Letter

"The ring, dad! It's gone! Oh no! I knew it! I was right all along!", I wailed.

"Can you please take a deep breath, Ela. Try to calm down, and tell me everything that happened from the beginning. Because none of what you're saying makes sense.", dad requested.

So I told dad about everything that happened when I walked back from school. About feeling somebody following me. That I found Tom and he said he wanted to say a proper thank you by giving us the pie he baked. How mom invited Tom to eat the pie with us. And then, I suddenly felt sleepy. That's all I can remember though.

"Then when I wake up, the ring's gone! Oh!!! It must have been Tom's plan from the very beginning.", I concluded. "You know dad, I've always had a bad feeling about Tom but I chose to give him a chance. I wish now I listened to my instinct. And the dream must have really been a warning." I added.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Ela. We were all blinded by Tom's facade. And it's never right to judge people. So don't blame yourself.", dad said, trying to comfort me.

"Oh, what am I going to tell the old lady? She entrusted the ring to me and now it's gone!", I said covering my face with my hands.

Dad was silent. I guess he cannot think of anything more to say that will comfort me at the moment so he just kept me company while I tried to pull myself together.

When I was calm enough, dad and I first went to Yasir's room to wake him up and then went down to wake mom up too. Once they were both fully awake, dad and I told them the whole story.

"Oh, Ela! I'm so sorry I didn't listen to what you said about Tom before. We should have followed your gut feeling about him.", mom apologized.

"Don't blame yourself, mom. It's nobody's fault but Tom's." I assured her.

"But what can we do now?", Yasir asked.

"Good question, Yasir. Maybe if we all think really hard, we will think of a plan to get the ring back.", I said resolutely.

"Let me prepare us something to eat while we brainstorm ideas. Obviously, this man is not an ordinary person. Because first of all, he knew the ring wasn't just an ordinary ring. Second, he planned it well so that he can get the ring from Ela. So we need to think really well. It's going to be a long night.", mom said, moving around in the kitchen already as she talked.

While mom was buzzing around the kitchen, I heard a meow outside our front door. I jumped.

*^^cAnnot understand Luna anymore.

"What is it Ela?", Yasir asked.

"Hold on a second.", I answered, getting up and moving to the door.

I opened the door and there she was. "Luna!", I said in surprise.

Everyone rushed to the front door when they heard me say Luna's name. Even mom, who was still holding the knife she was using to chop the veggies.

"Luna, what are you doing here? Where's Tom? Do you know something about the ring?", I asked one question after another.

"Meow!", Luna said.

"Oh, no! Luna's trying to tell me something but I can't understand her anymore. Maybe she knows where Tom is and she's here to help us. Oh, what should we do?", I wailed, feeling so helpless.

"Don't despair, Ela. I'm sure we'll find a way.", mom assured me.

"And maybe Luna will still find a way to help us even if we can't understand her.", Yasir added.

"I really hope so because I can't think of any other way that we can find the ring.", I said.

We decided to eat fast then to go to Tom's house. Personally, I didn't think he would still be there but it's still worth checking.

We took Luna with us because she might know something in there that can help us in finding Tom.

As expected, the house was dark and appears to be deserted. Still, we went down and tried if the gate was open. It was left unlocked. We tried the front door, it was locked. Luna rubbed her head against my leg and went to a pot of plant near the door. She seemed to be telling me something. On a hunch, I lifted the pot, and found a key in there.

"Look guys! Luna showed me something. Hopefully this is the spare key.", I told the others.

I put the key in and it turned! We were in! On the console near the front door, I noticed an envelop. It had "Ela" written in it.

My heart beating fast, I grabbed the envelope and opened it. I called out to the others.

"Guys, I think it's a letter from Tom!", I said.