The phone rang once, then a second time, and continued until voicemail picked up and took a message. Donna was lost in her own world, and the phone’s ringing had not intruded. She was painting the walls in Kevin’s room and wondering if she would ever really see him again. Don had been so patient with her ever since Kevin’s abduction eight years ago, but she knew he was worried about her and her fixation on keeping Kevin’s room ready for his return. He was their only child, and now Don was becoming more insistent on them trying to have another. If no children were to be in their future, he felt they should turn the room into a den. The room had been kept as a nursery. Now she was turning it into a room that would fit a nine-year-old boy. Don would be angry that she continued to live with the fantasy of Kevin’s imminent return. If asked why she obsessed about the room, she could not explain it. She only knew it had something to do with the dreams she had experienced ever since Kevin was taken.
Her world was shattered the day someone stole her baby, and she was still trying to pick up the pieces. Kevin had been sleeping peacefully in his stroller as she window-shopped at the mall while waiting to meet Don for lunch. She had turned her attention from the stroller to a window display momentarily, but when she looked back, Kevin was gone, and her stroller was empty. She still remembered each detail as if it just happened. She screamed and then started to cry. She searched frantically. Both the mall security and the police were on the scene in a matter of moments. The mall was thoroughly searched, and the security tapes were reviewed over and over, but there was no explanation for Kevin’s disappearance. No ransom note was ever received; it was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth.
A month after his disappearance, the dreams started. They weren’t really dreams but more like visions. At first, they came to her while asleep, but later she would see them in her mind whenever she felt totally relaxed. No one ever spoke, but there were sounds that she could not identify. There were visions of things that she had never seen, and the world seemed strange with a pink sky and two small suns. The visions had become more real within the last month with a blue sky, one sun, and surroundings reminding her of the desert.
Her phone rang again, but this time, the caller hung up whenever it went to voicemail and then called right back. The constant ringing finally broke through to Donna; she set the paint roller down and picked up the phone. As she picked it up, she noticed a new voicemail indication and wondered how long it had been there.
“Hello” She said.
“Donna are you all right?” her husband asked.
“Yes Don, I was just painting Kevin’s room and didn’t hear the phone”
“Have you talked to Joe Bloom?”
“No, I haven’t spoken to anyone all morning but there is a message on my phone. Should I listen to it?”
“Not right now. I spoke to him a few minutes ago, and he wants to see us as soon as possible. I’m on my way to pick you up. I’ll see you in five.”
“Ok, I’ll be ready.” She said distractedly. “I love you.”
“Love you too, honey.”
Joe Bloom was Detective Joe Bloom, the lead detective handling Kevin’s disappearance. While he had tried to keep in touch with them, their contact had become a brief phone call every couple of months with nothing new to report. It had been two years since they had seen him face to face. She wondered why he wanted to see them, and then it hit her. They must have finally found Kevin’s body. Her world went black.
A few minutes later, Don walked into the house to find Donna on the floor.
“Dear? Donna? Are you all right?” he asked.
“Don? I don’t know what happened. I guess I fainted when I realized that the only reason he would want to see us is if they had found Kevin’s body.”
“I know it seems that way, honey but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s take it one step at a time and try not to anticipate what he wants to see us about.”
“Yes, Don, I’ll try. Ok, let’s go.”
The drive to the police station was very quiet. Neither wanted to talk about what they feared they would hear, and talking about their day seemed inconsequential, so they rode in silence, holding hands as Don drove.
Joe met them at the front desk and led them down the pale green hallways to the detective bureau and his desk. With each step she took down the corridors, Donna felt as if she was going to her execution. Joe’s desk was in the far right corner of the big room that provided desk space for the detectives. Currently, about half the desks were occupied, and everyone seemed to be on the phone. Joe got them seated and then sat behind his desk.
“It’s very seldom that I get to deliver good news on this job, but I’ve got some for you today,” Joe said. “Kevin’s been found, and he’s alive.”
