Is this a joke? (scene 8)

I turn the car around the corner and speed up, flipping the button down for the window. Droplets of rain hiding inside the rubber insole drip into the car, splashing my hand.

'Tara.' I turn off the road and forcefully park up onto the kerb. I push my way out of the car, slamming the door behind me still shouting her name, but she just keeps walking. I run up the hill separating the path to the shops and chase after her.

'Tara' I say, hugging her to make sure she is real. Tara's arms hang limply by her sides. I let her go and look her over.

'Where have you been?' Her curly, brown hair is more static than ever. Her thin physique holds up her clothes, damp from the rain and streaked with mud—giving her skin an even darker appearance. The vacant look in her eyes scares me the most. She's looking at me like she doesn't know who I am. Worse, she's looking at me like she is scared.

'Tara, where have you been? We've been so worried, your mum and dad, Dean. We've all been going out of our minds.' She pushes my arms away , tucking hers around herself viewing the ground.

'What's wrong? Where have you been?' I pull out my phone and call her parents. They turn up like they've been in the next street. Tara's dad smashes his car onto the path, leaving it running. Her mum is the first out, dashing to hug Tara in the same way I did, with urgency, with relief. They stand like a tripod for a while. Tara answers none of her parent's questions, instead she trembles and starts to hyperventilate.

'Lets get you to the hospital,' her mum urges. I run to my car to follow them. I call my Mum.

'I've just found Tara.' I choke out. Mum's voice fills me with comfort. 'She's acting really strange.'

'Maybe she's in shock?' Mum suggests. 'The main thing is she's safe now. I'll meet you at the hospital.'

I call Dean.

'Get real Reilly.' He doesn't believe me for a long time. When it sinks in, eventually, he squeaks something about the hospital and the line goes dead. I concentrate on the road, trying not to put my foot down. So many thoughts enter my head about Tara. The biggest ones being: what has happened to her, and where the hell has she been all of this time?

#Reilly #Tara #Family #Reunited