Or did I just imagine it?

The door made a squeaking noise and the officer’s head popped from outside,his uniform touching lightly the handle and making the keys dangle loudly at his side.I quickly tucked my head in,adopting the if-i-can’t-see-you-you-can’t-see-me approach.I was redly ashamed that I was here in the first place and couldn’t bring myself to look the man in the eyes.

“You’re not in trouble.”I could hear the smile in his hoarse voice so I raised my head,still I looked intently at something above his head,which was quite high since he was one of the tallest people I have ever seen.”Your friend made a statement”,he continued.

“Then what do you want from me?”my voice didn’t sound like it belonged to me,then again I wasn’t really focused on what was said,instead I kept fidgeting uncontrollably with my sweaty hands.

“A kid went missing and you two happened to be near the place he was last seen.We want to ask you some question so that we can try and find him.Is that ok?”

I nodded my head,visibly relieved,while he took a seat and lowered some forms that I didn’t even notice were brought onto the table in front of me.He announced,no longer smiling “We need to know what happened that day.Start from why you were near the dock.”

I blinked a few times at him before starting:”Me and Jacob had just taken an exam that morning and wanted to loosen up at the local coffee shop.”As I mentioned that,the police officer(whoose name,Scott, was written on a card sewed neatly on his jacket)grimaced and rubbed his chin,but didn’t utter a single word despite looking uncomfortable.

The breeze was a welcoming distraction from the train of thought that was literally railing in our minds.It was about one thing that had been eating me up all morning:the math exam.I had been up with the lark and still couldn’t find a way to be just as deinterested as that bird.None of us had said anything from the moment we exited the exam hall,but we somehow agreed on eating at our favourite diner.When we got there though,we realised it was closed.

“We walked in silence and when we reached the shop’s doors we bumped into one of the staff and she told us that their coffee machine wasn’t working.Jacob then suggested going to the ice cream parlour near the docks.”

“Ok.”he muttered,letting out a big sigh.”Continue.”

“I wasn’t really dissapointed because I felt like an ice cream cone could really help us.We started talking after I got the first taste of my chocolate desert and we stayed there sitting on a bench  until the sun set.”

The ice cream parlour,the one with a view of docked vessels,seagulls and the shore had the most amazing treats in town.What I liked the most about this place was its ability to lift up anyone’s spirits.The berthing facility in the sorroundings was made of concrete and sheet steel piling used as a retaining wall,topped with a platform for cargo,but it always had more teenagers and elderly people(no in between) wandering there than boats and captains.The birds chirping in the area were in tune with this fringed with joy picture,adding to its colours,lights,smells and laughs.

The exceedingly bubbly atmosphere of it all urged us to talk about happy times,whilst Jacob ordered two cups of strawberry ice cream with vanilla beans for each of us.

We ate our ice creams on a bench making up backstories for everyone we saw.The funniest of them all was that of a young man strolling a little too faster on the pavement and supposedly chasing his dreams.Actually,what got me laughing was Jacob’s laugh at his own joke,but I think I would have laughed for no apparent reason anyway thanks to the sugary high in our system.

When we finished our desserts,we decided to take goofy photos and the thrill we got from seeing older people grumble under their breath at witnessing such “scandalous poses” was to die for.Afterwards,we simply sat down on the edge of the platform gazing at the water below.Its sapphire-like surface revealed slightly distorted faces of a young girl and boy smiling uncounciously.

At some point,Jacob had to take a phone call because he couldn’t keep ignoring his mother and took off.I havent’s seen him dissapear so out of the blue,but I found myself miraculously alone,analysing the sky.The unfathomable sun,a red ball sinking beneath the horizon and turning the calm waters into liquid rust,gave the threat of great anguish and alienation.

“Didn’t you do anything else besides watching the sun?”Officer Scott had a unfamiliar glint in his eyes.The question confused me and I furrowed my eyebrows.As if on cue,my memory started to get hazy and I couldn’t quite grasp what was required of me.

“Listen,you have to be honest with me”

“I am.Jacob had to get back to his mother and I called my brother to pick me up.”I said shakily,adding:”I don’t remember anything else.”He quirked his brow and asked calmly:”Why did you lie about the coffee shop?”

“What coffee shop?”

“You said that after the exam your plan was to relax there.”

Then he lost me.I didn’t mention any coffee shops,right?

“Didn’t I say bakery?”My high-pitched voice sounded so out of place and the discrepancy of my memories threatened to freeze me in amber.

He looked just as confused as me,but he was also the one to break the defeaning silence:”Your friend told us you initially wanted to eat at the diner,you told me you went to the coffee shop and now you’re telling me about a bakery.”Scott leaned forward looking me dead in the eye.He licked his lips and said deliberately:”Try to remember.”

At that point,my mind went completely blank and...what was my name again?

“Did you see anything out of the ordinary about the boats docked there?”He tried to stir up the conversation again,but to no avail.I opened my mouth and the man looked expectantly at me.The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife,still thicker was the silence upon us.I was almost certain I could hear my own heartbeat and its metronome wasn’t exactly steady.The booming was furious until I focused my brain again on the docking.The picture I had formed in my mind was still shadowy and blurry,but I could make out a frail silhouette.

The light was dimming and I could no longer see other people.That had woken me up from my awake slumber and I shot up from the pavement.There were two boats left and it looked like no one was there to fend for them.I squinted my eyes to take a closer look,when somethjng in the corner of my vision moved.I turned my attention to it and I caught a glimpse of blonde hair attached to a boy’s frame.He stood so still facing a man that was talking in hushed tones on the phone.The man seemed angry and was staying a little bit too close to the frozen child.A moment later,the boy was dragged into a craft’s cabin.I wasn’t sure what I witnessed but I felt bone-tired so I reached for my phone and called my dad.

“The boy.”I whispered with my head down.

“Excuse me?”

“I did see something.”