The afternoon news on the television played as a soundtrack. I changed out of my work uniform and into a hot pink single top and white skirt. When I stepped back in front of the television, the banner headlines scrolling along the bottom of the screen caught my eye.
Body found on Cronulla Beach
I drew my eyes closer together. It didn’t make sense to me straight away, then I realised, then I gulped. We had just been there only two days prior, celebrating my cousin Katie’s seventeenth birthday without a care in the world. Now, there was a striking reality that the grisly discovery could have been acutely linked with us.
“Are you ready to go?” Mum called out.
“Yeah.”
We were going to visit Abuela. I walked out of my bedroom, not mentioning the possibility which was screaming at me – that Joel was dead.
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'.