The Uncle Who Vanished

“You must be her new one, right?” one of the two guys stated.

“What do you mean? New one?”

I really had no clue what he meant.

“You surely must be her new boyfriend if I'm correct.”

“I guess, you're the 13th boyfriend this month.” the other one mentioned.

New boyfriend? The 13th one? This month?!

No. No. No. No! That can't be! Our one year anniversary was coming soon! So how could I be her 'new' boyfriend?!

This must be a lie, right? Right?!

“Hey, hey, calm down, buddy. Don't waste your time with her.”

“That's right! She may act like a cute girlfriend but in reality she will just use you and toss you away if she loses interest. What a devious girl.”

Stop it!

“Shut your mouths!” I yelled at them in rage as I grabbed the collar of one of them.

“Why should I believe you? Do you even know her? Do you have any evidence to back up your nonsense?!”

I felt my blood boiling more and more as time passed.

The guy whom I was shouting at just held his hands up and looked at me in fear. Despite him trying, no words came out.

“Hey, you. Take your friend and get lost.” I ordered him while still being pissed off.

Thus, I tossed his friend to him.

“And don't you dare badmouth Anna again, you hear me?”

However, they did not say anything and just turned around.

“Tch. We just wanted to help...” he muttered annoyed as they went to the other direction.

After I could not see them anymore, I began walking home again.

“Didn't expect that side of me...” I muttered to myself.

I gazed at the sky which was colored by the dawning sun as I started to lose myself in thoughts.

In these past few days, there was no single moment where I gave in to my rage or where I was really angry.

But those guys just now managed to piss me off. Was it because they badmouthed Anna?

Yes, definitely.

“Heh...” I chuckled quietly.

Seems like I learned something about myself today.

I guess I am a person who gets angry for his friends.

Sigh.

I heaved a sigh. I was exhausted and just wanted to hit the sack when I arrived at home. However, I had a satisfied smile on my face.

“What a day.”

I did not know how to sum it up. But I guess, leaving out what happened with the random guys, I had fun with my friends.

I had so much fun with them that I slept like log today.

The next day.

Unlike yesterday, I woke up rather calmly. I hoped for dreams or any flashbacks showing me something about my past but reality betrayed me.

To be fair, I didn't know if a certain condition had to be fulfilled in order to trigger some memories.

Speaking of memories and dreams, there was a topic that still bothered me.

My uncle.

Besides my parents I did not possess any information concerning other family members.

Fortunately, both my parents were at home today so that I can ask them.

Thus, I made my way to the living room.

There, my mother was preparing breakfast whereas my father was taking a seat at the table while reading the newspaper.

Due to his muscular and tall figure, people were usually intimidated by him. However, to me he seemed like a kind person.

"Oh, you up already? Good morning!" dad greeted me with his soft and soothing voice.

As soon as he noticed my presence in the room, he put the newspaper and his glasses, which he only uses to read things, away.

"Good morning, mom and dad." I greeted back.

"Take a seat! I'm almost done!" mom told me energetically from the kitchen.

When I was about to take a seat, I took a glimpse at the table and saw heaven.

On the table were for example toast, eggs and most importantly bacon!

I felt my mouth forming a crescent at the sight of the delicious bacon.

At that moment, my mind was filled with nothing but bacon.

I was so immersed in them that I only focused on eating.

When my parents peacefully took a sip from their coffee after breakfast was finished, I decided to talk.

"Mom? Dad? Can I ask you something?"

"What's wrong?" my mother asked curiously whereas my father gave a single nod.

Even though now was the perfect moment, I had no idea how exactly I should approach this topic.

"Well, you see, ehm…" I averted my gaze from them while attempting to find the right words.

The confusion was clearly visible on their faces. The longer I took, the more they tilted their heads.

"…can you tell me something about our other family members? Do I have, like, an uncle?" I said nervously.

It took a while before the question marks in their heads disappeared.

"Uncle? I guess he meant your brother, my dear." my mother passed the baton to dad.

"…"

Usually, dad wore a smile that brimmed with kindness. But now it was the first time that he had such a complex expression since I lost my memories.

He looked into his cup with a face that told me that he wanted to avoid this talk. Or rather, he seemed like he did not know either.

Sorry, dad. But I had to keep on being persistent!

"You have a brother, dad?"

"…"

He was still absent-minded.

"Dad?"

"Ah, oh sorry…"

"Yes, I have a brother. A younger one…" he admitted a bit depressed.

"You know, when you were young you often helped him with his experiments. I remember how much fun you two had." he added with a sad smile.

"Experiments?"

"Yes, he was a scientist who loved to do crazy experiments." mom answered.

I see…

But why are they making those faces? Did something happen to my uncle?

"Ehm, so can I ask where he is now?" I asked nervously.

Dad bit his lips in response to my question.

"I don't know…" he replied.

What? Why wouldn't he know?

"Your uncle vanished a few months ago without leaving a trace. We're currently searching for him but we still gained no information about him." mom elaborated in a serious tone.

Vanished?!

I didn't know how to react. I was simply speechless.

My parents continued to speak but I could not perceive what they actually said.

And here I thought that my questions could be answered but instead more questions popped up.

How and why did he vanish?

And most importantly, why did I thank my uncle in the dream I had?

This might be pretty far-fetched but could there be a connection between his disappearance and me?

I could not grasp how I could come to that conclusion however something inside of me told me so.

Funnily enough, only my uncle had the answers I desired and yet he was nowhere to be found.

"Can you show me a picture of my uncle?"

Even though I felt quite dejected, I wanted to see at least a picture of him.

Who knows? Maybe I could coincidentally find him somewhere.

"A picture? Sure." my father responded as he took out his phone.

Then, he showed me his phone with the picture on it.

"…"

No way. No way!

I didn't even attempt to hide my shock as my eyes widened immensely.

"What's wrong?" mom asked.

Why I was shocked? Well, that was easy to answer.

Because I saw him.