Chapter 1 The DISAPPEARANCE

Mrs. Gina Mou could hardly sleep, so when the first rays of the early morning sunshine seeped into the window, she got up from the bed. Her husband, Alvin was still soundly sleeping. She sighed.

She slowly walked across the room and stared at the mirror. She looked totally disheveled. Her eyes we're bulgy and lined with dark circles which were the outward sign that showed she has not slept through the night.

Something was bothering her. She felt something was wrong somewhere. It was not always like this. She was a sound sleeper but this night was different. She sighed again. "Maybe I am just being paranoid," she thought.

It was a a Sunday morning. She had to prepare for church, and also had to get the right makeup to mask her lack of sleep.

She went slowly toilet and poured some water on her face. It helped. Then, she slouched through the room and made for the dining. She needed to drink a cup of water. She picked a tumbler from a rack and filled it halfway with distilled water. She took two large gulps before dropping the tumbler. That was when she noticed the toys scattered around the table. There was the toy boy, the cow boy, the alien, the fiery dragon. She nearly found herself laughing. These are all Lily's toys. Her urge for laughter materialized as a smile as she remembered the very moment she bought each of the toys for her little daughter. Lily had said "Mom, I need an Alien to ride the fiery dragon. That is when the story would be complete".

Gina chuckled lightly. She remembered she had bought the alien that very night. Lily had never been happier. But then, something wasn't right!

After playing with her toys, Lily never left it strewn around the house. She always packed them in her so-called toy box that contained all her toy characters. Gina never liked the toys scattered around and Lily had very obediently invented the toy box for the keeping.

"Where is the Toy box?"

Gina found herself looking around. She saw it immediately. It was wide open below the dining table, showing a collection of other toy characters. She frowned. Why would Lily make such a mess? It has never happened before.

Gina grabbed the toy characters outside the box and arranged them with those in the box, and then she closed the box shut and headed for Lily's room. To be polite, she knocked.

No answer.

She tried again but nothing came. She held the handle. The door was loosely open so she just had to shift it without having to bend down the handle. The door opened to one of the most beautiful rooms you could ever see. It showed that Lily was a daughter well cared for. There were pictures, colours, more toys, drawers, clothrack and shoes, all in collections. The window was wide open and the morning rays seeped into the room in a beautiful swirl of golden yellows. The curtain hung loosely, shifted to one side.

Gina's eyes narrowed to the bed. The bed was gigantic for a six-year old with a fluffy sheet and two fluffy pillows for child sleeping support.

And Lily was not in bed! "Lily?" Gina called the first word she spoke this day. There was no response. She dropped the toy box in a quite thud and went for the toilet. She flung the door open. Lily was not there. She swallow pillsed her saliva. It was too early to panic. She decided to stay calm.

Was this a hide and seek?.she thought. Gina shook her head. Lily didn't like that game that much but to be sure, she checked below the bed, behind the drawers, among the cloth rack, below the sheets, but there was no sign of her.

She ran out of the room, she could be in Thomas's room. Some morning in the recent, she found her in Thomas's room. She opened the older boy's room. It was just as Lily's room but in a more boyish style, the way Thomas loved it. Thomas was up already and she could hear him brushing his teeth in the bathroom. She walked up to him.

"Thomas, have you seen Lily?" She asked

Thomas turned suddenly, a bit startled

"Good morning mom." He began, "Lily didn't come in here. I told her not to,"Thomas replied casually. Thomas was just ten but you could swear he was a teenager. His height supported this notion. Gina swallowed harder. She was nervous and left the room immediately.

"Mom, any problem?" Thomas asked but Gina had gone too far to hear him. He happily continued his brushing.

Gina found herself in the sitting room. Alvin was coming down the stairs that led to the masters bedroom. She was surprised to see he had woken up but it hardly showed.

"Good morning, Dear," Alvin greeted. Gina couldn't find her voice. "Good morning," she muttered. Her response made Alvin immediately identify that something was wrong.

"Gina, is there a problem?" He asked.

I hope not, Gina thought as she headed for the housemaid's room, the only place Lily could be at this point but she had not replied Alvin, so he quietly followed her.

Gina opened the door. The room was just as the children's were. You would never guess it was for the housemaid. But the housemaid was not there. That was when Gina erupted into a scream.