Emelia
by: A. L. Grey
A certain little girl lived in a certain little house with her mama, her dad, and her kitten, Alistair. Some people say kittens are the most curious of all, but everyone knew they were no match for Emelia, the resident mystery-seeker in town. At the young age of 7, Emelia decided to uncover all the mysteries in the world the way she thought best: by becoming a detective! Her mama and dad were very supportive; they even bought her her very own detective kit for her birthday. She decided to keep the big box underneath her bed.
Today she pulled it out and grabbed her two favorite implements: a magnifying glass and a flashlight. She had designated Alistair to be her reliable assistant in all matters of mystery, but the real mystery was, where had that cat gone off to?
A black bobbing head of hair was all that could be seen of Emelia as she bounded up the attic stairs. “Alistair! Alistaaaair! We have mysteries to solve!” She surveyed the dim attic, her eyes wide. For possibly the thousandth time in her life she thought, she wished she had the sharp eyes of a feline. She squinted her eyes at the shadows and flipped on her flashlight.
“Meoow!” a kitten cry erupted from behind a cardboard box labeled “Pictures.” Emelia got down on her hands and knees, and very quietly inched her way towards the box. She peered around the corner with her flashlight to find Alistair calmly cleaning his paw.
“There you are!” she exclaimed. She whipped out her magnifying glass and put it close to him, inspecting the very odd-looking habit of Alistair. He peered at her, his spiky pupils staring into hers. She smiled and enveloped him in a big hug.
“Let’s go, reliable assistant!” She stood and was about to leave when a cardboard box labeled “Discoveries” caught her eye. She blinked. Could a box of discoveries have been here the whole time without her knowing it? She set Alistair down and approached the box with the flashlight. “Meow!” cried Alistair, who was obviously in the mood for some lunch.
“Shh, Alistair! Don’t you see the importance of the situation?”
She began to open the flaps of the old box, its edges unfurling as though it had been opened many times before. She shone her flashlight into the box to see an old-looking picture of a little boy in old-fashioned clothes holding up a magnifying glass to his eye. He smiled at her through the picture frame. Who could this be?
Looking through the other items in the box, she found an old journal locked up tight with a tin and a key in it. ‘I bet this’ll tell me who he is,’ she thought. Pulling out the key, she put it in the lock of the journal, only to find that it didn’t fit. Disappointed, she put the key back in its tin. Alistair meowed at her, looking expectant. Well, of course she wasn’t going to give up now. She just needed a little help from mama.
Down the stairs and into the living room she went, where her mother was writing her latest novel. Emelia pulled the sleeves of her shirt down where they had rolled up. Before Emelia could speak, her mother said, “Yes Emelia?” Emelia stopped, frozen. Figuring out how mamas could see without actually looking at things was something she intended to figure out one day.
Her mother turned around in her office chair, knowing that one of Emelia’s many questions was coming. She hoped today would be different. Emelia smiled, holding the items behind her back.
“What do you have there, honey?” her mother asked.
“Take a look at this!” Emelia said excitedly. As she presented the picture of the little boy and the journal, her mother’s eyes dimmed.
“Do you know who this little boy is?” Emelia asked. “I think I might’ve found his journal, too!”
“Oh, well, that’s your grandfather, honey. He . . . doesn’t look familiar to you?” mama asked. Emelia’s dark eyes showed that this was new to her.
“Nope! I was going to figure it out myself . . . but I decided that a little help from you couldn’t hurt.” Her mama smiled sadly and proceeded to tell her everything about her grandfather, who was indeed the first detective in the family.
—
The sun began to set. Emelia’s mother was in the kitchen, heaping Emelia’s favorite food onto three white plates; chicken tenders and cheesy macaroni. Tim walked in the side door to the savory aroma of a dinner that signaled tonight’s events. It had been on his mind all day. The treatments were getting so lengthy. They didn’t know it would go on this long. He came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her.
“Hey, Sher,” he smiled at his wife. She mustered a half-smile and kissed him.
“No change today?” he asked. Sherry turned back to the counter, fixing the meal on the plate into a smiley face. “No change”, she whispered.
—
At the dinner table, Emelia insisted on having Alistair on her lap. Mama warned that he’d get hair in her favorite food; Daddy said Alistair was probably filthy from today’s detective business.
“It’s only been the first day of detective work, Daddy! He can’t be that bad,” she insisted. They relented, and she dug into the meal. Her father cleared his throat and said:
“Hey hon, tonight we’re gonna go on a little car ride somewhere. Would you like that?”
Emelia hesitated.
“Well, I did want to look for some more of Grandpa’s old things”, she forked at her macaroni.
“It’ll be an adventure, Emmy.”
She smiled at that.
“Okay! Where are we going?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see, dear,” her mama said. Figuring she’d been on a roll today and excited at the prospect of another mystery, she took a bite of the crispy chicken. She decided it would be her favorite meal.
—
It looked like a circular spaceship with a hard, cold bed attached to it. This was not the adventure she thought it would be. She was nervous and wished she had Alistair with her. They were telling her she had to lay on the bed for a few minutes; it really wouldn’t take that long. It would be over before she knew it and after, maybe they could all get some ice cream. The bed would zip her into the spaceship for a little bit and then out. It would help the men in the white suits figure out their very own mystery, they said. Didn’t she want to help them out like mama helped her today?
Knowing the horrible feeling of not being able to figure out the mystery, Emelia relented and let them put her on the bed. They covered her with a sheet and told her to lie perfectly still. She still wasn’t sure what this was helping them figure out but she remembered her mama’s words to be patient. They left the room and the machine started up. The bed began to move, slowly, into the opening of the tunnel. Everything was so bright, she closed her eyes. Feeling the walls around her, she wished again for Alistair.
—
“We don’t understand. There’s virtually no change this week. I’m sorry, we really thought this medication would be the right one.” the doctor spoke to Sherry while Emelia slept in her arms.
“Look, we’ve been paying a lot of money for these treatments and besides having to terrify our daughter with this scan over and over, now you’re telling me none of the medications have made any difference?” Tim shook with anger.
“It’s not for lack of trying, Mr. Barrow. We’re closer than before. I’m already thinking of some things we haven’t tried yet. It will just take some more time, but I assure you, Emelia will get her memory back.”
Sherry traced the fading stitches on Emelia’s head. Emelia’s chest moved up and down with quiet breath. “It’s been two months,” Sherry said, her eyes getting teary. “When will I see my little girl grow up inside? Her clothes are starting to get smaller. How can I explain that she’s grown two months’ time in one day when we get her new clothes?”
The doctor looked down. “I really am sorry.”
Sherry went on. “It was so quick. She was so excited about the new detective kit we’d gotten her the day before on her birthday and she couldn’t wait to use it. She ran outside with her magnifying glass, and just tripped over that stupid stump, and her head bust open like that–” Sherry dissolved into tears.
Tim quieted her, and the doctor began to brainstorm again, dedicated to recovering her child’s memory. He wouldn’t let a little girl live one day over and over forever.
—
The sun rose bright and early. Sleepy-eyed, Emelia looked out her window to see the rays spread across the field next door. Suddenly, she remembered her new detective kit! She scrambled to the floor, got out the box from underneath the bed and pulled out her brand new magnifying glass. What mystery would she solve today?