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For Ransom
James was amazed by Brooke’s parenting skills. It had been less than a half an hour and already she had taken care of James Jr., without stressing or hurrying. But he knew the time was right for compliments.
“Okay, I just have to say, you are amazing. I know you were the only one taking care of the boys. I hope to help you with them lighten your work load.” he watched James Jr. Take a bite.
Then Brooke glanced at him again. “Thank you, and there is no rush, I’m used to them and know how to read them, but over time if you pick up a few skills, you can help me with whatever you enjoy, or whatever comes naturally to you.” she gave James JR another bite and then looked up at him again. “I promise, this is autopilot right now, I am listening.”
James had been hypnotized by her. He shook himself. “Oh! It’s really important too.” He focused on her face. “Brooke, do you remember what I told you yesterday about the kidnapping?”
Brooke gave James JR another bite. “Do you mean about it being someone else’s idea? Yes I do. That was one of my questions, but we didn’t get the chance to talk, because of …” She trailed off and gave James a dreamy smile, “well you know why.”
James felt a twinge of arousal. “Yes. And I would love to do it again when they both are asleep again.” He licked his lips and jumped again. “There I go again, getting distracted. Brooke I have to tell you who approached me.” He watched her give James JR another bite. She faced him again. “Brooke, it was Jonathan.”
Brooke hadn’t been expecting that, her mouth dropped open and she spilled some of the baby food. She jumped. “Oh my!” She dropped the spoon in with the rest of the food and grabbed a baby wipe, cleaning up the mess quickly, though it had already left a stain.
The activity awoke Jonny, who sat up and began to cry. “mama? Mama.”
James saw the chaos and was eager to help. He put his hand around the baby food. Brooke who was trying to comfort Jonny with one hand glanced up at him. She looked panicked. In fact she was feeling a combination of shock, sadness, and anxiety. Jonathan had her kidnapped for ransom. What was the point? To not pay the ransom, she felt sure of it. So what had he wanted? Had he wanted her to stay kidnapped forever? Or would he have had her killed?
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Inside
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August 11th
Douglas was less than a mile away from home. The road was curvy here and narrowed. He slowed down to 25 and took the curves easy. He didn’t want to take any chances. But he didn’t know. There was a truck coming towards him from the opposite direction. The driver was falling asleep at the wheel. He was from out of state and was trying to get home that night. He had been driving over 36 hours without sleep. But it was his wives birthday the next day. He wanted to get there early and surprise her. The only reason he was on that road at all was his GPS had given it a distance of a few miles less than taking the freeway, and nearly 5 minutes shorter than going around.
It was a blind curve. Mr. Piotter let his eyes close and he was almost asleep. He went over the yellow line while turning the blind curve. One inch two inches. Half a foot. A foot.
Douglas came around the curve and saw him headed his direction. Douglas turned his wheel too fast in an attempt to get out of his way. He could have missed the truck and have stayed on the road. But he Turn his wheel, too much, over correcting his coarse.
Mr. Piotter woke up and saw Douglas and turned the wheel, steering his truck back into his lane. But Douglas was already headed towards the embankment.
Douglas’s motorcycle went off the road and down the step slope. He managed to miss half a dozen trees on the way down the slope. But finally he smashed into a large oak. Douglas wasn’t killed on impact. He was thrown backwards up the incline a distance coming to rest nearer to the road than where his bike lay in a mangled heap.
The truck had come to a grinding halt and the driver Mr. Piotter was frantically calling for help already. Douglas was still alive on his back, gazing upward. He couldn’t feel anything. Not his hands, not his feet, not anything. “I wonder why I don’t feel pain?” He asked himself silently. He tried to move his hand to his face. But he failed.
