Locked Out- Short Story

Locked Out
By Samantha Silver

It was a typical weekday morning. Alexandra’s mother had left for work before the sun came up. Alexandra and her older sister, Sarah, finished their cereal together, and then the elder was off walking to the neighborhood elementary school. Alexandra did not attend that school. Having been too young to enter its kindergarten class at four, her mother decided to send her to a private school so that she could be pushed ahead. She was now in the second grade.
Alexandra’s father left for work at 7:30 am, the same time she was usually picked up by the van that took her to and from school. This morning it was now 7:40 am, and the bus had yet to arrive. Although she was too young to be home alone, her father could not risk being late for work. “I hate to leave you, sweetheart, but Daddy has to go.” He said.
“I’ll be okay,” she replied.
He locked the door from the inside, told Alex to wait behind the screen door, and then to slam the main door when she went out for the van. He kissed her on the forehead and exited the house through the garage.
A few minutes passed. Alex waited, breathing heavily and leaving fog on the now-glass enclosed screen door. Her father took the screens out and inserted the glass windows by himself every fall. An arduous task for most, he did this with all the windows in the house. Finally, Alexandra saw a van pulling onto her street. Following her father’s instructions, she put on her backpack and stepped outside, slamming the door behind her.
Alexandra walked down the driveway as the van approached. Before she knew it, the van continued straight past her house. Alex had a moment of confusion, “Why didn’t it stop?” Her confusion quickly turned to panic. “Should I have run? Did the driver not see me? Was that even my van?”
With a halting gait, she went back to the porch in a daze. She stared very closely at the end of the block where the van usually pulled onto her street. The chill, February morning was starting to affect the second-grader. She zipped up her coat and continued to wait.
Even as a little girl with no watch, Alexandra began to realize that a significant amount of time had passed since her father left. She now knew the van was not coming. An amalgam of emotions filled her head. First came fear. Was this her fault? She did not want her parents to be mad. Before she knew it, her eyes were swelling with tears. Alex was overcome with worry. Would she be alone all day?
She walked out onto the driveway and looked around. She wondered if there was anywhere she could go to seek help. Perhaps she could go to a neighbor’s house? Maybe she should walk to her sister’s school down the street? With each thought, she became more scared. If Alex knew one thing, it was to not talk to strangers. She suddenly realized she wasn’t going anywhere. As mad as her mother might be at her for missing school, Alex knew her mom would be proud if she didn’t talk to strangers. Back to the porch she went, this time deciding to sit on the old, peeling bench. Her father put cushions on it during the summer months, but left it in its bare condition during the winter. It made for an uncomfortable waiting spot.
The wind picked up briskly. Alexandra did not have a key to the house, nor did she know where one might be hidden. She put her hands in her pockets and buried her head in her chest to keep warm. Each time a car passed, she ducked down so as not to be seen. She had her lunch to eat, as well as her favorite book to read. She knew if she could just make it through the day without being seen, everything would be okay.
After reading her book for about an hour, suddenly a large brown truck pulled up and parked in front of the little girl’s home. Alexandra panicked. Her first instinct was to jump off the bench and hide in the bushes, but it was too late. She had been spotted. Having no choice, she sat down and waited for the large man, who exited the truck wearing a brown uniform, carrying a package.
Alexandra was frightened. Her plan to avoid strangers was about to be challenged.
“Sign for this.” The large man said gruffly. He was wearing shorts in thirty degree weather. Alexandra noted to herself how odd that was, and that he must be cold. She also noticed that he smelled fowl.
“I can’t.” She said. Not really sure how else to respond.
The man paused for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and then turned around to walk back down the driveway. Alex watched with trepidation. She thought for sure he would come back.
Phew. A huge sigh of relief as Alexandra watched the man toss the package back into the truck and drive away.
