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This is a story I wrote for and english final my senior year. I like it a lot and in my spare time I want to work on expanding it into a full length story. But this is it in its original form . . . . He was late again. Her father was always late when he decided to even pick her up at all. Amy Josephine didn’t really mind it so much. She liked staying at the old playground after school, especially this time of the year. She loved the warming feeling the sun left on her back and the squealing sound the rusty swing set made, as she swung so high. She loved the monkey bars, now that she knew how to make it all the way across without falling. And she even loved the park bench so perfectly positioned under the only tree by the playground. The only thing she didn’t like about the playground was the massive metal slide. In fact, she hated it. She hated how high it was. And she hated how the metal burned the back of her legs on a hot day when she tried to slide down it. She hated that slide. She remembered the time after school last spring, when all the children had gone home and Amy Joe was still waiting for her father. She had decided to go down the massive slide. When she finally reached the top of the endless ladder her foot slipped and she fell all the way to down to the dirty piles of grainy sand below her. She broke her ankle and couldn’t stand up. She had started crying only once she realized her father wasn’t coming and there was no one left at school to help her. Fortunately, a teacher was still there and heard her cry. If she hadn’t, Amy Joe might have just stayed there until one of her drunken parents noticed she was missing, which might have been never. . . By now the sky was red and dusk was almost upon her. She began to walk home because her father never showed. She never liked walking all the way home. She lived a good three miles away and it took forever for her to get there. By the time she reached the Sunny Set Trailer Park in which she lived, it was already completely dark. She opened the door with caution, afraid that her father might be in another one of his drunken rages. Luckily, he was only passed out on the beat up sofa. The television was on and empty beer cans were sprawled all over the musty carpet. Amy Joe crept slowly to her room, careful not to wake him. She reached for the light switch, it didn’t work. So, she only had the light of the moon shining through her window to guide her. She carefully made her way to the bed where she found her doll lying there. She had that doll for as long as she could remember. It was the only thing she really had and the only thing that made her happy. She called the doll Hope. It used to be such a beautiful doll, with bright red hair and sparkling green eyes. But now Hope’s hair was tangled and her eyes faded. Amy Joe held the doll close to her as she lay there and began to dream. In the morning Amy Joe woke to the sound of dishes shattering. It was her mother having one of her tantrums. She did this whenever she didn’t have enough money to buy her crack cocaine she was so fond of. This time she was in the kitchen breaking dishes in search for the money she had once hid in the cabinets. Suddenly the noise stopped as if she had found what she was looking for. “Amy! Amy Joe!” Her mother screamed out from the kitchen. “I gotta go . . . If ya need a ride to school you best hurry cause I ain’t waitin.” Amy Joe quickly grabbed her backpack and followed her mother to the car. She said nothing. In fact, Amy Joe never exchanged words with her mother. When they reached the school Amy Joe got out quickly and her mother sped away. In class Amy Joe spent most of her time daydreaming. She had always wished she could have wings to fly. If she could fly, she thought, she would leave this place. New Orleans had never appealed to her. The Mardi gras parades were the only thing that might have interested a seven year old girl in New Orleans. But because her parents were always too drugged up or too disgustingly drunken, Amy never got to go to the parades like most of the other children her age. Once school had ended Amy Joe headed over to the playground, as she always did to wait for her father. Time passed by quickly and most of the children had gone home. Amy Joe’s father still hadn’t come. Just then a big, beat up, black van pulled up in front of the playground. The driver, a slightly older man with unruly long black hair, rolled down his window. “Excuse me, young lady.” He spoke as he motioned Amy Joe towards the van. Amy Joe approached the van with curiosity. “I’m really sorry to bother you, miss, but I lost my kitten. Her name is Snuggles. You wouldn’t happen to have seen her would you?” The man said with an ever so concerned look on his face. “Um no . . . I haven’t seen her. Sorry Sir.” Amy Joe said hesitantly. She never felt comfortable talking aloud. Her voice never sounded right to her. “Do you think you could do me a huge favor and help me look for her? I’m really worried about her. I mean she’s very tiny and she can’t take care of herself. I’ll give you anything if you help me, please. I have candy and stuff back at my place, please. I really need help.” The man begged her. Somehow Amy Joe felt pity for this man she didn’t even know. He made her want to help him. She knew her father wasn’t coming for her, so if she helped the man maybe he would give her a ride home after she helped him find his kitten. And after all he was offering her candy. No kid can pass up free candy. “Please, can you help me?” The man begged again. “Um . . . Sure I’ll try.” Amy Joe said to him. “Terrific, hop in.” He told her. Amy Joe climbed into the van and buckled her seatbelt. A David Bowie song played softly on the radio. She recognized it right away. She had seen the music video for it on MTV once before. “So . . . What’s your name?” the man asked. “Amy . . . Amy Josephine.” “That’s a pretty name” “Thank you” She said to him. Then there was silence. Amy Joe then asked, “What’s your name?” “My name? . . .Um it’s Dani.” He seemed somewhat on edge at the question. Amy Joe just kept quiet and nodded at him. She wasn’t sure where he was taking her, and she wasn’t sure is she wanted to ask him. So she stayed quiet. It was getting dark as they approached a small, somewhat rundown house. She knew they were no where near where she lived. They were in the Bayou now. She followed Dani out of the van towards the house. The trees around the house hung low, covering most of the roof. She could smell the swamp from behind the house. The whole place gave her an