Antlers
Shifter_Master
Neziul
Iluvtoji
IAmTheIsland
Bugman
Passable Writer
Fetzen
Not a Sayan
StaniflyThe Fed Zone
10:58 am, SaturdayNovember 6th
During the entirety of the heated exchange, a little girl had been watching.
She was pale and silent, with a mousy brown ponytail, wearing galoshes and an oversized sweater and a handmade scarf stitched with Wonder Woman emblems. She held a big strawberry milkshake in both hands and chewed on the straw while her big eyes looked between Jeremy and Mister Reis. She seemed particularly distracted by D's appearance, and all the funny gadgets that adorned her person. Her eyes got wider.
"Okay, what's this I'm hearin' about trashed posters?" The kitchen doors swung behind the manager, who stepped around the lunch counter drying her hands on a kitchen towel. Eleanor was a big woman with a bow in her nest of red hair, wearing oversized plastic earrings and a bright purple t-shirt emblazoned with I BELIEVE IN HUMANS. She stopped to get a good look at the suspiciously empty notice board, chewing gum thoughtfully, hands on her wide hips.
Her eyes slid dangerously to her little brother. "Jeremy, get your ass back in the kitchen," she snapped, hiking a thumb over her shoulder. Eleanor's attention snapped to Joao, and she took on a quick change of demeanor: she gave Mister Reis a dimpled smile, though it didn't reach her narrowed eyes.
"Good morning, Sir. I apologize," she laid a polite hand on her heart, "it seems there's been a little miscommunication. See, there are some unspoken house rules about this board. Nobody takes anything down from this board, even just temporarily, unless you put it there or you're management. Breaking this rule, especially nowadays, is a hot button for all of us. Now, once you're finished putting them all back up, exactly the way you found them, how about --"
She stopped mid-sentence, having forgotten suddenly what she was about to say. Eleanor stared down at the little girl, her jaw slackened.
". . . Maddie?" Eleanor whispered. "Maddie Wilson?"
It was the name on the photocopied MISSING poster in Joao's hand; the little girl's likeness was undeniable.
The strawberry milkshake clattered to the floor, splattering all over Joao's shoes, while the little girl bolted suddenly and raced down the aisle.
"Maddie!" Eleanor called, alarmed, bustling after her. She waved a hand back at D and Joao. "Somebody call Sheriff Chang!" she shouted.
Maddie dodged a customer who was leaving, bumped into Gary's table and dropped something. She sped away again immediately, dodged her way into the back and crashed into the ladies' bathroom. The lock clicked behind her.
What the little girl had dropped at Gary's feet was a worn photograph. It was slightly overexposed, but clearly depicted a bright blue dragonfly perched on a diner lampshade.