Alexandra smiled to herself. Maybe she could take care of herself? For lack of a better activity, she decided to go into her backpack and take out her brown paper lunch bag. Her mother had drawn a flower on it today. Alexandra knew this could only mean one thing, a special lunch. Sure enough, inside the bag, next to her sandwich, was a Blow Pop. “Wow,” she thought. “This is the best lunch!” Alexandra’s mother was not one to give sweets in her lunch bag. In fact, their house had been a sugar-free establishment. Save for the occasional soda on Friday nights, Alexandra only had sugary foods when she went to a friend’s house.
Alex went straight for the delicious cherry lollipop, despite knowing that it was intended to be eaten after her sandwich. The piece of gum inside it was icing on the cake. Although, Alex learned quickly how fast the gum lost its flavor; so she spit the gum into a piece of the brown bag.
Satisfied, she wondered how to pass the remaining hours. Just then, she saw the mailman walking up to her driveway. Feeling a bit braver than before, and perhaps still glowing from her treat, Alexandra decided not to hide. He walked up to the porch and handed her the mail. “No school today?” asked the mailman.
“My mom picked me up early. She’s just inside.” Alex quickly retorted, hoping she sounded believable.
“Oo-kay.” He responded. “You take care now.”
“He must know I’m lying. What if he calls someone?” She thought. But as she watched the mailman continue on his route, she knew she’d had another success.
The wind was increasing, and the little girl started to get chilly. Thinking some movement might help, she crept through the bushes that lined the side of the porch and ran to the backyard. The expansive, flat backyard only proved to be windier and a lot colder. Mission aborted. Alexandra backtracked and returned to the safety of her bench.
This time she laid down in the fetal position, trying to keep herself as warm as possible. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
Alexandra woke to the sound of cars passing by and children in the street. She sat up and noticed several children walking with backpacks on. Her sister’s school must have let out for the day, she thought. She got up and began running down the street, looking at all the children, searching for her sister.
Finally, she spotted the white puffy coat. “Sarah! Sarah!” She screamed. Alexandra ran as fast as she could to catch up to her sister.
“Alexandra? What are you doing here?”
“My van never came. I’ve been outside all day.” She mustered the words out in between heavy breaths and newly formed tears.
“Oh my god, really? Are you okay?” Sarah questioned.
Just then, the mother of one of the girls Sarah was walking with approached. Sarah quickly explained the situation to her. “Do you have a key, Sarah?” asked the concerned mother.
“Yes,” said Sarah, holding up the red string around her neck that had the house key attached to the end of it.
“Well, let’s get your sister inside then. I’ll stay until your mom gets home.”
The events of the next hour were a whirlwind for Alexandra. Hot water was boiled. She was served hot chocolate, sugar free of course. There was a slough of questions, including the most obvious. “Why didn’t you knock on anyone’s door?”
“I was home all day.” The neighbor mom said. “You should have come by!”
Alexandra felt a bit foolish; however, she still thought she had done the right thing. She wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers and certainly was not to go into someone’s house without her mother knowing.
As soon as Alexandra’s mother arrived, Alex felt much better. “You’re bright red! Oh my god. If you are sick, that school will pay!” Her mother was infuriated. No sooner than she had hugged Alex, was she on the phone with the school’s principal. There was a lot of yelling and a lot of name calling. “She’s seven!... The van absolutely did not come… You’d better hope she does not get sick… I’m so glad you made a pile of missing work.” Alexandra did not understand the sarcasm in her mother’s final comment.
Once her mother calmed down, she took Alex upstairs and gave her a hot bath. She then gave her some flannel pajamas to put on and lent Alexandra her terry cloth bathrobe. Alex loved wearing her mom’s robe. It went past her feet and was so warm and soothing.
When Alexandra’s father came home, the first thing he did was head out to the locksmith to make Alex her very own copy of the house key. The family then ordered a pizza with extra cheese, Alexandra’s favorite. Alex’s mom even put out a bottle of regular soda… and a lollipop for dessert.