eerie feeling inside. Dani led her inside the house. The décor was similar to her house. Not much furniture, but the things he did have were beat up and old. Dani motioned for her to sit down on the couch. So she sat. Dani began to walk towards what looked like the kitchen. As he entered the other room he turned to her. “By the way, I don’t have a kitten.” A sea of panic rushed over her. Then all at once everything made sense to her. The lost kitten, the candy, it was all a lie. She had been kidnapped. She wasn’t sure what he wanted with her, though. And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out. Amy Joe wanted to run, but she knew she wouldn’t make it far. She had no idea how to make it home from here, or how to make it anywhere. Just then Dani emerged from the kitchen with his hand in his jacket pocket. “Nothing to say? I suppose that’s a good thing. Don’t try to scream or anything cause no one can here you but me.” Dani said to her with an almost sadistic look on his face. He then proceeded to the front door to make sure it was locked. Amy Joe felt the lump in her throat begin to swell. She couldn’t hold it back any longer. Hot tears began to run down her cheeks. For once, she actually wanted her mother even though Amy knew her mother wouldn’t care. “Oh shit. . . Don’t cry. . . God, I knew this was going to happen. Look kid, I won’t hurt you if you just stop crying.” He pulled a hand gun from his jacket pocket. “But if you don’t shut the hell up, I swear to God.” He shook the gun at her. Amy Joe had never been so terrified in all her life. She said nothing and wiped the tears from her eyes. Dani let out a sigh of relief once Amy had stopped crying. He walked over to the lopsided card table in the dinning room and placed the gun on it. It was obvious by the way he held the thing that he didn’t like handling it and wasn’t very experienced with it either. He walked over and turned on the television then sat beside Amy on the couch. Her thoughts were racing trying to find some way of escape. Survival was her only instinct. Then Dani turned to her, but didn’t look her in the eyes. “I need your phone number?” He said, trying to sound assertive. Amy Joe didn’t want to ask the question but somehow she couldn’t stop herself. “Why do you want my phone number?” “Well how else will I be able to get my money?” Money? Amy didn’t understand. What did her phone number have to do with getting Dani money? “Well, what’s the number” Dani said, interrupting her thoughts. Amy Joe hesitated briefly and then gave him the phone number. Dani got up and hurried to the telephone in the kitchen. He returned only a few seconds later. “Why didn’t anyone answer? This IS your number? RIGHT??” He asked angrily. “Yes it is, but . . . but my mom is never home, and my dad, he might still be at the bar.” Amy Joe told him. “So, what the hell? . . . They don’t even know your missing?” Dani look puzzled. Amy Joe only shrugged. They sat on the couch together for some time, neither one of them really paying attention to the television. Dani sat anxiously tapping his foot the whole time. Suddenly he got up and made for the phone again. Amy Joe tried to listen. “Hello. . . I have your daughter. . . Your daughter, Amy . . . I will return her to you if you pay me the money I want or else . . . Hello? . . . Hello??” Dani slammed the phone down and came stomping back into the living room. “What the hell is wrong with those people? Don’t they care? Damn it! Now what am I going to do with you?” Now the both of them were terrified. Amy Joe knew he wasn’t just going to let her go. That would be too easy. “Damn it! I have to be outta here by noon tomorrow; I don’t have time for this! What am I going to do with you?” He was panicking. “Calm down Dani. Calm down, man.” He was talking to himself now. He glared over to the gun on the table then looked away. He took a deep breathe and walked into the kitchen. Amy Joe knew if she wanted to make it out of that house alive she was going to have to do something now. She got up and quickly made her way to the card table in the dinning room and grabbed the gun. Just then Dani was walking out of the kitchen eating a bowl of strawberry pudding. He saw her and froze. Amy Joe didn’t hesitate. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. BAM! The sharp recoil pulled the gun from her small hands. When she finally opened her eyes she saw Dani lying on the floor. Blood and strawberry pudding spilt all around him. She saw his eyes. He wore the same blank expression as her doll, Hope. When reality finally hit, Amy Joe didn’t know what to do. She crawled under the crooked card table, sat there and cried in a state of shock. It wasn’t until two days later that there was a knock on the door. Then it opened. It a police officer who was investigating the stolen vehicle parked out in front of the house. He found Amy Joe almost comatose under the table and Dani lying lifeless on the floor beside her. When Amy Joe finally woke up she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Everything was white and sterile looking. She knew then it had to be some sort of hospital. Just then a woman entered the room. “I see you finally decided to wake up.” She said softly. “You’ve been sleeping for a little over a week.” Amy Joe didn’t understand. She couldn’t recall anything that had happened. “So, you want to tell me your name so we can figure out where your parents are?” The woman said to her. Amy only shrugged. She honestly couldn’t recall anything, not even her name. “Don’t remember? It’s alright, take your time Sweetheart.” Amy Joe’s memory never came back to her. Her parents never came to claim her either. The only person she felt some closeness toward was the nurse she saw when she first came out of her coma. Her name was Sally. She was a middle aged woman with no family of her own. She worked at the hospital almost everyday and spent most of her time with Amy Joe, who was now known only as “Sweetheart”. Sally did everything she could to take care of Amy Joe. She was even looking into adopting Amy because it had been over three months and no one had claimed her or reported her missing. The two of them got along great. They always knew how to make each other laugh. A few more months passed but the adoption finally went through and Sally was able to take Amy home with her. When they got to her house Sally had a present waiting for Amy. When she opened the pretty package she found a doll. It was a beautiful doll. Her hair was bright red and her eyes sparkled green. “What will you call her? Sally asked. “I will call her Hope.” <back |