Thursday Throw Out

Hi all,


Ugg. That is pretty much it. Why I think I will ever be any good at this is beyond me.  (My feels came back, and along with it, the self doubt and irritation that goes with knowing that though talented, I will never measure up.)


I am bringing you a piece that I am unsure if I posted before. I just opened this bad boy after two years (the date on the last save was 10/22/13, how about them apples) I re-read and edited this excerpt a little better, lessons learned form knowing editors and wordsmiths alike. and now I shall re post ( ?? I think). Enjoy!


Captured

Prologue

 

She stopped crying hours ago. I yell her name but she does not answer. Now it is just me in the darkness. The persistent drip, drip, drip coming from somewhere is the only sound beyond my own breath. I start to cry, but not from fear. Part of myself leaves, as if it has died and gone to heaven. I recognize the missing piece, it’s her, my twin, she’s gone.

Darkness.  Nothing but unyielding darkness. If my perception of time is not completely skewed, I would say we have been captive for eighty-seven days. The last thing I remember before my imprisonment was the burning man being set ablaze. There were bodies swaying all around me as my sister fell to the ground. I knelt next to her just before I too succumbed to the darkness.

During the day, it is hot in my prison. My cloths, or what is left of them, are damp from sweat, or the humidity from our clammy confines. I am thirsty and have to use the bathroom. However, I am tethered spread eagle to this mattress on the floor. In order to block out my discomfort I just sleep. Sleep, because it reserves energy and deadens out the sound of my growling stomach.

I have never seen his face, nor heard his voice. The only signs of his presence are his heavy footfalls, and the sounds of the doors opening and closing. The rats that share my room with me make more noise than my captor. Even when he enters the room, the only sign of him is the pinpoint of light emitting from what I assume is night vision glasses. Then the god-awful grunt, of him finishing with one of us before he leaves.

Sara started to stink a day ago. The smell of death surrounds me, and I pray to god that he takes me as well, to be with my sister. I was always stronger than she was, with her diabetes it was only a matter of time. Retching from the smell of decay that engulfs me, my eyes start to water. Yet, I am unable to expel anything from my empty stomach. I start to writhe in pain from hunger. Unexpectedly, my arm wrenches free from its binding.

Moving quick as my weak body will allow, I remove the restraints from my other limbs, fighting to stay conscious as all the blood rushes to my now half-erect body. Once I feel the cobwebs clear, I brace myself against the wall and stand. The wall is damp and the floor is slimy as I shuffle carefully toward where I heard the sound of the door open and close so many times before.

Stepping in slippery puddle, I topple to the floor landing on something soft but stiff. I feel the cold flesh of my sister, and gag as the smell of discomposure wafts from her open mouth. Placing a kiss on my fingers, I touch it to her body before forcing myself to my feet again. Twenty paces further I find the door. Turning the handle, I am startled when it opens. A muffled light meets me just on the other side.

I can make out a long corridor. On one end, there is a set of heavy steel doors, secured with a chain and padlock. On the other end, a door lined with white light. I turn toward it and start to run, falling to my knees once more, I am too weak to make a hasty exit. I can hear sounds outside, the noise of a jackhammer, a truck backing up, and day workers. I push myself up, once more, trudging toward the small flight of steps that leads to the outside.

Pulling myself up the steps one by one, I can smell the fresh air leaking in around the door. I start to sob knowing it is only a matter of time before I feel the sun again. A breadth away from my freedom, my thoughts drift back to my sister and her beautiful face, all painted with glow in the dark fluorescence the last night of the Burning Man festival. We were making our way to her friends campsites when we came upon a paint party and stopped to partake. We did not think those drinks would land us in this hell.

Pushing through the door, I am blinded by the white-hot Nevada sun. My eyes focus on a man about fifty feet away who is looking at me as if he is seeing the birth of the apocalypse. He starts to walk toward me as I collapse to the ground, no longer able to hold myself upright. The lucidity leaves me as I lay baking in the heat. I feel something cover me, and a hand on my face but am unable to answer the man’s questions. The shade of the crowd gathering around me grows larger, as the construction site becomes quiet. I am awake long enough to hear the man start barking orders.

“Shit Jeff, I think this is the girl from the papers. Someone call LVPD she is going to need an ambulance.” The man now holding me says.

“Didn’t she have a sister that disappeared too, do you think she is inside?” another man says.

“I don’t know, but it’s best not to go in there, just wait for the cops.” My savior replies. My mouth tries to form the words to say she is in there but I am too far-gone. I go limp, no longer able to fight. Darkness once again.

 ***

there you have it, until next week.