Jessica Strong

Scene Setting Short Story

               Jessica Strong Setting Description -
                      “Multiple Residences”


     Over the last twenty-eight-years Jessica has lived in a lot
of different residences. At least they appear to be different on
the outside. True, they don’t look the same. Except for most of
them being three stories tall. The insides all looked the same.
Slight differences, but still the same. Most of them have been
houses, but she has lived in other places too. Some of them have
not even been considered residences.

     Why has Jessica lived in so many places? A little bit has
been because of Social Services and the law. Most of it has been
because of Secret Location. They have been trying to get to her
one way or another ever since they found out she existed. During
her preteen years, it has to do with her dad. Even during her
teenage years, it is because of her dad. Most of these houses,
or other types of living places, takes place during her preteen
and teenage years.

     The house that Jessica liked the most is the one they had
just after she turned seven. Jessica is eating a sandwich as she
walks across her living room when she glances out her window and
sees a familiar car pulling into their driveway. She quickly
runs over to the hidden room with no door under the second-floor
staircase. It’s a room the same size as the staircase but the
full length of it. It is barely big enough for Jessica and her
dad. That’s mostly because of all the surveillance equipment in
there. they have cameras all over that house, both inside and
outside of it.

     Jessica barely gets in there and turns on the cameras when
Social Services starts knocking on their door. After three more
knocks about a minute apart Daniel sigh. “I don’t think that
they are home.”

     “They are never home,” replies Wilma. “I’m getting tired of
always coming here for a surprise visit and us being the ones
who are surprised because of them never being home.”

     “There’s nothing else we can do about it,” says Daniel. “If
they aren’t here, then they aren’t here.”

     Wilma knocks on the front door again. “I’m getting tired of
coming out in the middle of nowhere for nothing. This is the
second time of coming out here this week so far.”

     “I don’t like it either, but there is nothing we can do
about it. We have no choice but to leave and come back in a
couple of days.”

     “I’m getting tired of doing that too.” Wilma cuffs her eyes
for a better look into the door length window next to the door
nearest her. It’s blocked by a curtain. She goes to the one on
the other side and looks through it. It also has a curtain.

     Wilma walks down the front porch toward the living room
window. She smiles. “I think I know what we need to do. Maybe
there is something in there that will tell us where they are at.
All we need to do is get in there.”

     “Oh no, I think I forgot to lock the front door.” Jessica
taps a key on her computer in front of her seconds before Daniel
tries to get in there through the front door.

     The door is locked now. “That was a close one.”

     “We can’t get in this way,” says Daniel. “Maybe there’s
another way in there.”

     “I think that we should split up,” responds Wilma. “I’ll go
this way. You go that way. We can meet at the back door. Yell if
you find a way in there. I’ll do the same thing.”

     Jessica continues watching Daniel and Wilma as they split
up to see if they can find another way in there. “I don’t think
that I have left any other ways in here unlocked.”

     “Maybe it’s best if I check them out anyway just to be sure
they are.” Jessica start tapping key on her computer. Each key
she pushes bring up a view of another entrance to their house
from the inside of it. She zooms in on them to see if they are
locked. So far, they are all locked. Jessica bounces between
Daniel and Wilma. Checking each way in there seconds before they
try it.

     True, Jessica checks each one before Daniel and Wilma gets
to them and all of them are locked. At least she does until she
finds one that isn’t. She hits the key to lock it, but it’s too
late. Daniel has opened the small window just before the back
door. “I’m by the back door. I have found a way in there.”

     Daniel opens the window and craws through it. By the time
he gets to the back door to open it for Wilma she already there
waiting for him. “I looked into this house as best I could as I
searched for a way in here,” says Wilma as she enters Jessica’s
house. “Didn’t see anything that might help us know Jessica and
Carl are at right now.”

     “I’ll finish checking out this floor and the basement,”
continues Wilma. “You check the second and third floors. Yell if
you find anything too.”

     Daniel doesn’t say anything. He just heads for the stairs
leading up to the second floor. Jessica can hear him as he walks
up the steps. She follows his every step with her eyes. “It sure
does look like she’s the one in charge of them. Maybe it’s only
because I’m a girl. Then again, maybe it’s not.”

     Jessica sets up the camera surveillance so that she can
watch them both at the same time as they search through their
house. She watches as they check out each room. They end the
floor they are checking out at about the same time. Daniel heads
up to the third floor about a minute before Wilma goes down into
the basement.

     “Are they supposed to be doing this? I don’t think that
they can without getting permission of some kind to do it.”