He could see the leaves above him faintly as they moved across his field of vision. He could see the stars beyond the trees. The stars Smoot his heart. He had never been a star gazer. But in this instant he felt like he had missed something by never noticing them before. He wished suddenly he had done more in his life. He wished he had chosen to accomplish more and somehow had made a more significant impact on his neighbors and friends. His parents, he couldn’t leave them. But he was going to leave them. He knew that was how this was going to end. He knew that he was going to die. He didn’t want to. But there was no other way. It was too late to stop it.
His mom. He loved his mom. He was most like his mom, in temperament and in his heart. But he loved his dad too. He wished now he had done as his dad had asked. Now he would never would be able to.
The ambulance arrived as Douglas lost conscientiousness. They got him to the hospital before he died. He was the emergency room table when his heart went into flat line.
Douglas’s last thoughts as a living breathing human were, “and I have never even been in love.”
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Empty
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Life and Death
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Dreams
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Echo
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Susie’s Rescue
“Sam, let me just say –” brad was desperate to say something.
“No! You don’t get to pick the conversation. You will tell me, did you know who she was before you touched her?” Sam’s nose was almost touching his.
“No, ‘course I didn’t!” Brad blurted out.
Sam tilted his head, his dad has slipped up but he pretended not to notice to relax. “Okay, Brad, you know what?” he took a step back.
“What?” Brad’s heart was pounding and he was having trouble breathing. But he felt a little better, sam was a foot away now.
“I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt.” He looked down at the mess, finding a few items, clothes and something that looked like rope, that he could use to tie him up.
“Thank you! Oh Sam, you have no idea what that means to me.” Brad breathed a huge sigh of relief. He began to step away from the wall.
But Samuel wasn’t done speaking. “Brad, I am going to choose to believe you didn’t know it was her, but that still doesn’t get you out of this situation.” his father had frozen a foot away from the wall but Samuel took him and slammed him back into the wall with a thud.
“Sam!” Brad gasped, he hadn’t been expecting it and not only that, the force had been even more than he thought his son had.
Samuel moved his head slowly from side to side. “You will remain here, in this room until Susu wakes up. YOu will let her look at your face and your eyes, and you will go to jail if she recognizes you.”
“She’s been She’s been traumatized!” Brad gasped “You think her judgement is sound? I mean, sam! She’ll think I did it, I fit the type, six feet, white, and around forty. Sam! Don’t take her word for it.”
“How about DNA evidence?” Samuel said softly, his nose almost touching his father’s again.
“She didn’t!” Brad gasped. But he realized then he had made a mistake. He shut his mouth and swallowed.
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F
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The doctor and the lawyer
Zoe’s eyes came back and rested on the hand. She didn’t want to touch it. She was sure he hadn’t washed it recently. But it would be rude not to shake. It was the social norm. Finally, she took a deep breath, stretched out her hand, and let him grasp her in a warm handshake. To her surprise, her hand began to tingle.
Her fingers were cold and thin. Victor grasped them tightly and squeezed. She didn’t flinch, only stared at her hand in his. Victor thought he detected a hint of surprise, but he didn’t have the chance to speculate. He realized at that instant he had goosebumps and felt his stomach twist. He wondered at it. He hadn’t had any such thing since his last serious relationship years before.
But did that mean he liked her? He knew nothing about her; she was a stranger; how could he like her already? He let her hand go abruptly, feeling his hand numbed and confused.
But he did want to press forward with the usual plan. Zoe intrigued him. He hadn’t met someone this interesting in a long time. He was still watching her. She turned her face to the doors and still hadn’t touched the drink. No, he was sure he had never met such a woman, at least never downtown.
“You can drink it.” He said suddenly. “It is safe.”
She glanced at him and then at the drink. Then she looked back at him. “I Don’t drink.” She said, pushing the dripping glass towards him with the hand he had touched.
His eyebrows went up in surprise. “Really?” He had never met someone downtown at night who didn’t drink.
Zoe nodded; she brought the hand back under the table. Her fingers were damp now. She used the water to wipe her hands off her shirt. She glanced at him quickly. Then she looked back at the door. She couldn’t relax her guard.
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Spookychild’s writings 