16

 "Mother! Mother! ..." My sister shouted as she walked round the house. Diane also joined in calling my mother's name. 'I wonder what happened. 'I thought as I stood up from my bed and went downstairs to meet them.

"What is wrong?" I asked as I walked towards the fridge.

"Your mother is missing. Your sister is looking for her but there is no progress. Her phone is also switched off. "Diane replied.

"I am afraid something is going on with mother. What are we going to do?" Lily panted.

"I am sure she is fine, it is not that she is a kid. She might just go out for a stroll, don't you think?" Diane asked me. I seemed not to understand why they were all asking me. Someone told me that was what to expect if you were the only boy in the house.

"Yes sure. She would be fine. I will try going out the streets to look for her. "I replied. My aim was to drink a bottle of water, but it turned out that there was a change in plan.

"Alright, hurry." They said like they were expecting me to say so. I went out on a lookout for my mother. I went to her salon but ended up being smiled at by one of the apprentices. I went to a famous supermarket in the town but could not find her. I really did walk that day but I did not see any personality who looked anything like her. I ended up going back home to report the situation. But more than any other thing, I was relaxed. I knew the type of mother I had, she was the type that would chase money no matter what, but won't work. Maybe she was out with some guy who promised her funds.

"You could not find her. Did you go to all the places she frequently visit? "Lily asked. I nodded.

"Should we not report this to the police? She did not come home last night and she is nowhere to be found now. "Diane suggested.

"No. We can't declare anyone missing until twenty four hours. Let's wait till this night. "I replied.

"Who cares about that law? We can just tell them she has been missing since yesterday. We won't just say the time. "Lily said.

"I am sure mother is fine. We might be disturbing ourselves like this while she is somewhere enjoying her life. You know her kind. "I said. All I wanted was to drink water.

"I think Ewan has a point. Mother might be doing fine. How about we relax and wait for her?" Diane said. She was also tired of looking for her, judging by her tone.

"Alright. How about we pray?" Diane asked. I moved two steps backwards.

"What do you mean? We don't even have a religion. Who are we praying to?" I asked.

"My boyfriend is Buddhist. He told me that anytime things are hard, either or not we believe in the god, we should at least have faith. Let's do that. "She replied. I could not believe what she said. I and Diane looked at each other in worry. 

"You two can pray. I will be in my room. "I said as I decided to leave giving up on water. Lily went over to drag me to sit.

"Wait. Even if we want to pray to Buddha, is there not something we would say?" Diane asked pointing at the empty space in front of her.

"I don't know."

"How about we try Hinduism? I heard it is pretty cool. "Diane said. I was getting sick of the whole thing.

"How do they pray?" My sister asked.

"I don't know. I just heard they are cool. Oh! How about Islam? I heard their prayer is easy. "She said.

"I think they have a bead stuff in their hands. And I don't know the Qur'an. "She replied. The both of them were really something, right?

"Christianity? I don't know how they pray but I heard it is pretty easy. "Diane said again. I understood the fact that she knew many religions but how could she not research them up and know how they pray?

"Hey. Say something you know. If it's easy, just explain it. "

"Excuse me, are you doing this to save time? I mean choosing various religions does not mean faith. You have to believe in one. "I said to them.

"Look at you talking like you brought any ideas." Lily snapped at me.

"I am just thinking we should go sit down and say some words of prayer to ourselves without causing an argument here. And you have a phone, instead of asking, why can't you research it up?" I asked as I finally went ahead to take my bottle of water. My sister and Diane stared at the phone beside them.

"We are dumb." Diane said. Lily nodded. As I was about to open my bottle of water, mother entered.

"Mom." I shouted and went towards her.

"Where did you go to?" Lily asked her.

"We have been worried." Diane concluded. My mother just looked at the three of us, and walked away to cook breakfast. Like seriously? Was that the mother I had to stress myself to look for?

"Mother. Say something." My sister said as she followed her. Mother sighed and smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Diane asked as she sat on the floor.

"I saw your father today. He is still hot even in his prison uniform. "My mother finally said as she bit her thumb.

"Mom. Are you sure you are okay? I thought something happened to you. You spent the night with dad." Lily asked.

"Interesting!" I said as I sat on a stool near Diane.

"What is so bad in seeing my husband? And you, I can't believe you could not cook. You are twenty six. Go to your husband's house. "She smirked. Sometimes, my mother could be funny. Adamantly funny!

"We really thought you went missing. We almost reported to the police. "Diane said in a baby voice. I looked at her with a 'are you crazy? 'Kind of expression.

"Listen. I am forty and I can't go out? Are you guys seriously kidding me?" She shouted. Before I knew it, Diane started laughing and shouting awesome! For a minute, we thought something was off with her until...

"Your mother gave birth to Lily at fourteen." Then, I got the reason. I smirked but my mother's expression changed to anger. I did not know how well Diane could run, but I am pretty sure my mother caught up to her and gave her what she deserved.

I finally opened my bottle of water and drank it. What an hassle!