     “Hey, that’s my bedroom. You’re not supposed to be in there
unless I’m in there. Which I’m not.”

     Jessica starts to concentrate on watching Daniel as he
first searches through her bedroom. Then after he finishes doing
that room he goes to the next one which is her playroom. She
glances over at Wilma ever few seconds, but only for a second
before she returns to staring at Daniel.

     “You’re not going to find anything here. I don’t even know
where my dad is at.”

     After Daniel finishes with the playroom, he checks out the
third-floor bathroom. Daniel stares at the two red bricks in the
bathtub. “Those must be there so that Jessica can take a bath on
her own.”

     “Of course, I take my own baths. I’m not a baby anymore.”

     While Daniel finishes checking out the third-floor Wilma
continues to search the basement. There are no rooms down there,
but it’s still harder to search there because that’s where they
keep everything they don’t need or want. It’s a mess down there.
there is trash and junk everywhere. Wilma can search through it,
but it’s going to take some time to do it.

     After Wilma and Daniel split up, Wilma begins her search
with the kitchen before she goes into the living room. Wilma
goes over to a half of a sandwich on a plate with a few uneaten
potato chips next to it. She bends down to take a big whiff of
the sandwich and wrinkles her nose because of it. After another
whiff and wrinkle Wilma goes over to the refrigerator. Wilma
steps back in shock at what little food in in that refrigerator.

     Wilma searches through every cabinet. She even checks out
the oven and the freezer. After she finishes the kitchen, Wilma
goes into the living room to search it. Once she finishes with
that she heads for the half bath on that floor. Wilma goes to a
large room next that looks like an exercise room. “What is this
room? It doesn’t look like what it’s supposed to be.”

      “At one time this was probably a library, a study, or a
den. Now I don’t know what it is.” After checking out that room
checked out two more before she heads for the basement. Wilma
walks right past where Jessica is hiding on her way there. She
doesn’t seem to notice anything, or anyone is there.

     After Wilma finishes with the basement she heads back up to
the hallway where she meets Daniel. They are right next to where
Jessica is hiding. Once again, they don’t seem to notice that
she’s there. Jessica turns up the volume in her soundproof room
so that she can hear what they are saying better.

     “You didn’t find out anything either, did you?” Wilma asks.

     “Nothing,” says Daniel. “If there is something here that
says where they are at I didn’t see it.”

     Wilma smiles. “I still done know where Carl is at, but I do
know where Jessica was shortly before we came here. Don’t know
where she is now, but she was here.”

     “I’m pretty sure she’s still here somewhere,” continues
Wilma. “I just don’t know where she’s at right now.”

     ”What makes you think she’s still here?” Daniel asks.

     Wilma looks toward the kitchen. She can’t see it because of
the walls, but it is the kitchen. “There’s a partially eaten
bologna sandwich with grape jelly on one side and strawberry jam
on the other one. It looks like we interrupted her lunch.”

     Jessica looks at the sandwich on the table next to her
computer. “I hope I didn’t drop any of the jam or jelly on my
way in here.” Zooming down at the floor surrounding Daniel and
Wilma. “It doesn’t look like I did.”

     “The sandwich looks okay, but it does smell funny. I
wouldn’t eat it. It probably tastes as bad as it looks.”

     “No, it doesn’t. It smells just fine, and it tastes even
better than it smells. You should try it some time. Maybe the
next time I decide to talk to you I’ll make you one.”

     Daniel sighs. “I don’t know what to do now. Whether she’s
here or not, she doesn’t want us to find her. We have no choice
but to leave and come back in a couple of days. Hopefully, Carl
will be back by then.”

     “We can’t just leave,” says Wilma. “I think we need to try
to find her to find out why she’s hiding from us. After all, we
are just trying to help her.”

     “Besides, we are here to talk to her anyway. It’s better if
we do it without her father being her.”

     Jessica looks confused. “They just want to talk to me! Why
do they want to do that?” Jessica asks herself as Daniel and
Wilma starts looking for her together.

     “There is no way that they are ever going to find me. If
they can’t do it being right in front of me, they aren’t going
to do it by searching for me.” Jessica watches as Daniel and
Wilma searches through her house two time together looking for
her. They pass where she’s at several times.

     After doing it one more time they must have given up
because they leave. Once Jessica sees that they have left she
leaves her hiding place and returns to the kitchen via the back
way. Jessica picks up her sandwich and sniffs it. “I don’t know
what she is talking about. This smells okay to me, and it tastes
just as good, if not better, than what it smells like.”


                        Word Count = 1,943