Her parents had been supportive yet lost, they sat nodding, asking questions but waiting for that ray of information that would alleviate the fog and bring back the clarity of sunlight. As she sat watching them It was if they felt she had the answers but was holding back, as if this was somehow down to her. On walking upstairs she had even caught her mother looking in the under sink cupboard, as if she expected Charlie to spring out shouting ‘Boo Nana’.

She knew none of it made sense to anyone. None of it made sense to her, how can two people; two living, breathing and laughing people just disappear, just transform into two quivering puddles. The puddles were what upset and confused her the most, there was no trail of water from the bathroom, there were no piles of clothes or wet towels, there were just two perfectly circular puddles of water, one large, one small, side by side on the hall carpet.

She sat there looking at them now, her mother had done her best to clear the water, dabbing with old newspapers, soaking up her missing family. Were they there now amongst the lines of mindless print, would Shane be happy now he was truly at one with the Sports Section? The idea of Shane in liquid form  happily seeping through the print of the football pages  made her smile and lifted her spirits slightly. She gave a little shake of her head as if trying to dislodge the thought, now was not the time for frivolity, her husband and child were missing, and although she could not reach out and touch a practical explanation, to consider them transformed somehow into puddles was ludicrous.