Where Did the Statuette Go?

FullLipsDotNose

Proud Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2016
Messages
730
Points
0
Location
I'm always on the move...
It was a cloudy, yet a warm June day. In front of a Californian mansion, there was a van continuously loaded with various things. Children were playing in the garden, shouting all around.

Latoya was carrying another box to the van. The driver was standing right there.

"Could you do me a favour, please? The boxes that I drop on the ground should be thrown away. The stuff that should be stored, I will put it in the van."

"Sure, madam."

Latoya was returning to the house when she saw the children walking on the wall.

"Hey, get off that fence! You don't want to fall on your face, do you?"

"Auntie, we can do it! We can keep the balance!"

"No, it's dangerous!"

"Father taught us...!" They started crying.

"Whatever," Latoya mumbled and went upstairs.

There wasn't much left. She was standing in his office and examining it. Her eyes fell on a golden statuette.

"Oh, this one! I have to save it!"

She lifted the statuette and put it into a box. Indeed, it was heavy as hell.

As she got out of the house and walked right towards the van, she heard a child screaming.

"Oh my God!"

She dropped the box and rushed towards the children.

"What's happened?!"

"Blanket fell down and hurt his arm!"

"Show me."

His elbow was reddish, but it didn't look serious. He could easily move his arm. It certainly wasn't broken.

"Should be alright. Next time you obey me, OK? I don't want you to get hurt."

She went back to the house and realised there was nothing left.

"Fine, I guess everything is done now and we can take it to my Mum's!"

She came back for the children.

"Hey, it's done! We'll go to grandma's and leave the stuff there. And when I'm done with unpacking the boxes, granny will be back. Just be careful and don't do anything risky this time, will you promise me?"

Children nodded.

"Alright, let's go! Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything here!"
 
A group of four children, one girl and three boys, gathered at a dump.

"You gotta believe me! I saw elephant calf's bones there the other day!" girl said.

"No, you gotta be kidding!"

"Why don't you trust me?"

"Cause you are a girl." All the boys burst out laughing.

The girl looked clearly upset.

"Guys... You know, next time I won't let you go home to me. No more Xbox."

"You wouldn't do that!"

"Of course I would!"

All the children were going through the waste. There was pretty much everything one could want to get rid of: magazines, pieces of furniture, tyres, food leftovers and clothes. Rats were running through the mazes as if it were their homes.

"Are you scared of rats, Tiffany?"

"Haha, no."

"Cause Annie is."

"But I'm not Annie!"

Suddenly, on of the boys knocked over.

"Aooww! What the hell is this?!"

Everyone rushed to him to help him get on his feet again. There was an ordinary box he knocked over.

"Jack, are you okay?"

"Sure, but this box is... I think there must be something strange in it."

"It's a bomb!"

One of the boys put his hand into the box. He pulled a golden statuette, seemingly heavy for a nine-year-old boy.

"Wow, what's this?"

"It must be from gold!"

"What are going to do with it?"

Everyone paused.

"We could sell it! A gram of gold is worth millions of dollars!" Jack exclaimed.

"I don't believe it."

"I can ask my uncle. He has a jewellery shop, he should know."

"But do it... Uhm... Don't tell him we've found it cause then someone else could grab it and claim he was the one that discovered it, okay?"

The boy nodded.

"Okay, everyone has to promise right now they won't tell anyone. Anyone. Not even to siblings. Frankie will ask his uncle and then tell us."

***

The man was reading a newspaper with his large glasses on. Frankie entered the room.

"Uncle, how much... Erm... How much is worth... Uhm... A golden statuette?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I found one with Jack, Randy and Tiffany in -" He suddenly realised he shouldn't have said that and immediately tried to make some things up. He wasn't allowed to go to the dump at the city's outskirts.

"It was... Lying on the ground. In the streets."

His uncle seemed unconvinced.

"Why would a golden statuette lie on the ground, completely unnoticed?"

"Why not? We saw it!"

"Frankie, if there was a golden statuette somewhere on the ground, someone would have noticed it and brought it to me or someone else... I don't think you've seen a real golden statuette. Sure, it could've been bright, in golden colours and so on, but I have seen many of these. They are obviously fake. I don't think anyone would just leave a golden statuette in the streets. What did it look like?"

"Like a man, I think."

"So that wasn't anything extraordinary."

Frankie's face filled with disappointment.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"I thought it would be pure gold and I would make millions of dollars."

"Nephew, you don't want to earn millions of dollars fo nothing, right? You should never do that. Do something serious, something that benefits people. You need to work hard. Many people that win lotteries or just inherit their parents' money just... Go crazy because of that."

"Okay."
 
Frankie got frightened. He knew it must have been that statuette. The statuette. The one they saw seven years ago at the dump.

Was it still there? He didn't know. In fact, just after he told his friends it could have been fake, everyone lost their interest. However, Tiffany had a new set of games, so they found a better activity to delve into.

He was convinced he had to go to the dump and find out. It was late at night, but this couldn't stop him. He grabbed a coat and went out. His parents on night shifts, so he didn't tell anyone.

It was deadly speechless and noiseless outside. Frankie rushed towards the dump. He was determined.

As soon as he entered the field filled with garbage he got lost. How was he supposed to find anything in the darkness? Especially since it was left there seven years ago.

His feet treaded on numerous items. He didn't know where he was going. His hand started searching for a cell phone so that he light the area at least somehow.

His shoulder was touched.

"I'm just dreaming. There's no-one."

"No. There is."

Frankie petrified. Someone walked around him. There was a man with a pale face and dark curly hair.

Frankie tried to step back, but he fell over.

"Why are you here and not at home?" the man asked.

"I'm just searching for something. Let me be!"

"No, Frankie."

"How do you my name?"

He got on his feet again. He became convinced he'd already seen the man somewhere.

"I know everything. You haven't done your homework due tomorrow yet."

Frankie swallowed.

"You are searching for the statuette that belonged to me."

"Wait. Are you... Are you..."

"I'm anything you want me to be."

The man's hair suddenly shortened.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were dead!"

"I am."

"What are you doing here then?"

"I'm here to tell you to leave the item alone."

"Why?"

"Because greed is the worst personal trait. I know you'd hand it to someone. And they'd give you money and recognition for that. But you are just a schoolboy. You haven't grown up yet."

Frankie laughed. "You are kidding me! I'm sixteen!"

"Yes, I know, Frankie. I also know you've treated Tiffany badly. She's been trying hard to fit in. She would play computer games and climb trees, but you'd never fully accept her. You all were afraid of her because you didn't want a girl to be better than you. Now, you are at high school. She tries to fit in the society that looks upon her unfavourably. She doesn't like make-up. She prefers physical activity. She wants to be accepted the way she is. And you don't make it easier for her."

Frankie was silent.

"What's more, you have recently realised you actually like her for that. But you are afraid of showing your affection. You want to be a bad boy because you think that's the way you'll win young women's hearts. Truth be told, you just look silly if you care less about school. You better go home now and finish your homework. And if you are stuck, you better ask Tiffany to help you with it."

"What if she turns me down?"

"How are you supposed to grow up if you can't face a rejection? How are you supposed to hug her if you don't talk to her? How is she supposed to love you if you don't show her respect?"

Frankie was slowly turning to go back home.

"Good night and be a nice boy. Make this world a better place."

The man disappeared. Was it a dream? Frankie didn't know. He just felt cold and thirsty. He needed to get home and do something productive. After all, he could do his homework instead of procrasting at his laptop...
 
Back
Top