May

I was lying face down on my bed, with the Sunday afternoon rugby league on the television. No amount of fear of the consequences of not getting my study done could budge me. My dressing gown was draped over my body. It feebly kept me warm on a freezing cold May afternoon. Winter seemed to have arrived sooner than it did on the calendar. When the home phone rang, I only shifted a little. My sigh was truncated by the soft patter of Dad’s footsteps coming down the hallway. Nonetheless, I threw back the dressing gown and rolled from the bed onto my feet. If there was news about Mitchell, I needed to hear it as soon as I possibly could.

“Hello, Leo del Reyan speaking,” Dad answered the call.

Clinging to my dressing gown, I ambled out of my bedroom and across the hallway, hovering in the doorway of the study.

“Oh, hello, Tom, how are you?”

My heart sank. Tom had gone to school with Mitchell and Geoff.

“Oh, that’s great to hear, mate.”

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The younger sister of missing Sydney man Mitchell del Reyan, Nina del Reyan lives on Dharug land in western Sydney. She has recently commenced a teaching degree at Macquarie University. Nina loves her family and friends and is deeply committed to finding answers and justice for the families of missing people.

Abbey Sim is the founder of Huldah Media. She is a creative writing, law and theology student who lives on the lands of the Dharug people in Sydney, Australia. Abbey desires to explore themes of hope, love and longing through her storytelling. She is the author of 'Shadow' and 'From the Wild'.