A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

the lady smiled kindly at him and asked if he wanted to pet her dog,
which was sticking its big red head out of the car window.
Gus had been at the playground that day, playing ball with himself
when they stole him. Shooting hoops. There wasn’t anyone around
to see them go. His ball got left behind. I wondered why Gus was
playing ball alone, and if that meant he didn’t have any friends, but I
never asked him. Things like that don’t matter anymore, anyway,
’cause now he’s got me.
Day and night, I continue to work on my spoon. I don’t know how
long I’ve been going at it, but I’ve whittled it down enough that I’ve
gotten myself a point. It ain’t the best point ever. It’s jagged and
uneven, but at the top of that spoon, the metal thins to a sharp tip.
When I stab it into my finger it hurts. I’m too chicken to stab it hard
enough to make it bleed, but before too long I’m gonna have to. I’ve
got to test it. I’ve got to know if it works.
I lost track of how long I’ve been carving this dang thing. Long
enough that my hand’s tired as all get-out. Gus offered to do it for
me, but I said no ’cause I didn’t want him getting in trouble. I know
he doesn’t want to help ’cause he’s scared half to death of what I’m
doing. He was just trying to be nice, but if someone’s gonna take the
fall for this spoon, it’s me.
I hide that spoon when I ain’t working on it. I hide it inside the toilet
tank, put the lid back on and cover it up.
But it’s not hidden now ’cause now I’m working on it, even though
the man and the lady are right upstairs. I ain’t got no other choice if
we’re ever gonna get out of here. I’ve got the lid off the toilet. I’m
going at it full tilt with my spoon when I hear the lady declare to the
man that she’s got to feed us. There ain’t no warning then because
the door yanks suddenly open, and there it is again, that thin scrap
of light that hurts my eyes.
All at once that lady’s at the top of them steps. “Come get your
dinner,” she says, and I don’t make a move to go ’cause usually
when she says it like that, she just sets the dog bowl there at the top
of them steps and leaves it for us. But not tonight. Because tonight,