Present Day: Tough Luck



The rain pounded through her already drenched rain slicker, reminding her just
how much she wanted to be in her car and on her way home. The thunder rolled over her
head, a rolling bowling ball, and BOOM! The strike. How could this happen to her?
Her day had been so full of sun, nothing had been broken or stolen during the move, and
they already had cable at the new house. That was like, almost impossible! Now here
she was, staring at her keys, taunting her from their place in the ignition. All she could
think about was how the damn storm had sprung out of nowhere, and it had become so
dark so quick. The parking lot was almost empty, and what if he couldn’t find her?…

Cut Off Phone Calls


“Where could that redheaded devil be?” Jake muttered under his breath to his
English bulldog, who gave him no answer but a sideways stare. Whatever, he knew
Drules favored Anna Marie anyway.

The two sauntered into the living room, where the Sunday night football game
was in full throttle. Jake dropped himself onto the couch, the only piece of furniture not
covered with drab, brown boxes, or puffy white peanuts.

“Go! Go! Go!” Jake screamed at the television, “ You know what Drules, I think
we’ve been…” the phone screeched then, and cut him off.

“’ello, Jake here. Oh, hi Hun, where are you?” Jake asked his wife Anna Marie.

“Hey I’m…” static suddenly filled Jake’s ear, and he missed what was said,
“can you come save me…” her voice came in and out through the speakerphone, “at the
Convenience Store on… main…” and then the dial tone.

Suddenly, the only sound Jake could hear, was the dial tone beeping incessantly in
his ear. Where was she, he hadn’t heard; she sounded kind of scared. Jake grabbed his
keys and streaked out the door, not bothering to throw on a coat or double check to lock
the door.
Anna’s Past


She sat there in the darkening evening, the cool breeze caressing her red curls, and
pale face. The sinking sun warned her of the coming night, as she sat there watching
the pinks of twilight deepening over the park oaks. She hugged her knees to her chest
while sitting on the hard, and obnoxiously green park bench.

Her mother was late again. She probably got stuck at the bar; she always did.
Just like she always promised it would never happen again. So she just kept waiting
there, keeping herself as small as she could, her tiny seven year old body, easily to folded
into itself.

That’s when she began watching the man in the long trench coat, and the Sherlock
Holmes’ hat. Every four or five minutes he would slowly wander by, always watching
her as he passed; walking closer and closer to her bench each time. The man was a stick
like giant.

“Hi little Rose”, the man said, suddenly beside her. Making her jump at his
sudden appearance.


The man just stood there for a moment staring down at her, and while she stared
up at him, a fat rain drop landed right smack on the middle of her small cheek.

Present Day: More Trouble


She leaned against the car and swore again as her phone refused to turn on. It just
kept staring with a horrible black screen that lit up only to tell her she had a dead battery,
and turn off. Maybe Jake had been right, and just maybe, she should have charged the
phone on the car charger. She pulled her useless, green slicker tighter against her body,
trying desperately to retain some heat. Her brilliant, red curls were now plastered to her
head, and with every gust of wind she felt loose strands sting her face, like the snakes of
medusa attacking the very head that had kept them alive.

She checked her watch again, it had been at least twenty minutes since she had
called. Where was he? Making a full three sixty turn, she found she couldn’t see
anything. The lights along the parking lot did very little for her sight as little rain pellets
pelted her face.

Then she saw a shining light, no two shining lights. Is was him! Her prince
charming coming to save his damsel. She waved her arms obnoxiously over her head to
get his attention.

But he was driving so slowly. Even though it was raining, she knew her
husband’s driving. Oh no, had she waved the villain over and not the hero?

The car stopped and idled in front of her, she felt the already cold blood in her
body freeze, even as her heart started hammering faster and faster. She felt like a mouse
caught in a cat’s eyes of death. Trapped.

Worry


Where the hell was she? He had probably thought this for the millionth time, it
was a small town with only one main street. Isn’t that what she had said?

“Why do I let her out of the house Drules?” Jake asked the dog sitting next to
him, just to break the monotonous sound of the heavy rain. The dog peered at him for
half a second and then went back to staring into the horrid night, as if he if the answer
would appear in front of him.

“Always something, even in the smallest of towns, how could she be so hard to
find? We need a tracker on her,” Jake declared, and then kept talking because it was
better than listening to the torrential storm he was driving through, rain made him edgy.
Especially when it came to Anna Marie, hopefully she wasn’t thinking about the past.

Thrown Back in the Past


“Aw it’s going to be down pouring in a minute little lady” the man said in his
eerily sweet, deep voice.

She said nothing to the man, she just kept staring at the shadow which hid his face
from her view, and tried to subtly scoot down the bench away from him. Even with her
sly attempts to get away, the man continues to somehow set closer.

“Don’t be afraid dear, I saw you here and knew about the rain. I thought I would
be kind enough to bring you somewhere safe and dry,” the man moved a step closer, “
and then I would call your parents” he finished.

Her mother had warned her about talking to strangers, and she knew this man was
one of those sick people her mother had hammered warnings into her head about. If they try offering you anything, and they’re not policemen in uniform, get away. This man wanted to take her somewhere unknown, something mother would never allow.

“I, um, I don’t go anywhere with strangers” she managed to squeak out, and got
off the bench. She started walking in the direction of her mother’s job, as drops began to
fall from a mist to a heavier rain. She heard the man following her, his shoes crunching
on the gravel that made up the park’s path.

“But we are in the city, everyone is a stranger and I just wanted…” she couldn’t
hear the rest of the sentence as she broke into a run, and heard the man pick up speed to
catch up. His running steps hitting the ground harder and quicker than her little white
princess sneakers.

Then someone grabbed her arm, and she let out a blood curdling scream. And she
kept screaming as she began to be shaken.

“Anna Marie, Anna Marie! It’s Mama, what’s wrong? Honey I was coming for
you, then I saw you running. You near plowed right through me!” her Mama kept
babbling, but Anna Marie could hear the worried undertone in her mother’s voice.

“The man mama, the man, he wanted to take me. Mama is he gone?” Anna Marie
kept a tight hold on her mother’s waist as her mother cooed that everything was fine, and
they were going home. They would find a babysitter so no more bench sitting would be
necessary. The rain poured down in torrents, but they stood there in the wet, darkness
holding each other on the dark path. They both knew, Anna Marie had just barely
escaped a horrible fate.

Present: Will Fate Favor Her Again


The dark, colored truck idled there in the rain for a few more moments, and then
the driver side door slowly opened. She got ready to run as the driver stepped out, into
the relentless rain. Cautiously the man approached her, and she sucked in a deep ragged
breath.

“Hey love, I finally found you,” Jake said, while reaching for her arms and pulled
her into a tight embrace. “this rain made it so damn hard to see anything,” he smiled at
her soaked condition.

“I know, now lets go home and get my spare key, since you still have that phobia
of going into my purse,” she smiled in complete relief, and pulled her drenched body into
the passenger seat.

They pulled away slowly, leaving the rain darkness behind, once again with the
knowledge, fate had dealt a kind hand once again.