This was written in response to a challenge to write a story where a small percentage of the world just disappears one day. The challenge was to choose one or more of the Barkleys to disappear and to write how it affects the rest that are left behind.

She walked through the house, her hand trailing along the wooden surfaces of tables, desks, the banister of the stairs. As she walked through each room, she could hear the voices of her missing loved ones.

As her fingers caressed the smooth surface of the desk, she could see her oldest child with his head bent over some bit of paperwork. In her mind's eye she could see him looking up at her, hear his voice calling her Lovely Lady with the twinkle in his blue eyes that she'd loved the first moment he'd looked at her.

In the foyer, she could hear Nick bellowing her name as he came through the front door, slamming it behind him. Her second son had been loud since the day he was born and she'd never been able to tame it out of him, though she had been partially successful at least where social niceties were concerned. He still had that sweet grin he'd turn on her when he knew he'd annoyed her…the same sweet grin that had melted her heart when he was but just a baby.

In the living room, she could hear Audra playing the piano, see her curled on the settee reading a book, or sitting in one of the chairs working on her latest needlepoint project. Her daughter had brought her a companion amongst all the men in the house. Her bright smile and cheery disposition had brightened long weary days.

Moving back out into the foyer, she started upstairs but her knees grew too weak to carry her and she collapsed onto one of the steps, head falling into her hands as her tears finally came. She'd wandered this house for the last month, night and day, reliving memories…the voices of her lost children haunting her…but until today no tears had come.

TBV

Eugene's heart broke as he walked quietly through the front door and caught sight of his mother sitting on the stairs, crying. Taking off his hat and dropping it on the foyer table, he made his way to his mother. "Ma," he whispered as he sat down beside her and pulled her against him. He was startled at how thin she'd become. She had always been a small woman, but now she was nothing more than skin and bones…and it broke his heart even more.

"Oh Gene," she cried as she clung to the only child she had left.

"I came as soon as I could," he assured her. "It's happened everywhere, Ma. So many people just…gone. No one knows how or why."

"They were here and then they weren't. It was as though they just faded away as if I'd imagined them. When it first happened, I thought I was stuck in a dream I couldn't wake myself from."

"And you've been living like a ghost in this house ever since."

Finally looking up at her son, Victoria lifted a hand to touch his face. "You're all I have left, Gene."

"Then I'll stay here with you."

Victoria shook her head. "No. Take me with you. I can't stay here."

"What about Silas?"

"I sent him to his family. They've lost loved ones too and he deserves to be with them. Besides…what good was it for two people to be rattling around in this mausoleum?"

Eugene was startled to hear his mother refer to the place she'd lived and called home as a mausoleum, but he supposed for her this last month that's what it felt like. Lifting his hand to cover his mother's, he nodded. "Alright, Ma. I'll take you with me if you're sure."

"I'm positive."

"Then I'll get the trunks from the attic and help you pack." Kissing her forehead, he held her gaze. "They'll come back, Ma. Someday, they'll all come back."