Taken X
By: Mia L. Hazlett
9/24/14
Jessie. I had my Jessie back. Mark wasn’t cheating on me, he was trying to get our Jessie back. Whoever was in the house must have tried to hurt him and that’s why he ran. When I ran to the back of the little cottage, I saw the door slowly creep open. I thought I had been found, but as my eyes focused, it was my baby. My little Jessie stumbled out the back and into my arms. We ducked low as I heard the person inside frantically hunt for her.
The engine of the van turned over and the headlights were like instant sun in this shadowless wilderness. I waited for it to disappear before I turned my tiny flashlight back on. I didn’t know how far the batteries would take us, but I needed to get to a place where I could get some bars on my cell phone. I had to call Mark and tell him I had Jessie. He would probably be angry, because that would reveal I followed him. His arrogance would hate the fact that I rescued her and he left running.
I stumbled through the woods and thought I heard the sounds of water. It was faint, but unmistakable. Jessie was barely walking so I lifted her into my arms. I wanted to get us as far away from that house as I could. The sound of the water was more audible and that was going to be my guide. My flashlight shut off.
Behind us I heard cars, but the water was closer. What was that? A crash? I wasn’t sure. I kept moving towards the water. Jessie was too heavy to continue to carry. I found a tree and sat against the base of its trunk. It wasn’t until I stopped moving that I realized how cold it was. My little Jessie was cold too.
As I sat, I formulated a plan to go back to the house. Whoever left, would never come back, knowing Mark found his hiding place. We could at least spend the night and then in the morning, I would at least be able to travel in daylight. But most of all, we wouldn’t freeze in these woods.
The outline of the house came into my view. Just beyond the house there appeared to be headlights approaching. I was wrong. The person was returning to get my Jessie. I ran and hid us deep into the trees and stopped moving when I heard the engine shut off. The headlights remained on and I heard deep voices. I wasn’t sure how many voices, but there was definitely more than one. And I knew one of them. It was Mark. He must have run to go get help. He had come back to bring our Jessie home.
I ran out of the woods the best I could holding Jessie tight to my chest. I screamed his name as I came into the clearing behind the tiny house. We were safe. Mark would take me and my baby home. A figure stood in the headlights and I ran towards it. They were blinding so I wasn’t sure who I was running towards, until he opened his arms for us. I ran into my husband’s arms. We were safe.
Copyright © 2014 Mia L. Hazlett
A Young Writer Coming Up 