Joan and I, all we ever wanted were to have a kid. We tried for years. We’ve been together for more than 39 years. 39 years… imagine that, and we still can’t manage to have one. We prayed so hard, hoping that He could hear our prayers. Sadly, we withered and grew tired, but we still love each other no matter what.
You see, we live in a tiny town now. We tend to move a lot when we’re young. She was a primary school teacher before. She was at the school playground watching her students play when I first saw her. I was a cook in the school canteen. Joan, with her curly, long, auburn hair. Her gorgeous smile. That enticing eyes. I just fell in love with her right then and there. I took a short break at the tree where I parked my car. I was looking at her and she looked back at me. Not a short while after, everything felt magical. We had been together for 8 months at that time when I asked her to marry me. We married and had our honeymoon.
We’ve been happily married for 1 year and 4 months when something truly horrifying happened. A child went missing. A very young child. She was 5 years old. She’s one of Joan’s pupils. Her name is Bree. The whole town tried looking for her. The search went on for days. It’s truly heartbreaking to watch the child’s parents when the authorities can’t do anything to find their child. Even Joan was upset that someone took the child. She thought of her pupils as her kids.
Not long after that, another kid went missing. His name is Luke. He’s 7 years old and also was Joan’s former pupil. This time, there was a search party. Even the nearby town’s authorities offered to help. This time, Luke’s parents were quite rich. They owned some real estate here and in nearby towns. Aside from the huge amount of money as a reward for finding Luke, the father also employed a private investigator and additional men to help find their son.
There was no suspect or any leads for the missing kids. It’s like they’re gone instantly. No trace of anything and no evidence. This was way before any kind of technology or any equipment that suppose to help find clues and evidence.
These incidents stressed Joan so much she can’t sleep or eat. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night without her beside me. She wasn’t in the mood to do anything. I can see that she’s faking her smile when she’s at school. Even with our usual talks and activities at night, she didn’t feel like doing it anymore.
I sensed at that time that I should do something about it. I can’t bear witnessing her do this to herself. It took a long time but I eventually convinced her to move out of town and go somewhere else. We liked small towns. We still do. That’s why we moved into another small town in a different state. The environment seems peaceful. She really loves children, so she applied for a job as a primary school teacher and also as a part-time social worker. She’s very active in the community that everyone loves her. She felt that this small town was our home now.
As nightmares follow you wherever you go, ours did as well. We were living there for almost 3 years when a kid was taken. His name was Charles. He was a very sweet kid, especially to my wife, Joan. There was a wide search & rescue. We joined as well. Joan urged me to participate. It took us the whole afternoon and evening to comb every inch of the town and the forest as well. It took us 4 days and nights when eventually the authorities called it off.
Joan was so sad because of that but I assured her that eventually, everything would turn out okay. We still can’t manage to have kids and Joan didn’t like the idea of adopting. Her view on that was that she was taking care of lots of children already and taking care of them feels like what adoption seems like. I didn’t try to debate it, but from time to time, we really try to have one for ourselves.
Just a few days before the anniversary of Charle’s disappearance when another kid was taken. Her name was Jessica. She was the mayor’s kid. This one was huge. There are media everywhere. Everyone tried to look for her. The detectives were trying to investigate for clues and evidence. The mayor really tried in his power to find his Jessica.
This incident really broke Joan’s heart as well. She was close with the mayor’s family and she loves Jessica. It seems to me like she’s losing it again. She spent some time in the basement now. She’s not eating and talking.
We were dumbfounded when, a couple of weeks after Jessica’s disappearance, the police released a list of suspects in both Charles and Jessica’s disappearance. The first one on their list was a well-known sexual predator and pedophile that lives near our town. Some other suspects that I weren’t familiar with or even heard of but they’re there based on the evidence found. The last person on their suspect list was Joan. Apparently, when the news broke out about Jessica’s disappearance. The detectives from the previous town we lived in heard that as well and contacted this town’s detectives. They connect some dots, especially the part where Joan was very close with the kids.
Joan didn’t take that news very well. Some people avoided her. Some people were accusing her of doing it. She seldomly ate. She’s always in the basement now. That’s why I brought her food down there. She just went up to take a bath or to accept interviews from the police to prove her innocence. Seeing her torture herself like that. I can’t take it anymore. I love her so much. I wanted my old Joan back. I want to see her smile again. I feel like had to do something.
Days after, we received news that they apprehended Henry. The sexual predator and pedophile. Headless bodies of Charles and Jessica were buried a few hundred yards near where he lived and within the forest. Evidence was pointing that Henry did it. Joan was relieved that she was not the suspect now that Henry was behind bars.
Eventually, we had to move away again so Joan could heal fully. She can’t live with that kind of sadness. We didn’t move within the small town, but near it, so we can have the peace and quiet of living together alone and also away from the madness that even the small town people can do to you. We bought a small farm and settled on it. That’s where we decided we live until we grew old. It didn’t matter now if we can’t have children. She loves staying in the barn. She’s always there even now that I’m writing this. Even if she looks old and thin now, she’s still beautiful as she was when I first saw her. It’s almost midnight yet she hasn’t come out of the barn. That’s alright with me. She’s happy in there, sitting in one of the stalls. Surrounded by the kids she loved. In her left arm lay Charle’s and Jessica’s heads. While Luke and Bree are by her side. They look so thin and boney right now. Yet they make Joan so happy and delighted.