commands. It was only after a few minutes he managed to get them to move and was sprinting after Hayden. He looked at the woman. Around her were patches of brightly-coloured flowers that were bordered by the rest of the dead grass.
“Excuse me ma’am.” Hayden said politely. “Me and my friend are lost. Do you think you could help us?”
“Of course dearie!” She replied with joy. “My house isn’t too far from here so you can come with me.”
Hayden happily trudged through the mud with a grin on his face whilst Frankie walked beside him with slumped shoulders. A strange feeling was stirring in his stomach. He tried to recall his mother’s previous words from when she was going on about their address to him. Nothing. He curled his fist in frustration.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached a small cottage surrounded by bunches of colourful flowers. Hayden marveled at the door which was covered by honeysuckle.
“Do you want to smell? Kiddies can’t resist the scent.” The woman said, as she grabbed a handful off the door and waved it under his nose.
“Mhm!” Hayden murmured, closing his eyes.
“Do you want some too honey?” The woman asked, looking at him in interest.
“No thanks.” Frankie replied.
“Come on. Try it.” The elderly lady persisted, reaching her hand out to his face,clutching the plant.
Frankie held his breath and desperately tried not to inhale the scent. The old woman sighed in disappointment and took the honeysuckle away. Frankie shivered after the honeysuckle was taken away.
“Can we go in ma’am?” Hayden asked eagerly.
The old woman nodded and opened the door. She had a normal home for the average person, with rays of light shining through the living room. Frankie had pictured the house would be covered in darkness and cobwebs coating the furniture. He didn’t know why he had thought that though. He tried to think of a reason why but nothing came to him.
“Please, sit down.” The woman croaked, pointing to two plush chairs in the corner.
Frankie and Hayden obediently went to sit down and slumped down on the comfortable chairs. Hayden shuffled in his seat,clearly bored with fidgeting fingers.
“I’ll go get you kids something to eat.” The old lady said as she hobbled to the kitchen.
As Hayden continued to fidget with his fingers, Frankie stared outside the window. He saw a world covered with dead grass and a dark sky outside. He imagined the world he would see if he was crouched on his couch, in his own house, cradling a cup of hot cocoa and looking outside his window. The world he would see would be covered with green meadows, young children playing outside and fathers mowing the lawn. He wanted to get home as soon as possible.
“Hayden, I think we should leave now.” Frankie muttered quietly, biting his nails.
“Why?” He exclaimed loudly, his brows furrowing in confusion.
Frankie made a gesture for him to speak quietly.
“Look I have a bad feeling about this place.” He replied.
“Fine.” He said in frustration. “But how will we get home? We don’t have phones, I don’t think either of us know our addresses.”
Frankie opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He knew Hayden had a point. They had no way to contact their parents and they didn’t know how long it would take to travel home. Hayden was right but he wasn’t willing to admit that.
“We’ll walk home and wait for the next bus.” Frankie said as he got up from the chair.
The old lady hobbled back, bringing a large plate of food.
“Where are you two going?” The lady asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Home.” Frankie said bluntly.
As he turned to leave, he accidentally stepped on a framed picture. Inside, he saw an image of a young woman holding three children at her side. He hastily put the picture on the desk beside him whilst the old woman and the woman in the picture stared at him with the same piercing green eyes.
“I’m so sorry.” Hayden said, picking up the pieces of glass with his bare hands and dumping them in the bin beside the old lady.
“Sorry.” Frankie muttered, not meeting the old lady’s gaze.
The old lady remained silent, gazing at the picture with teary eyes. Hayden stared at the picture too. Then he looked at the lady in the picture. He noticed the two had a lot in common. They had the same eyes and had the same gold necklace tied around their necks.
“Come on Hayden.” Frankie said, pulling his arm.
As they turned to leave, the old lady grabbed Hayden’s other arm. Hayden shuffled uncomfortably between the two.
“Stop it! Let me go!” Hayden moaned.
“Please! Stay, don’t go!” The old lady shouted in desperation, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I’m always alone.”
Then the lady pulled out a knife from her pockets. Hayden gaped at the lady with fear in his eyes. Frankie started to let go of Hayden’s arm as the sharp blade was pointed at him.
“Frankie, help me!” Hayden shouted as his trembling fingers tried to grasp Frankie's palm.
Frankie took one step back from Hayden.
“Please don't leave me.” Hayden muttered in a quiet voice.
Frankie stared at Hayden with terrified eyes, hoping he could see the plea of forgiveness in them so he wouldn't have to make his mouth to give it.Then he ran.
“Frankie!” Hayden screamed, pushing the woman's arm away.
Just as he managed to break free from the woman's grasp he felt a blade pierce through his leg. He collapsed to the floor. He heard the creak of the door in front of him. Frankie looked at him one last time and he ran, swearing never to look back.
“You're wicked Frankie.” Hayden whispered to himself, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Frankie had just reached the bus station. He saw bus seven again. People were on it, drinking coffee, flicking through newspapers and scrolling on phones. “Pennisville please.” He said as he handed the notes to the bus driver.
As he went to sit down he noticed people really were on the bus. It was just a normal bus. Guilt stirred in his stomach. He didn't know whether to cry, to smile or laugh from relief. Until he reached home he tried to persuade himself that it wasn't his fault and Hayden should have used more force to free himself. Anyway, no one was going to blame him because no one was ever going to know.
That's why he stayed silent when his mum picked him up from the bus station. He stayed silent when he went inside his house and his dad lifted him up in his arms and planted a wet kiss across his cheek. He stayed silent when Hayden's parents went around the neighbourhood asking locals where he was. He stayed silent when he saw Hayden's face plastered on a milk carton when he went to eat his breakfast. But it was hard to stay silent when Hayden's face was everywhere. He saw his face on signs, billboards and even on television. He saw it on all the six buses that went through Pennisville. But he never saw his face on bus seven because he never saw bus seven again.