child’s play ⊚ nicholas and roxy
the last hour had been a living nightmare. roxy had been shuffling around in the snow, her boots soaked and fingers nearly purple from the layer of snow that had covered the dirt walkways of the camp. winter had settled in, blanketing the camp in a glaze of peace that roxy had contemplated trying to capture that morning using some colored pencils during the kid’s art session.
natalia lowe had gone missing shortly after that, during a game of hide and seek.
since then, with the help of natalia’s 12-year-old sister ginny, roxy had knocked on every door, searched every thicket, and harassed every passerby. she’s got to be here somewhere, roxy told herself. she’s a small girl but this is a small camp... but with every minute that passed, roxy grew more and more frantic. she was running out of places to look.
she had been pacing outside the cabin for a good moment, trying to collect her thoughts on how to present the situation. there wasn’t p o s s i b l y any way that natalia could have left the camp, right? there were armed guards posted at the entrance, and since the start of the season, they had gotten an exodus of newcomers that had stumbled upon the enclosed haven... plenty of people should have seen a six-year-old in an orange hat.
“crap,” she murmured under her breath. with every moment that passed, it was another second that natalia would be spending cold and alone. swallowing the lump in her throat and striding up to the door, roxy gave a timid knock. then, more urgently, she tried again.
“nicholas!” she yelled, her soft voice cracking from the dry air (or was it fear?...). “please, are you in there?”
