Johanna Questing 1- Lost
Prompt
Your bean has lost something/someone dear to them. How do they react/cope?
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She sighs and gazes out into the woodland, looking but not seeing. How many nights has she spent out here, how many hours has she sat awake, watching and waiting. Too many to know for sure. It’s been months but time has little meaning for her anymore.
She got another call from Eden today, she’s concerned but Johanna assured her that she’s alright. That he’s alright. He’s alright. Something just came up with the organization again, he’ll take care of it. He’ll be home soon. He always comes home, and she’ll wait for him like she always has.
The moon is already on it’s downward descent, that couldn’t be right, surely the night just started? The crickets still sing their song along with the owls, they help calm her nerves which have steadily grown bad over the course of months.
She takes a sip of tea.
It’s lonely in this house without him; all the kids have grown and moved away, and she was fine with it. Being alone is nothing new to her, in fact she rather enjoyed it, preferred it even. She could bake and sing and be herself without company. There’s plenty to keep her busy, and when she’s not the sounds of the countryside are calm and welcoming, she could spend hours out here eyes closed and simply listening.
But this is different, the quiet is missing something. Someone. It’s not the lack of sounds that bothers her, but the absence of it. The absence of hushed breathing beside her, of the soft creak of the other wooden rocking chair. Call her crazy but there’s a difference you can tell when someone is missing, even if they’re not making a sound, somehow, someway, you can still tell they’re there.
But there’s nothing but emptiness now, there’s been nothing but emptiness for months. A steady ache has grown in her heart, dulling as time has gone on. He promised to come back to her like he always does. He’s always come back, no matter how hard it became. Maybe the organization found out about them and he’s taking care of them. He’s protecting her, as he always has.
The phone rings from inside the house and she pretends to ignore it, keeping her eyes trained on the woods before her. She cant let herself be distracted in case he’s hurt and needs help, she has to be there for him when he comes back.
The phone rings again. Perhaps there were some loose ends he forgot to take care of last time. He made sure to kill the leader, but maybe there were others he missed that are causing problems. He always said that the organization, and all who were in it, were dangerous. He never would give her any details but she could read between the lines well enough. The scars he bared were enough to tell her stories for a lifetime. Maybe that’s what he’s doing, taking care of them. He has to protect her after all, otherwise they’ll kill her. So he’s staying out there so long for her sake, to make sure there are no more threats.
The phone rings again.
This time she sits her tea down and heads inside, picking up the phone only to immediately hang it up before heading back outside and retaking her seat in her rocking chair. She takes a sip of tea.
Blessedly she sits there for a while in silence, watching as pink starts to color the sky above the trees as the sun slowly begins to wake up for a new day. The crickets and owls still sing their songs, but beyond them she faintly hears the sound of gravel and dirt crunching, then the soft squeak of a car coming to a halt.
Johanna isn’t the least surprised when she hears footsteps behind her and a sigh.
“You didn’t answer when I called.” her good friend Eden says behind her, and Jo doesn’t have to see her to know she wears a scowl on her face.
“I apologize, I didn’t hear the phone ring.”
Eden doesn’t respond, instead coming to take a seat beside Jo in the vacant rocking chair. They sit in silence for a long while, both watching the steady rise of the sun.
“Have you had breakfast yet?”
“I have tea.”
“What about a bagel or muffin? Some eggs?”
“I’ll get myself something here in a while.”
Eden frowns at her friend, who during this time has yet to look at her.
“He’s not coming ba-” “DON'T SAY THAT.”
Eden merely blinks, looking tired.
“Jo please it’s been 3 months you have to-”
“HE’S COMING BACK.” Jo yells, sleep deprived eyes narrowed in a glare. “He always does.”
Jo finishes off the last of her tea and harshly sets the cup on the table beside her before curling up in her chair, still looking outward. The air falls silent again though the air seems to buzz with invisible tension.
“He’s coming back…..”
The whisper was so soft it was almost lost in the early morning breeze and Eden looks over to her friend, frown finally breaking into a look of hurt. She reaches over and takes Jo’s hand in her own as tears begin to pour down Jo’s face.