The Empty House - image 1 - student project The Empty House

When Midnight came and went and all that was left on the road was a pile of discarded packages, brightly wrapped in garish red paper with snowflakes, the snow fell rapidly in the town of Cedar Creek.

Riley Harris was heading inside her parents' Cape Cod which they’d worn in with over thirty-five years of planting their roots in the ground. She’d seen the twinkling Christmas lights on the house and the light-up Santa on the roof, just the same as always this time of year. And just as she’d done every one of the ten years she’d been on her own, Riley brought all the Christmas presents with her. She’d taken them out as carefully as possible. She looked at her cell phone and saw a missed call from an unknown number. She thought nothing of it. Robocallers were out of control these days. But as she went up to the front porch with its poinsettias in the bay window, as they always were, and she knocked on the front door, expecting to have her folks greet her warmly and welcome her in, nothing happened. She rang the doorbell. Knocked again. Their lights in the living room were on… the tree was shining.

She called their landline… still a little perplexed at why they hadn’t stopped using it. No answer. Riley could hear the phone ringing. She saw no point in leaving a message.

Finally, she got out her house key, which she still had on a cracked plastic keychain from Claire’s that she’d gotten at thirteen. It had her birthday on it…

Upon entering the house, something was off. The lights were on, the TV was on, but was showing the time-out message, so it’d been sitting there a while. She’d brought a cake, which she set on the counter without ceremony… After a complete search of the house, no one was there. By now, she was worried.

Her parents were solid, dependable… and they’d known she was coming. She’d called before she left work to head home, and then texted her mom when she was heading there.

Riley barely registered that the dryer was on… they’d been here a few minutes ago. Why weren’t they here now?

She looked for a note on the counter, the dining room table, the breakfast nook… nothing. She checked the calendar and nothing out of the ordinary was written there.

Riley took out her phone, called her mother first. She was usually pretty quick with a response, even if she was busy. Nothing. Straight to voicemail. Riley found the same thing when she called her dad. By now, panic leaped to her throat. Something must have happened.

She texted everyone in town that she could think of, asking if they knew where her parents were.

It was only about three and a half minutes before someone responded, but when they did, it was crushing.

The caller was her ex-boyfriend, Madden. Their breakup was so long ago and mutual enough that they’d long-since been able to be friends without drama… but his voice was shaking when he said, “Riley, I hate to say this… but, your dad had a heart attack… the paramedics must have left no more than ten minutes before you got there.”

“Where did they take him? Is Mom with him?”

“St. Andrew’s… and yes… she’s there. Do you want me to take you? I don’t think you should drive… this is horrible and you’re probably upset.”

Riley’s voice cracked as she took him up on his offer, thanking him for his kindness.

The night was cold, so Riley paced up and down the living room. She’d turned off most of the lights, turned off the TV, and she waited for Madden, glancing impatiently out the window every few seconds. But when he arrived, she bolted out the door, nearly forgetting to lock up.

And Madden came around to open the passenger door of his Ford Bronco, which was new when she dated him but now was rusted and a little dirty, but still seemed pretty well taken care of. However, that wasn’t what she noticed. She noticed the quiet and the darkness of the streets, despite all the Christmas lights and those hideous blow-up decorations on blankets of white.

He said nothing, and she echoed him as the SUV rolled past all the houses and landmarks she used to know. Well, she still knew them, but they looked foreign to her now.

When they reached the hospital, he let her out at the front and asked if she needed him to stay.

“I’d be happy to sit and wait with you… I just have to park the car.”

Wordlessly, Riley nodded, head spinning, feeling oddly numb.

“Ok, I’ll be right back, and I’ll meet you, babe.”

When he said, babe, he immediately gave her an apologetic glance as if to say it was a force of habit. Riley barely registered it. Her mind was still trying to force her body to move. It probably only took her ten seconds to grab her purse and get out of the car, the big coat making her clumsy and awkward. But it felt like minutes, hours… As quickly as she could, she found her way to the information desk.

“My name is Riley Harris. I was told, you have my dad here… a heart attack… his name is Ronald.”

Within five minutes, Riley sat with Madden and her mother in the waiting room with its grey walls and modern art pictures, and People magazines from five years ago…

When Riley asked about what happened, her mother just said what Riley already knew, that her father had a heart attack. And changed the subject. “I just can’t talk about it now, honey.”

And that was all. Not a peep out of her until they left, alone and heartbroken.

Dawn broke with an audible crack. A back stretching itself out of a long night-time cramp and all was still.

Cindy Miller

Writer, Blogger, Amateur YouTuber

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