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the dam burst. Both Don and Donna started firing questions at Joe as fast as possible. Joe laughed, got them calmed down, and then explained the events of the past week to them. Two hikers were attempting a five-day trek through the desert, and three days into their hike, they came upon a little boy walking in the middle of nowhere. This was seven days ago. The boy had blond, almost white hair, very fair skin, and was entirely naked. He was not sunburned or appeared to be in any physical distress and seemed to have a purpose in the direction he was traveling. The hikers immediately gave him some clothes and water, but they had to help him put on the clothes. They said he seemed confused regarding their purpose. They called the local 911, and a helicopter was sent to pick them up. During the ride to the hospital, the hikers told the EMT’s the boy had seemed unconcerned with his predicament ever since they met him, and his peaceful nature seemed to calm their concerns. He seemed bright and inquisitive but did not seem to understand what they were saying. He could make noises but didn’t seem to communicate verbally. Once at the hospital, the child was checked out thoroughly by the medical staff and was in perfect health. Since everyone was having problems communicating with the boy and since he was obviously a missing person, both the police and the doctors agreed that it would be best to keep him secluded in a private room at the hospital until everything could be sorted out. The FBI was called in, and police departments were contacted to find a missing person case that might shed some light on this found child. Joe had been contacted three days ago, and when it was determined that there was a possible age match, the FBI asked if Joe had a DNA sample they could use for testing. Joe had been informed of the positive results less than two hours ago, and now they knew as much as he did. Joe then told them that the FBI had said they would make a plane available to fly them to their son and to bring him home, but as much as they wanted to rush to their son’s side, they knew instinctively it would be best to call as little attention to this as possible. Don asked to borrow Joe’s phone, and within a few minutes, Don and Donna had reservations on the next flight. They thanked Joe and headed for the airport.
They agreed it would be best to keep the events of the next few hours as low-key as possible on the trip. They knew they would have to deal with the media and those vultures from the reality shows that always wanted to use someone’s misery to make money and to further their warped view of the world but not today, not on what could be one of the happiest days of their life.
When they arrived at the hospital, they met with the local police and the hospital staff. They thanked everyone for their efforts, and then one of the doctors led them to their son’s room. As they walked, he cautioned them to be prepared for some unusual feelings that might be overwhelming. He said he had never encountered anyone like Kevin and that while Kevin had been here, he brought happiness to everyone he met. Approaching Kevin’s room, they saw a crowd gathered around the door with a constant stream of people going in and out. They were struck by a powerful sense of being totally loved as they entered the room, and the feeling was almost palpable. The people in the room stepped aside, and there in the middle stood a small boy with a beaming smile. He was not speaking any words, but he was uttering noises that somehow acted to soothe the concerns of everyone who heard him. Donna almost fainted; they were the sounds from her visions.
Somehow the news media had discovered that something very unusual was occurring at the hospital. There were many media representatives in front of the hospital when they arrived, and so it had been decided they would leave through the hospital’s loading dock area. Once they were safely away from the area, the hospital authorities and the police would hold a joint news conference. The return home with their son was uneventful, with Don and Donna basking in the glow of having their son with them again and Kevin sitting between them totally at peace. Don and Donna felt as if the three of them were in a cocoon, filled with love and protected from all the cares of the world. When they walked into the house, Donna decided to check the long-forgotten voicemail on her phone. Expecting to hear Joe Bloom’s voice so she could erase the message, it was a shock when it wasn’t Joe’s voice she heard. It was the voice of a small boy, and it said, “Hi Mom, I’m back.”
She turned to see Kevin in the doorway, beaming from ear to ear.
“I thought you couldn’t talk.” She said
“A week ago, I didn’t know how to communicate in this manner,” Kevin responded. “I’ve been watching TV every chance I got during the past week and have learned your language.”
“But how did you communicate as you’ve been growing up?”
“Where I’ve been, we communicate directly, mind to mind.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been sending you images of what I saw ever since I learned how to communicate. It’s very easy. All you have to do is relax your mind.”
“Don, would you come here please?” Donna called loudly.
“Yes dear,” Don said, walking into the room.
“I think we both need to hear what Kevin has to say.”